Sophie Gran Winton
Anesthetist, Red Cross Volunteer
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Born in Douglas County, Minnesota, in 1887, Sophie Gran Winton trained in anesthesia at Swedish Hospital in Minneapolis. In 1918, she volunteered to join the Nursing Corps to assist the war effort in France. At that time, the Nursing Corps was not part of the U.S. Army, instead it was part of the American Red Cross.
Winton was assigned to Mobile Hospital Number One in Chateau-Thierry in France where she anesthetized 25-30 patients per day using open drop ether or chloroform. She receved the French Croix-de-Guerre for her service during World War I.
After the war, she helped to found the California Association of Nurse Anesthetists in 1931 which joined the National Association of Nurse Anesthetists (American Association of Nurse Anesthetists) in 1935. Winton managed her own dental and plastic surgery clinic in California until 1960.
A lifetime Member of the American Legion Post 185, Winton credited her experience in the First World War with the advances she made in the practice of nurse anesthesia later in her career.
