History

History

Erected: 2020

Renovations/Additions: None

Sq. Footage: 

 

Background on Brigadier General Anna Mae Hays

Brigadier General Hays attended Allentown High School (now William Allen High School) and graduated with honors in 1938. Upon graduation, Brigadier General Hays attended and graduated from the Allentown General Hospital School of Nursing. She then joined the Army Nurse Corps in 1942 at the age of 22. During her time in the Army, Brigadier General Hays served overseas during World War II, the Korean War, and Vietnam War. Brigadier General Hays worked several prominent American hospitals and was selected as one of three private nurses to serve President Dwight D. Eisenhower. 

In 1970, President Richard Nixon appointed her the rank of Brigadier General. Following the official ceremony on June 11, 1970, she became the first female general in the US Army.  After her appointment was official, she became the first-ever female US general to use the main entrance of the army officers' club. This marked the first time a female officer used the front entrance, as female officers had traditionally entered through a side door.
Brigadier General Hays made a number of recommendations regarding the treatment of women which have become military policy, including not to automatically discharge officers for becoming pregnant and not to determine appointments to the Army Nurse Corps Reserve based on the age of the nurse's dependents. In addition, regulations were changed to allow spouses of female service members to claim similar privileges to spouses of male service members. Brigadier General Hays passed away in January 2018, at the age of 97.