Lula (James) Welch, 1873-

Lula (James) Welch was born on November 8, 1873, in Jeffersonville, Indiana, the daughter of Anna Bell Hare James and Pleasant James. When she was eight, her family moved to Anaheim, California; she was educated at Irving Institute in San Francisco. After high school, she studied theater with the actress Helena Modjeska. Realizing that she did not have the talent to succeed as an actress, LJW decided to become a nurse. In September 1899 she married Dr. Curtis Welch; she worked with him in his medical practice and in the hospital they established in Oakland in 1904. Following the San Francisco earthquake in 1906, they left for Alaska, where for twenty years they cared for the people of Council City, Candle, and Nome; in 1925 they organized an expedition to bring serum by dog sled to Nome during an outbreak of diphtheria. In the fall of 1928, CW's health made it imperative that they return to a warmer climate; they settled in Santa Barbara, where CW died in 1945.