[6] In 1912, Holden made her first trip to England where she attended a "Summer Meeting" at Cambridge University where she was able to examine their collection of fossil plants.

[7] She returned to England in 1913 after obtaining an AAUW European Fellowship and began paleobotanical research at Newnham College, Cambridge.

[11] However, she decided to suspend her studies and early in 1916, joined the first Millicent Fawcett medical unit run by the Scottish Women's Hospitals for Foreign Service.

She even managed to continue her research into paleobotany at the local university, however, most of her time was spent travelling throughout Russia helping to distribute supplies to different hospitals.

"[16] On October 5, 1919, a bronze tablet was unveiled in Capron Park, Attleboro, commemorating Ruth Holden alongside another nurse, Alice Illingworth Haskell, who had also died in service during the war.