DOB/DOD: April 7, 1892 (Norwalk, CT) – December 26, 1975 (Youngstown, OH); 83 years old
MARITAL STATUS: Married Dr. Joseph Paul Harvey Sr. of Pennsylvania on February 3, 1921
CHILDREN: Two sons, Joseph P. Jr. [1922-2010] and John C. [1923-2017].
LOCAL ADDRESS: St. John Street, Norwalk [1910 census]
FAMILY: Born to Patrick J. [1861-1929] and Catherine “Kate” Ryan Collins [1867-1904]. Four brothers, Thomas A. [1889-1958], George V. [1896-1967], Frank J. [1897-1949], and William J. [1903-1985]. Three sisters, Lucy Collins Tammany [1891-1987], Helen [1895-?], and Florence P. Collins Delany [1901-1989].
SERVICE DATES: Called into active service on July 20, 1917. Served on Ellis Island, NY, until August 7, 1917. Then Base Hospital #8, Savenay, France, until November 30, 1917. Then Base Hospital #101, St. Nazaire, France, until January 28, 1918. Then Base Hospital #8 again until March 11, 1919. Discharged on April 18, 1919.
OTHER: Referred to in the obituary of her son Joseph Jr., “Mary Justinian Collins Harvey, a decorated World War I army nurse.”
Photo of the surgical ward, Base Hospital #8, Savenay, France, April 3, 1918.
Front and South side of Base Hospital #101, St. Nazaire, France
The clipping is from an unknown newspaper, but likely The Norwalk Sentinel. It was found in a collection in the Norwalk History Room of the Norwalk Library.
EAST NORWALK GIRL IN NATION’S SERVICE
Mary Justinian Collins With the Post Graduate unit Base Hospital No. 8, A.E.F., France
We regret that our opening paragraph must be an apology. We tried to secure a photograph of Miss Collins from which to have a cut made. The only picture that was obtainable was an amateur 2×3 snapshot of a group of three taken in France some months ago. Miss Collins was one of the group, and from this, we secured the electrotype. We feel it is a great injustice to this noble young lady to use such a picture. However, we, ourselves, can see, even in this imperfect likeness, through its genial smile and sparkling eyes, a character that is indicative of kind-heartedness, good humor, and sympathetic love, whose warm hand-clasp and compassionate words would give renewed vigor and comfort to the injured and tired out soldier boy. Passing through Osborne Avenue, East Norwalk, at number 78, one sees a service flag with three stars. One of these stars belongs to Miss Mary Justinian Collins. The other two stars are for her two brothers, who are also in the country’s service. Miss Collins was a trained nurse and received her training in the Post Graduate Hospital in New York. Previous to the United States going into the war, she had been a very successful nurse for two years. When our country decided to enter into the great conflict abroad, Miss Collins at once enlisted her services as a Red Cross nurse, which step she took in April 1917 on Good Friday. She joined her own Hospital Unit, which was largely made up of Princeton men on the medical staff. The Hospital Unit, some 250 in number, were on the steamer Saratoga, which sailed from New York in July 1917, when just outside of the harbor, it was rammed by the Panama, another steamer whose pilot proved to be a German, and the intention was to sink the Saratoga with her cargo. Miss Collins was submerged in the incoming water and, for two days, suffered considerably from the shock. About two weeks later, the unit took another steamer and landed safely in France. Miss Collins, immediately upon her arrival, began to study the French language and soon mastered it sufficiently to enable her to make use of it. The following is an abstract from one of her letters to her aunt here at home:
Someplace in France, March 22, 1918, “I’m on night duty now, and it’s the wee small hours of the morning, and my patients are all in the land of nod, I have a chance to write you. We are planning our furloughs and expect to go to Nice. Miss Green and I expect to go together, but we may not as we have been separated ever since we came to France. Secretary of War Baker and General Pershing were here last week, and they made things hum for a while, but again, we have settled back into our quiet little ways. We have a dance every week and movies every night. We act just like regular people. My dear friend Mr. Chaplin appears a couple of times a week. By the way – admission is free, so there is always a good crowd. How is the coal situation – still very serious? It does not seem quite possible to us here as we have plenty of everything. Tell Florence I am some knitter. I’ve made three sweaters and have started the fourth. I cannot sit idle, so I knit. I wish you could sit beside me for a few minutes and look down the ward. There are fifty beds here. The trunks and suitcases are at the foot of each bed, and the clothes are hanging at the head. It reminds one of Hester Street, New York. I almost forgot to mention the very lovely basket of candy and fruit cake you sent me. We had several parties from same.”
