Clyde McDowell Myres: Civilian and Reconstruction Aide

This paper documents the life history and contributions of Clyde McDowell Myres to the profession of occupational therapy. With three other women, Myres arrived in France to serve patients in the US Army in World War I and set up an occupational therapy department in a Base Hospital. The four women were called Civilian Aides because women, except nurses, were not allowed to serve in the military. With little experience, they set up a workshop in June 1918 and treated patients until April 1919 when the soldiers were returned stateside and the camp (Base Hospital 117) closed following the end of WW1 in Europe The term "Reconstruction Aide" would replace Civilian Aide when the women from the orthopedic department arrived in September 1918 (Myres, 1919b).