Lapel pin in shape of gold star owned by Lt. Louise Lomax

Source catalog description

This description refers to material held by Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture. Visual details below describe the original material.

Louise Lomax joined the Army Nurse Corps (ANC) as a 2nd Lieutenant in March 1943 and trained as a psychiatric nurse at St. Elizabeths Hospital in Washington, D.C. By September 1943 she was stationed at Tuskegee Army Air Field in Alabama, home of the Tuskegee Airmen. Lomax remained at Tuskegee during the war, where she was eventually promoted to 1st Lieutenant. After the war, Lt. Lomax went on to serve at Lockbourne Army Air Base in Ohio; Provident Hospital in Baltimore, Maryland; at VA hospitals in Downey, Illinois; and Perry Point, Maryland; and finally at the Army’s Percy Jones General Hospital in Battle Creek, Michigan. Lt. Lomax retired from active duty in March 1949 and transferred to the Reserve Corps, where she served for four years. She was honorably discharged from the ANC in April 1953.The exact origins of this pin are unknown. It's possible that Lomax wore the pin after her retirement from the ANC as a patriotic symbol or as a symbol of her Army service. A non-uniform gold star lapel pin owned by Lt. Louise Lomax, Army Nurse Corps. The circle shaped pin has an embossed, five-pointed star at center. The pin has an attached pushpin back.

Catalog date

mid to late 20th century

Recorded subjects

African American; Medicine; Military; Nursing; Segregation; Tuskegee Airmen; U.S. History, 1945-1953; Women

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