Anna Gove’s WWI Mess Kit
Anna Maria Gove was born July 6, 1987, in Whitefield, New Hampshire. After her education at MIT and Woman’s Medical College of New York Infirmary, from which she graduated in 1892, Dr. Gove served for a year in the New York Infant Asylum. In 1893 she came to the State Normal, where she served the school as resident physician, professor of hygiene, and director of the Department of Health until her retirement in 1937.
During World War I, woman physicians were not allowed to serve in the Army Medical Corps. Gove instead served with the Red Cross in the Children’s Relief Division in Marseilles and Ardeche and with the Smith College Relief Unit. She used this mess kit during her WWI Red Cross service.
During her service, Gove worked with women and children fleeing the war in Eastern Europe. Often, malnourishment and harsh travel conditions resulted in children arriving with serious and chronic illnesses. Dr. Gove educated mothers on the importance of hygiene to prevent sickness, an area that she continued to study after she returned from the war.
Supplemental Materials
Dr. Anna Gove
Dr. Anna Gove’s WWI khaki military overcoat and skirt
