Cuba had been waging a war of independence against Spain since 1895, an effort largely supported by the United States (which had extensive economic interests on the island).

To ensure the safety of American citizens and property in Cuba, the United States sent the battleship USS Maine (ACR-1) to Havana in late January 1898.

The United States Congress enacted a joint resolution demanding independence for Cuba, and President William McKinley signed it into law on April 20.

Soldiers resisted being transferred from combat units into the nursing corps, and few volunteers signed up for medical duty.

The army reached out specifically to the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR), a patriotic society, to recruit women nurses.

Dr. Anita Newcomb McGee, one of the medical doctors practicing in the United States, was asked to lead the DAR's recruitment effort.

Only 76 were sent to Cuba, 30 to the Philippines, nine to Puerto Rico, six to Honolulu, and eight served aboard the hospital ship USS Relief.

On July 8, 1898, Congress enacted legislation authorizing the repatriation of American dead, and appropriating funds for this purpose.

[7] The first Spanish–American War nurse to be buried at Arlington National Cemetery was Anna H. Campos, who died in Cuba on September 2, 1899.

A memorial committee was established by the Order of Spanish War Nurses, chaired by Miss Esther Hasson of New York.

[18] The order received word that the Army had set aside a site near the western corner of what is now Section 21 for the memorial in late 1902.

In the late summer of 1903, however, Dr. McGee received assurance from Secretary of War Root and Quartermaster General Humphrey that the order could erect a memorial in Section 21.

[22] President McGee said members had expressed their disinclination to commemorate all nurses from all wars buried at Arlington, and the order was barred from erecting a memorial to itself.

[24] However, Hasson said, Quartermaster General Humphreys had indicated in July 1903 that the Army's preference was for a simple stone memorial with an inscription, a design which would cost less than $1,000 ($33,911 in 2023 dollars).

The committee noted that this eliminated any memorial incorporating a bronze tablet, bas-relief figures, or elaborate carving.

[24] On August 23, the Special Committee on Monument made a verbal report to the order (the contents of which were not revealed in the media), which was followed by vigorous discussion.

[26] The 1904 annual meeting of the Order of Spanish–American War Nurses was scheduled for early September at the Louisiana Purchase Exposition in St. Louis, Missouri.

[27] When the order met in St. Louis, the membership voted unanimous to erect a nurses' memorial with all due speed.

[28] The total cost of the memorial was also not reported, but Dr. McGee requested that each member donate $2 ($68 in 2023 dollars) to bring monument fund to amount needed.

Eighteen months had passed since the Secretary of War gave his consent to erect a monument, and there seemed little reason to believe that more time would allow the order to construct a grander memorial.

They were successful, however, in persuading Colonel Charles P. Morton, commander of the 7th Cavalry at Fort Myer, to provide a military band.

A temporary pole made of bamboo from the Philippines was erected next to the memorial, and palm branches from Cuba and Puerto Rico were bunched about its base.

[17] Dignitaries at the event included Dr. Anita Newcomb McGee (who presided over the ceremony);[33] M. Emmett Urell, Colonel, USA (ret.

McClean, president, Daughters of the American Revolution; surviving Civil War nurses from Washington, D.C. (all members of the National Association of Army Nurses of the Civil War); Colonel Morton and several U.S. Army and U.S. Navy officers; and a representative from the Embassy of Japan.

On the front of the memorial are carved in bas-relief several palm branches, which lean to the left and shade the panel below.

One of the long, trailing ribbons of stone appears to be loosely draped over the right side of the panel, where it wraps around the base of the palm fronds.