#MyStoryMonday: Gray Ladies

During World War I, the American Red Cross had a great influx of volunteers. One service that was established in response was the Hostess and Hospital Service and Recreation corps, which was later famously named the Gray Ladies. The purpose for this new division of volunteers, who were mostly women, was to act as hostesses and provide recreational activities to wounded soldiers.

Although the Gray Ladies were established at the beginning of WWI at Walter Reed Army Hospital, the service quickly spread to both military and civilian hospitals around the country. Some of the Gray Ladies were even sent to serve in U.S. military hospitals overseas.

Gray Lady Jessie Thoroughman reading with Johnny Troxwell
at Hazelwood Sanatorium, circa 1958

The Gray Ladies service was not responsible for any type of medical care, but the volunteers were still required to undergo rigorous training that consisted of courses like hospital organization, psychiatry, ethics and more.

Although the ladies weren’t dressed in vibrant shades, their personalities made up for it. Whether it was sitting down and having a conversation with a serviceman or playing some tunes to patients confined to hospital beds, the Gray Ladies of the American Red Cross made it their mission to keep spirits high and the wounded hopeful.

For more information about the Gray Ladies, click here. If you would like to find out more about joining the Red Cross as a volunteer, please visit www.redcross.org/volunteer

National Volunteer Week: Raleigh Pate and the Gray Ladies

Tuberculosis couldn't stop the Gray Ladies from celebrating a birthday! The Gray Ladies service was a division of the American Red Cross volunteers, made up of mostly women, acting as hostesses and providing recreational services to hospital patients. While the Gray Ladies service started out in Walter Reed Army hospital at the beginning of the First World War, it soon spread to hospitals across the United States, both military and civilian.

Raleigh Pate, right, with J. Grise and Bailey Eades

Raleigh Pate was a Gray Lady who volunteered at Hazelwood Sanatorium, a tuberculosis facility in Louisville, Ky. November 17, 1958 was a special day at Hazelwood because patients J. K. Grise of Lewisburg, Ky. and Bailey Eades of Robards, Ky., who stayed in neighboring beds, shared a birthday! Gestures as small as getting a birthday cupcake can seem monumental to patients stuck in the monotony of a Tuberculosis sanatorium. To the Gray Ladies of the American Red Cross, simply making a patient feel special on their birthday was a day well spent. 

First Capping Ceremony of the Hazelwood Gray Ladies

Although the Gray Ladies provided non-medical care, they underwent a rigorous training process, provided by medical professionals and the Red Cross, which included hospital organization, ethics, psychiatry and occupational therapy. By the 1930s, with increased demand during the Depression, the Gray Lady Service spread to other hospitals around the country, both military and civilian. Their services also extended to blood centers and providing assistance with disaster response. 

Although their numbers decreased, the Gray Ladies continued serving in American hospitals until the mid-1960s. Today, the Red Cross continues providing support to hospitalized U.S. military personnel with dedicated volunteers through Service to the Armed Forces.

For more information about the Gray Ladies, click here. If you would like to find out more about joining the Red Cross as a volunteer, please visit www.redcross.org/volunteer