One pair of dog tags, or identification tags, stamped Eva A. Shelain NURSE ANC, with cotton strap. Shelain graduated from the Michael Reese Hospital Training School for Nurses in Chicago in May 1913.   After her war service, Ms. Shelain was a founding representative of the Women’s Auxiliary of the American Legion.

The Star Tribune of Minneapolis, MN reported on the gathering. It reads: “Mother and wives of the American Legion are not content to knit socks in times of peace, nor to sit quietly by the fireside while fighters tell nightly their tales of war.  …They came hundreds of miles, at their own expense to put before the convention their ideas for a woman’s auxiliary, to be part and parcel of the Legion, to hold national meetings when the former does, and to rally to the ideals of a New America with all the fervor which they contributed their days and their men to the prosecution of the war.” 

The donor of these ID tags was Eva’s son, Frank S. Reed. Looking through the records of the First Division, A.E.F. there is an SGT Robert J. Reed of Ambulance Co # 3, 1st Sanitary Train, First Division A.E.F.  One can only assume that she either met this man during her service overseas with the First Division A.E.F. or met him at the American Legion convention after the war.  Either way, Eva A. Reed [nee Shelain] was a pioneering woman of the 20th century.