When Miss Collins enlisted as a Red Cross nurse, she passed her examination with a high standard of merit, except for one requirement. That one was her age; she was one year under age than the official regulations. But being persistent and being so well qualified in every other respect, the age limit was overlooked, and she was accepted. On one occasion since being in France, Miss Collins learned that some United States soldiers were expected to arrive. She stepped into one of the YMCA huts and wrote a note to greet the boys when they landed. The note was given to one of the captains who met the company and handed the letter to one of the young fellows. The young man opened the letter to read and found, to his great surprise, that it was from his own sister, it being Miss Collins’ brother George, to whom the letter was incidentally given. Extract from letter, April 18, 1918 – “Mr. Sculley was up to see me today. He looked splendid in his uniform. I was on duty at the time, so I hadn’t had much time to spend with him. However, we made the most of what time we did have, and he told me lots of good news. He saw Harry Haugh and Leonard Foster, who are patients in this hospital. The weather here is lovely, though today it is a bit cold. Miss Green and I took a walk this morning and picked a large bunch of violets and forget-me-nots. Miss Green and I are in the operating room together. I heard from brother George a few days ago. He is well and has received mail from home. Does brother Tom like the Navy? Where is he located, and when have you heard from him?”
Miss Collins’ brother George volunteered in May 1917 and has been in France since last August. Her brother Thomas is in the naval service and expects a call to go across. Miss Collins is the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Patrick Collins of East Norwalk and is one of a family of eight children. Mrs. Collins, the mother, was taken away in June 1904, leaving a family of small children. These motherless children are making a record that they can well be proud of. Miss Nora E. Ryan is their aunt, and the extracts quoted were from letters received by her from France.
From The Norwalk Hour November 14, 1917
Postals are expected from Miss Mary Collins and from George Collins of Osborne Avenue, who are in the Red Cross service in France. Miss Collins is in one of the French hospitals, and Mr. Collins is at the front in ambulance work. AUTHOR NOTE: The 1910 census shows a George Collins, brother to Mary Collins, 4 years younger.
From The Youngstown (Ohio) Vindicator December 29, 1975
SERVICES FOR MRS. HARVEY, WIFE OF PROMINENT PHYSICIAN
Services were held this morning In St. Edward Church for Mrs. Mary Harvey, 82, of the Park Vista unit of Ohio Presbyterian Homes. Mrs. Harvey, the wife of Dr. Joseph P. Harvey, who practiced here for more than 50 years, died Friday night in North Side Hospital. Dr. and Mrs. Harvey lived at 278 Gypsy Lane for many years until they moved to Park Vista. Their two sons are physicians and medical school professors. Mrs. Harvey, a native of Norwalk, Connecticut, was a registered nurse and served as the Chief Nurse of a hospital base hospital unit near the frontlines in France during World War I. She worked as a public health nurse in Pittsburgh before her marriage to Dr. Harvey in 1921. Mrs. Harvey was a member of the Mahoning County Medical Society Auxiliary and of St Edward Church. Besides her husband, Mrs. Harvey leaves her sons, Dr. J. Paul Harvey Jr., a professor of orthopedic surgery at the University of Southern California, and Dr. John Collins Harvey, a professor of medicine at Georgetown University; three sisters, Mrs. W. F Tammany of Norwalk, Connecticut, Miss Helen E. Collins of New York City, and Mrs. J.A. Delaney of White Plains, New York, and 10 grandchildren. The family requests that material tributes take the form of contributions to the Youngstown Hospital Association.
Mary Collins Harvey is buried in Tod Homestead Cemetery, 2200 Belmont Avenue, Youngstown, Ohio, Plot Hawthorne II.
END
Honor Norwalk CT veterans 