Buried in the American section, of Brookwood
Military Cemetery is Tula L. Harkey.
So, who was Tula L. Harkey?
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| Colorado College Yearbook, 1909 |
Tula Lake Harkey was born during the Christmas season of
1872, the exact day is not known. Her parents and siblings if any are also
unknown. We do know that she was born in Woodstock, Bibb County, Alabama that
is about 30 miles from Birmingham. She graduated from Lebanon College and the
1900 census placed her in Jefferson County, Alabama living in a boarding house
with the occupation of a public-school teacher. She was also approved to teach
there in 1901 but within the next few years she moved to Colorado and attended
and graduated from the State Normal School taking their regular course.
Following graduation from Colorado College in Colorado Springs in 1909 where
she specialized in chemistry, Tula moved to New York City where she undertook
post-graduate work at Columbia University. She later became a teacher of
chemistry at Columbia and began the study of bacteriology. She continued her
studies for several years and then received an appointment as chemist on the
State Board of Health in Albany. On January 1, 1918, she resigned that position
and began research work in chemistry and bacteriology with the Rockefeller
Foundation.
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| RMS Carmania |
Before
her research work could be completed the United States entered the World War on
April 6, 1917. At this time the need for doctors, nurses and workers of all kinds
was immediately needed. She offered her services to the war department and was
immediately accepted and placed in Base Hospital # 33 that was now being
organized at the Albany Hospital, Albany, New York. It was mobilized November
19, 1917, at the Troop B Armory where it remained in training for five months.
On April 26, 1918, the organization moved to Camp Merritt, New Jersey where it
remained until May 2. The Hospital Unit embarked May 3 on the British Ocean
Liner, RMS Carmania, leaving the same day for Liverpool, England where it
arrived May 16, 1918. Tula listed her good friend and roommate Blanche Frazier,
611 East 112 Street, New York as her next of kin.
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| Base Hospital 33 |
Hospital
Unit 33 left Liverpool immediately for the rest camp at Knotty Ash, where it
remained for two days and was then transferred to the American rest camp,
Winnall Down, Winchester. At Winnall Down the unit remained awaiting permanent
assignment. The majority of the personnel during this time were assigned to
duty in hospitals and camps in England. On June 3, 1918, the unit was assigned
station at Portsmouth, England, and took over a portion of the Fifth Southern
General Hospital, known as Fawcett Road section. On July 8, 1918, the unit was
transferred to the Portsmouth Borough Asylum, which was in greater readiness
for immediate use. The asylum buildings were of modern construction, brick and
stone, in the centre of an 83-acre tract, and were capable of housing 1,000
patients.
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The New York Times
31st December 1918 |
Tula
supervised research in the hospital bacteriological laboratory connected with
the hospital and was seeking a new method of combating spinal meningitis when
she contracted the deadly disease and died on November 30, 1918, at the age of
45. She was buried at Magdalen Hill
Cemetery, Winchester, Hampshire. The war had ended with the signing of the
armistice nineteen days before Tula’s death and Hospital # 33 continued to
operate until January 12, 1919. The unit sailed April 13 to the United States
and was demobilized at Camp Taylor, Kentucky, May 7.
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Tula Lake Harkey's grave
Brookwood American Cemetery |
In October 1919,
families were given the choice of leaving their loved one buried in an American
Cemetery in Europe or bring them home for reburial. While it is unsure who made
the decision for Tula as her unnamed parents were marked deceased, it could
have been cousin J. L. Ellard who was named beneficiary of her estate in 1920.
She was reburied on June 2, 1922, Brookwood American Military Cemetery
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