She attended the Fairmont Seminary and a training program for the public library in Washington, and got her first job in 1910 as a cataloguer for the library there. In 1914 she decided to leave the library and attend nursing school. In her words, "The library was too slow and uneventful. My taste ran to something more exciting." She decided to attend the Bellevue Nurses Training Program in New York City, and graduated in 1917. She then applied for service with the American Red Cross, and, on June 15, 1918, sailed for Europe.