Elva A. George

Elva Anne George was the daughter of Thomas Crosslet George and Christine Oberg George.[1] Her brother Sidney Gonzales George was an engineering professor at Cornell University.[2] She attended Pratt Institute, graduating from the course in Food Economics in 1903.[3][4]

Chief Executives of the American Red Cross Department of Nursing in 1918; Elva A. George is first from the right

Elva George worked as a dietitian in New York before World War I. She was elected president of the New York Association of Dietitians in 1917.[5] That same year, George was chosen as director of the Bureau of Dietitian Service of the American Red Cross,[6] a chief executive position in the American Red Cross Department of Nursing.[7] Her responsibilities included recruiting dietitians for Red Cross service at home and abroad, and as instructors in "home dietetics".[8] She was also secretary of the Red Cross's National Committee on Dietitian Service.[9]

She resigned as director in July 1919,succeeded by Margaret Sawyer.[3] She returned to New York to work as head of housekeeping at Barnard College,[10] and later in the Department of Public Welfare in that state.[11] She retired as chief dietitian at Kings County Hospital in 1942.[12]

In retirement, George moved to Miami, Florida.[13] She died there in 1953, aged 76.[14]