The first professionally trained American nurse, Linda Richards is credited with establishing nurse training programs in various parts of the United States and in Japan. She also is recognized for creating the first system for keeping individual medical records for hospitalized patients.

Born on July 27, 1841, in West Potsdam, New York, Richards was the youngest of three daughters of Sanford and Betsy (Sinclair) Richards. Her father was a preacher who christened his youngest daughter Malinda Ann Judson Richards in hopes that she would follow in the footsteps of missionary Ann Judson Hasseltine.

When Richards was four years old, her family moved to the Wisconsin territory, where her father owned some land. Unfortunately, her father died from tuberculosis just six weeks after they arrived at their new home. Heartbroken, Richards returned with her mother and sisters to Newbury, Vermont, to stay with her grandfather. The family bought a small farm...