Huldah Agnes Cooke, RN, ANC, 1892-1973

On January 31, 1892 Huldah Agnes was welcomed as the first child of Philetus George and Mary Cooke of Goshen, Whatcom County, Washington.  Goshen was a small town about 11 miles northeast of Bellingham. Philetus was the first county surveyor for Whatcom County and was responsible for laying out several of the arterial highways leading into Bellingham. Two brothers would join Huldah by 1900; Clay Charles born on October 17, 1893 and Philetus Jr. born on June 20, 1898. 

After graduating from Bellingham High School, Huldah began her training to become a nurse at St. Joseph’s Hospital in Bellingham.  She finished her training in October 1914 and became a registered nurse in the state of Washington.   The photo at right is from her Application for Certificate as Registered Nurse. 

All three of the Cooke children enlisted in World War I.  Clay entered first on July 27, 1917; followed by Huldah on November 28, 1917; and then Philetus on October 7, 1918 .

Huldah first served at Camp Kearny in California before heading overseas to Base Hospital 50.  She would spend a year overseas in France with time also spent at Evacuation Hospital No. 31, and Base Hospital No. 208.  She was discharged from service on September 6, 1919.  

By the 1920 census, Huldah and her brother Philetus Jr. were back living with their parents in Lawrence, a township just outside of Bellingham. Huldah continued her nursing career and her brother Philetus begun studies at the University of Washington (UW). Her brother Clay married shortly after returning from the war and spent a few years in Kodiak, Alaska where both he and his wife worked as school teachers before returning to live in Bellingham. 

Huldah would follow in Philetus Jr’s footsteps and began studies at UW around 1923.  She went on to earn a B.S. from the school in either 1924 or 1925.  After obtaining her degree, Huldah found work in Bellingham as an instructor.  In 1926, she accepted an assistant professor of Home Economics position at the Colorado Agriculture College in Fort Collins, Colorado. She taught courses on   Elementary Nursing, Dietary Calculations and Meal Service, Introduction to Home Economics,   House Management and House Sanitation, Home Hygiene and Home Care of the Sick, Dietary Studies, Home Practice, and Home Management.  The picture below was taken of Huldah during her time at the college.

Image credit: University Historic Photograph Collection,
Colorado State University, Archives & Special Collections

After almost ten years, Huldah left her position in Colorado and returned home. She enrolled again at the University of Washington and obtained her certificate in Public Health Nursing in 1937.

Shortly after obtaining her certificate, Huldah moved to Portland, Oregon where she found a job as a school nurse.   She did not stay long and by 1941 was back living in Bellingham where she obtained a job at her alma mater Bellingham High School as a school nurse.    She would stay at Bellingham High School for the remainder of her career.  City directories and school yearbooks show she was the 

school’s nurse through around 1956.  

She spent her retired years living in a home overlooking Bellingham Bay.  Huldah Agnes Cooke passed away on February 23, 1973 and is buried in the Cooke family plot at Bayview Cemetery in Bellingham.  

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Sources:

1. ‘164 Are Given Degrees By U.W.’ The Seattle Daily Times. Tuesday, April 1937. Page 26 
2. Agnew, M.A. (1925). List of workers in subjects pertaining to agriculture in State agricultural colleges and experiment stations, 1926-1927. Washington, Government Printing Office. archive.org/details/workersinsubject87agne
3. Agnew, M. A. (1925). List of workers in subjects pertaining to agriculture in State agricultural colleges and experiment stations, 1927-1928. Washington, Government Printing Office. archive.org/details/workersinsubject43agne
4. Agnew, M. A. (1925). List of workers in subjects pertaining to agriculture in State agricultural colleges and experiment stations, 1935-1936. Washington, Government Printing Office. archive.org/details/workersinsubject234agne
5. Ancestry.com. U.S. City Directories, 1822-1995 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2011. Bellingham, Washington: 1923-1926; 1937-1938; 1941-1960; Fort Collins, Colorado: 1929-1933; Portland, Oregon: 1940 
6. Bellingham High School. 1908, 1911, 1943-1956. Ancestry.com. U.S., School Yearbooks, 1880-2012 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010. 
7. Clay C. Cooke. Ancestry.com. 1920 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Census Place: Kodiak, Third Judicial District, Alaska Territory; Roll: T625_2031; Page: 13A; Enumeration District: 13; Image: 373 
8. Clay Charles Cooke. Ancestry.com. U.S., World War I Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2005. 
9. Huldah A Cooks. Ancestry.com. 1900 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. ; Census Place: Goshen, Whatcom, Washington; Roll: 1753; Page: 9A; Enumeration District: 0236. 
10. Huldah A Cook. Ancestry.com. 1910 United States Federal Census [database on-line].Census Place: Goshen, Whatcom, Washington; Roll: T624_1674; Page: 5A; Enumeration District:0348; 
11. Huldah Cooke. Ancestry.com. 1920 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Census Place: Lawrence, Whatcom, Washington; Roll: T625_1944; Page: 2B; Enumeration District: 255; Image: 251. 
12. Huldah A Cooke. Ancestry.com. 1930 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Census Place: Fort Collins, Larimer, Colorado; Roll: 245; Page: 5B; Enumeration District: 0044; Image: 101.0. 
13. Huldah A Cooke. Ancestry.com. 1940 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Census Place: Portland, Multnomah, Oregon; Roll: T627_3391; Page: 61B; Enumeration District:37-366. 
14. Huldah Agnes Cooke, App. 762. Department of Licensing, Business and Professions Division: Registered Nurses Licensing Files, 1909-1917. Washington State Archives, Digital Archives. www.digitalarchives.wa.gov/Record/View/70BFAE387ECB4E5024F041D8905FDB2E
15. Huldah A Cooke. Washington State Death Records. Washington State Archives, Digital Archives. www.digitalarchives.wa.gov/Record/View/581E0510FF4C3CCCCE7FC9121E514AAE
16. Jacobin, L., & Pershing, J. J. (1921). With the colors, from Whatcom, Skagit and San Juan counties: an honor roll containing a pictorial record of the gallant and courageous men from northwestern Washington, U.S.A., who served in the world war, 1917-1918-1919. Seattle, Wash, Press of Peters Pub. Co.thirdstbooks.com/colors/ww1whatcom2.html
17. Lopez-Terrill, Vicki. Librarian. Colorado State University Morgan Library. 'Huldah Cooke, Professor In 1920S/1930s'. June 1, 2016. E-mail. 
18. Philetus George Cooke Jr. Ancestry.com. U.S., World War I Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2005. 
19. Tyee. University of Washington. 1923-1925. University of Washington Yearbooks and Documents. University of Washington Libraries. content.lib.washington.edu/uwdocsweb