Bessie Blanche Spanner

Per Marion Benjamin Roth - Bess 'took nurses training and graduated from the Harper Hospital in Detroit. Went to France during the first World War I as a registered nurse and served in a Field Hospital. Later worked in Israel before it became a State, serving refugee's needs as they came into the country and returned to the United States and was in charge of the Clara D. Hirsch Home for Girls in New York, then traveled throughout the U.S. lecturing on Israel and later returning to Israel. On one of her trips to Israel she took her mother (grandma Spanner) with her who returned to the U.S. with her.'

According to her birth record in 1888, her parents were Hyman and Rosi Spanner, who lived at 403 Perry St., Cleveland, Ohio.

The Jewish Independent, Friday, February 07, 1919; Section: Front page, Page: 1
CLEVELANDER'S SERVICE WINS PRAISE

Work of Miss Bessie Spanner, Formerly Red Cross Nurse and Now Enrolled as a Jewish Welfare Worker for Overseas Duty Attracts Widespread Attention

The name Miss Bessie Spanner of this city, who was formerly a Red Cross nurse, today appears on the list of overseas representatives of the Jewish Welfare Board. Miss Spanner enrolled in the American Red Cross at the first call for nurses, ^ or more than a year she cared for and brought memories of home to thousands of wounded who passed through the Base Hospital at Dijon.

The following tribute in recognition of Miss Spanner's service comes from national headquarters of the Jewish Welfare Board:
"While hundreds of nurses have served valiantly and with unswerving loyalty, Miss Spanner's service has been more outstanding than that of any other nurse of Jewish origin and has been outstanding, not because of spectacular heroism, but because of quiet, self-sacrificing service. Miss Spanner's work as a nurse at Base Hospital No. 17, her work among refugees, orphans, and needy Jews in the vicinity of Dijon, and her social service among wounded Jewish soldiers has won praise from officers and men and has attracted widespread attention in the United States. By means of a small subscription fund started by Rabbi Louis Wolsey of Cleveland, and Rabbi Leo Franklin of Detroit, Miss Spanner was enabled to buy delicacies and cigarettes for her wounded and to loan small sums to soldiers who had not been paid for some time.

"At Miss Spanner's request, the Jewish Welfare Board secured her release from the Red Cross and enrolled her officially as a Jewish welfare worker. Miss Spanner's entire professional career has been a record of social responsibility. Coming from Cleveland to Detroit, she graduated from the Farrand Training School for Nurses, and went into social service work in connection with her nursing. Following six months of training at the Henry Street Settlement of New York city, she returned to Cleveland, and built up to a high degree of efficiency the pre-natal work of one of the city's largest hospitals."