U.S., World War II Cadet Nursing Corps Card Files, 1942-1948

This database contains membership cards providing details on women who joined the Cadet Nurse Corps created during World War II.

Historical Background

After the United States entered World War II, the military’s needs quickly brought on a nursing shortage. To address the need, federal funding, administered by the Public Health Service, began flowing to nursing schools in 1942, and in 1943 Congress authorized the Cadet Nurse Corps. The Corps offered scholarships for tuition and fees, stipends, and uniforms to women ages 17–35 who went to nursing school and committed to serve in the nursing profession for the duration of the war. The Corps did not discriminate on race and graduated almost 125,000 nurses.

What’s in the Records

This database contains Cadet Nurse Corps membership cards providing details on women who joined the Corps. There are four different card forms: 300A, 300B (pre-May 1944), 300B revised, and PG 400, which recorded post-graduate information. NARA provides the following description of the forms and the information each includes:

“Form 300A is a membership card and includes the name of the cadet, serial number, name of the nursing school or hospital, address of the school, and dates attended. Form 300B (before May 1944) only identifies the cadet by serial number and includes statistical information about the cadet such as age, hometown, marital status, occupation of her father, and how she found out about the program. In May 1944, Form 300B membership card was revised to include the information that was contained in Form 300A and the previous version of Form 300B. Form PG 400 includes the name and address of the cadet and any post-graduate information such as the name of the university or hospital and what degree was earned.”

Note that when browsing the records, only the revised Form 300B is arranged alphabetically by name. All other cards are alphabetical by state, reflecting their archival arrangement.