Ella Osborn

Ella Osborn

World War I

 

Ella Jane Osborn, a nurse deployed to France during World War I, is buried at Wainscott Cemetery in New York. She kept a remarkable diary in 1918 and 1919 that captured her experiences during the war.

 

 

Image Source: Ella Jane Osborn, View of a page in the diary of World War I army nurse Ella Jane Osborn, ca. 1918-1919, Gilder Lehrman Institute, GLC06570

Page from Ella Jane Osborn's diary showing text for In Flanders Fields

Table of Contents:

Ella Osborn’s Biography

Primary Source: Ella Osborn’s Diary

Osborn kept a diary from January 1918 through April 1919 that offers unique and humanizing insight into the lives of World War I Service Members—the daily routines, hardships, and brief moments of normality in the life of a front-line nurse. Learn more about the diary in this essay by Susan F. Saidenberg (History Now subscription required).

World War I Veterans

Black-and-white photograph of Louis Santop Loftin in the gear of a catcher.

Louis Santop Loftin

Page from Ella Jane Osborn's diary showing text for In Flanders Fields

Ella Osborn

Photograph of James Reese with his band. He is shown conducting as the band members point at him.

James Reese Europe

All Conflicts

Revolutionary Era Muster Roll with names of volunteers

Revolutionary War

Letter with stamp of Union soldier holding the US flag

Civil War

Note from a WWI stamp book with cartoon silhouette of fighting

World War I

WWII Era War Bonds poster showing soldier and parachutists

World War II

American soldiers running to a helicopter

Cold War

Soldier walking through alley between houses in desert terrain

Iraq & Afghanistan