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You've got questions about discovering, preserving and celebrating your family history; our experts have the answers.
Raiding Records
A: Many records relating to individual war service from World War I are at the National Personnel Records Center (NPRC) in St. Louis, Mo. You can access information about the NPRC via the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) Web site at www.archives.gov as this is a National
Archives facility. Not all records survived a fire at NPRC in 1973. Plus, the records genealogists are accustomed to using for earlier wars aren't as abundant for 20th-century wars. Published histories about WWI nurses and women in the military are helpful resources, as well.
Your inquiry didn't mention which NARA facility you checked or with whom you spoke, but NARA does have many records related to World War I nurses. It will be important for you to determine if the person was actually in the Army or was a Red Cross nurse. You also need to know at what hospital(s) she served. NARA stores some records of military individuals in the hospital records, but they are organized by hospital and aren't indexed by individual names. You might also do some reading in the helpful guide American Women and the U.S. Armed Forces: A Guide to the Records of Military Agencies in the National Archives
Relating to American Women (National Archives Trust Fund Board). Visit www.archives.gov/publications/guides_and_finding_aids.html#amwomen for more about this guide. Once you find some records of interest, you should contact NARA to determine where the records are actually housed.
Many states also have records related to those who served in the military during the World War I era. Check the state archives. For a step-by-step guide through the National Archives, see the October 2002 Family Tree Magazine.
—Paula Stuart Warren
Paula Stuart Warren is the co-author of Your Guide to the Family History Library: How to Access the World's Largest Genealogy Resource (Betterway Books, $19.99).
Pose your questions to our family history experts.
Q. I am looking for service records for Phoebe Lou Parsons, a Red Cross US Army Nurse during World War I, who served in base hospitals. Where can I find these records? I have tried NARA with no luck.
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