August 16, 2024 – Lyons, NY – The exciting story of Katherine Olmsted, founder of the once popular Normandy Inn in Wallington/Sodus and nurse during World War I, is now available in two books published by local author, Pamela Lee. Katherine’s complete history begins with the prequel book, Miss Olmsted’s Nursing Adventures, just released and ends with a previous publication Miss Olmsted’s Normandy Inn which was released in 2023.
Katherine came to Wayne County often as a child to visit her grandfather who was an apple farmer in Wallington. She later attended Johns Hopkins School of Nursing in Baltimore, MD and graduated in 1912 as a Registered Nurse. Shortly thereafter, the first world war broke out in southeastern Europe in July 1914. While working stateside as a nurse, Katherine signed up for the Red Cross reserves.
In 1917 the Red Cross offered Katherine a nursing position with a unit of 12 doctors and 12 nurses headed for Romania. Katherine accepted the assignment and wrote weekly letters home during her deployment in Europe describing her wartime experience. Excerpts of Katherine’s letters are included in the new book, Miss Olmsted’s Nursing Adventures, along with her firsthand account of a dog fight between two airplanes overhead.
The Red Cross unit was moved to a field hospital in Roman, a town in Romania near the war front. After a few months their work was suddenly disrupted when a siege surrounded the town. Katherine’s Red Cross Unit became trapped between the German Army and the Russian Revolution, so her medical team was forced to evacuate. Red Cross Headquarters in Washington D.C. had no idea what had become of the unit since there was no means of communication while they were on the run. It took 13 weeks for the unit to escape, first on a vintage wood-burning train and then on a war-torn minesweeper vessel. After she returned, Katherine spoke of her war zone experiences to many groups stateside. She worked hard to raise awareness of the difficult conditions in Europe, encouraged local folks to donate to the war effort and also encouraged young women to join the nursing ranks.
In 1921, Katherine accepted a promotion and entered a second tour of duty as Director for the League of Red Cross Societies in Europe. Her role in Europe was to establish multiple Red Cross societies in each country and train local nurses. Katherine made a huge impact during post-WWI reconstruction efforts as she traveled through 52 countries. Many leaders of these countries recognized her efforts and awarded her honorable decorations and citations for her work.
When Katherine resigned from the nursing profession in 1926, she enrolled at University of Sorbonne, Paris to earn a Cuisine Diploma at Le Cordon Bleu. She then headed home to the U.S. to start a new career as chef and restaurant owner in Sodus, NY. Her business, The Normandy Inn, was based upon the quaint homestead restaurants she visited in the Normandy region of France. Katherine employed many local people and supported about 35 families during the years of the Great Depression, which proved to be a huge asset to the community. Katherine also volunteered in Wayne County as Case Supervisor for Emergency Relief, Wayne County Red Cross Emergency & Disaster relief Chairman, Red Cross Home Nursing & Nutrition Teacher and Minuteman under Civilian Protection during World War II.
The author Pamela Lee is originally from Wayne County, New York. “Miss Olmsted’s adventures during her nursing career were exciting to research, and it is really an inspiring and interesting true story, which I hope readers will enjoy,” states Lee. “I also believe Katherine Olmsted was a woman ahead of her time. She attended college and had a career before women even had the right to vote.” Lee spent over a year thoroughly researching Miss Olmsted’s life story and conducted many interviews with residents and prior restaurant owners to tell her unique story. Both books contain historic pictures and even French culinary recipes.
Books are available locally in Lyons at the Museum of Wayne County History, 21 Butternut St. or at Community Coffee & Cafe, 3 Broad St. They are also available at Sodus Feeds & Artisan’s Co-op, 7639 Ridge Rd, Sodus and online at Amazon.com or Barnesandnoble.com. Miss Olmsted’s service story is included in the Wayne County Museum of History Military Memories exhibit along with other Wayne County residents who served from the Revolution through today. The museum exhibit will run through November 30th. Ms. Lee will kick off her book tour in September with a presentation about Miss Olmsted at the Wayne County Historical Society Annual Dinner. For more information visit www.WayneHistory.org. A book signing and free scavenger hunt based on the book Miss Olmsted’s Normandy Inn is scheduled at Sodus Feeds & Artisan’s Co-op (the former Normandy Inn property) on October 5th. For more information visit Sodus Feeds & Needs on Facebook.
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