Light weight navy wool gabardine military Nursing Sister’s cape (a) with mandarin style collar and maroon polyester full lining; one piece circular construction with one dart at the shoulder (14 cm) and one down front of shoulder line (16 cm) creates a 2.76 m wide flared bottom; ladies size 6; pair…
Light weight navy wool gabardine military Nursing Sister’s cape (a) with mandarin style collar and maroon polyester full lining; one piece circular construction with one dart at the shoulder (14 cm) and one down front of shoulder line (16 cm) creates a 2.76 m wide flared bottom; ladies size 6; pair of removable gold coloured clasps (b, c) in contoured 3.2 cm. circular lions head design joined with seven link chain looped onto hook from the opposing lion’s head at neckline; collar closure with pair of brass hook and eyes; attached pair of long navy wool straps, one with buttonhole and other with two 2.5 cm. circular navy plastic buttons. Length center front is 68.5 cm.
Number Of Parts
3
Part Names
a – cape – Size: Length 77.0cm x Width 1.38 m x Depth 0.3 cm
b – clasp – Size: Length 2.8 cm x Width 3.2 cm x Depth 2.0 cm
c – clasp with chain – Size (unfolded) Length 11.0 cm x Width 3.2 cm x Depth 2.0 cm
Provenance
Owned and used by Lieutenant Nursing Sister Mary (Mae) MacKeigan Royal Canadian Army Medical Corps 1943-45; donated to museum by daughter Mary Joan Barrett.
Mallory Warner, “Where is the missing piece of lining in this U.S. Navy nurse's cape?,” April 5, 2017. National Museum of American History, https://americanhistory.si.edu/blog/us-navy-nurses-cape
Research Facts
Mary (Mae) MacKeigan is a graduate of Glace Bay Hospital School of Nursing, Class of 1941. She was part of the Canadian military service as Lieutenant Nursing Sister Mary (Mae) (nee MacKeigan) Barrett, Royal Canadian Army Medical Corps 1943-1945. She was from Reserve Mines near Glace Bay, Nova Scotia. She trained with the No. 24 and No. 11 Canadian Army Hospitals and the Canadian Red Cross Army Hospital in Taplow, England.
Nurses’ capes were an important part of the nurse’s uniform, and became a symbol of nursing and care in their own right outside of the rest of the uniform. The Red Cross, like Kingston General Hospital, lined the inside of their nurses’ capes with red, and the symbol of the red lined cape was used in recruiting posters for nurses during World War I, making the nurse look heroic. Nurses serving with Florence Nightingale in the Crimean War also wore woollen cloaks, predecessors of the nursing cape. For many women, the cape was part of their identity as nurses.