Born March 13, 1926, Virginia Brown attended the Medical College of Richmond, Virginia and received her diploma in 1948. She spent three years working with the Navajo tribe. In 1967, Virginia was hired as the first research nurse in the Indian Health Service, and was assigned to the new unit in Tucson. The unit had previously opened in 1965 and was then called Operations Systems Analysis Module (OPSAM). OPSAM's first mission was to analyze systems of health care and find the most efficient system for the allotted funds.
Upon her arrival in 1967 at the soon to be called Office of Research and Development, Virginia's first assignment was to "find out what... Public Health Nurses do." Shortly thereafter, she began working to adapt health information systems to computers. She also spent several years, in the late 1970's, working with the Yaqui people. Throughout her tenure, Virginia concentrated on the area of public health nursing, retiring in 1981.
Ida Bahl was born on October 31, 1898, and began her career as an RN and X-ray Technician in 1922. She received her X-ray training in Dubuque, Iowa, and then worked and studied for two years at Mercy Hospital in Dubuque.
Initially, Ida applied for a job in the Civil Service to work with American veterans. Appointed as an X-ray technician and staff nurse in 1934, her job took her - instead of working with veterans - to the Indian Service (IS) at Fort Defiance, Arizona. At Fort Defiance her duties were relegated primarily to nursing. After twenty-five years of service among Native Americans in Arizona, Iowa, Oklahoma, California, Wisconsin, and New Mexico, Ida retired in 1958.
After retiring, Ida wrote a book about her experiences entitled Nurse Among the Navajos (copyright 1978). She followed her book with a questionnaire originally developed to look into the early days of the Public Health Service. Ida initiated the questionnaire in 1974 and work on it ceased in 1980. Lillian Watson and Virginia Brown assisted Ida on this project. Ida died on January 13, 1994, in Ashbury, Iowa.
Lillian Watson was born on December 5, 1920. She was initially a staff assistant, first at the office of Naval Intelligence during World War II, and then at the US Embassy in Venezuela, until 1951. After graduating Cum Laude with the BSN from Catholic University in Washington, DC, she began her nursing career in 1955 at Fort Wingate, Bearsprings, New Mexico. Watson initially joined the Indian Service because there was an acute shortage of trained personnel. In addition to her work at Fort Wingate, Watson also taught at the Regina School of Nursing in Albuquerque, New Mexico. After receiving her MSN, with honors, from the University of Colorado in 1962, Watson helped train potential rural area nurses through the Arizona State University VISTA program in 1965-1966. Working her way through the ranks from Public Health Nurse, Watson held various prominent positions such as Clinical Director, Director of Nursing, and Deputy Chief. Eventually, in 1973, Lillian became the Chief Area Nurse at Windowrock, Arizona, working with the Navajo tribe. Lillian Watson retired from nursing in March of 1980.
From the guide to the Virginia Brown, Ida Bahl, and Lillian Watson Collection, 1922-1994, (Cline Library. Special Collections and Archives Department.)
