Gertrude Margaritte Ivory Bertram was born in Clarkesville, Georgia on February 17, 1916. In 1937, Bertram began nursing school at Brewster Hospital in Jacksonville, Florida. After graduation, Bertram joined the Army Nurse Corps in May 1941. She was stationed at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, where she worked as a ward nurse. In February 1943, Bertram was deployed to Liberia, where she would be stationed for eight months at the 25th Station Hospital in Monrovia. Bertram and the twenty-nine other nurses of the 25th Station Hospital returned to the United States in October 1943. For the remainder of the war, Bertram was stationed at Camp Livingston in Louisiana, where she assisted in conducting research on penicillin trials. After the war, Bertram continued to work in nursing in the field of public health.
View the Finding Aid for the Gertrude Margaritte Ivory Betram collection here.
Gertrude Margaritte Ivory Bertram Collection
5” x 3.75”
Photograph of Gertrude Margaritte Ivory-Bertram in nursing uniform. Bertram graduated from Brewster Hospital School of Nursing in May 1941, and subsequently entered the U.S. Army Nurse Corps.
Gertrude Margaritte Ivory Bertram Collection
5" x 3.75"
Photograph of Gertrude Margaritte Ivory Bertram in nursing uniform. After volunteering for the U.S. Army Nurse Corps, Bertram was stationed at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, one of only two locations where nurses of color were permitted to be stationed. Bertram remained at Fort Bragg until February 1943.
Gertrude Margaritte Ivory Bertram Collection
3.5” x 5.5”
Handmade invitation to a Halloween party given to Gertrude Margaritte Ivory Bertram in 1941.
Gertrude Margaritte Ivory Bertram Collection
8” x 10”
Photograph of army nurses of Station Hospital #2 in Fort Bragg, North Carolina. Gertrude Margaritte Ivory-Bertram is seated at the far left.
Gertrude Margaritte Ivory Bertram Collection
6”x 3.5”
Photograph of Gertrude Margaritte Ivory-Bertram (right) with Margaret Kendrick (left) and other unnamed nurse.
Gertrude Margaritte Ivory Bertram Collection
4.5” x 3.75”
April 4, 1942 timecard for Gertrude Margaritte Ivory Bertram, at Station Hospital #2, Fort Bragg, North Carolina.
Gertrude Margaritte Ivory Bertram Collection
4.75” x 7.25”
Photograph of African-American nurses in Liberia, 1943. Bertram is in the center of the front row. From February - October 1943, Bertram was stationed in Monrovia, Libera, with the 25th Station Hospital. While there, she often found herself working in administrative roles rather than on the ward. She returned to the United States in late 1943 after several bouts of malaria.
