Margaret MacDonald (nurse)

rdf:langString Margaret MacDonald (nurse)

rdf:langString Margaret C. MacDonald

rdf:langString Margaret C. MacDonald

rdf:langString Bailey Brook, Nova Scotia

rdf:langString Military nurse

rdf:langString Major Margaret Clothilde MacDonald RRC (26 February 1873 – 7 September 1948) was a Canadian military nurse. She is well known for being one of the first females to hold a position in the completely male-dominated military of her time. She is also known for her breakthrough role as a military nurse during World War I. During this time, she was given the title of Matron-in-Chief of the Canadian Army Medical Corps Nursing Service. Also, Margaret MacDonald was the first woman to be given a 'Major' military rank in the British Empire and was awarded the Royal Red Cross (1916) and the Florence Nightingale Medal (1918). Margaret MacDonald was born in Bailey's Brook, Nova Scotia on February 26, 1873. She was born into a wealthy, Catholic family. Her father was Donald St. Daniel MacDonald and her mother was Mary Elizabeth Chisholm. Margaret was the third of eleven children and was presented with a plethora of opportunities due to her family's wealth. She had the opportunity to receive an education from an early age, which was atypical for girls of that time. Margaret grew to appreciate education from this upbringing and continued her educational journey with her sisters at Mount St. Vincent Academy, which was a convent school where she was taught by the Sisters of Charity. Around this time, Margaret became interested in nursing and, against her parents' wished, she went on to study nursing at Charity Hospital Training School in New York. After her graduation in 1895, Margaret MacDonald went to Panama to assist as a nurse during the construction of the Panama Canal. After this, she began her first nursing job as a military nurse, where she was one of the first women to play a role in the war. Her first job was aboard the military ship, Relief, during the Spanish-American War in 1898, where she took care of American soldiers, both the wounded and the sick. Margaret also served as a nurse during the South African War in 1900, where she was one of the first females to receive a military commission. After this, Margaret returned Canada and was soon named the head of the Nursing Service of the Canadian Army Medical Corps. She then moved to Britain to learn from their military nursing program, which was very well known at the time. At this point, Margaret focused more on leadership and working to make a change for women. Also during this time, Margaret was the first woman to be given a 'Major' military rank in the British Empire for her leadership during World War I. In 1920, after many years of nursing, Margaret retired, returning to her home town of Bailey's Brook, Nova Scotia. She died in Nova Scotia on September 7, 1948, at the age of 75.