Irma Dryden

Irma Cameron Dryden (May 28, 1920 – September 17, 2020) was an American military nurse, best known for her work with the Tuskegee Airmen during WWII. She was involved in the first military wedding at Tuskegee. She went on to be the oldest living Tuskegee Aircorps nurse before her death in 2020 at the age of 100.

Early life Dryden was born in New York City in 1920. Dryden's ambition was to become a physician, however, she decided to pursue nursing because she had difficulty accessing the necessary education. She graduated from the Harlem Hospital School of Nursing in 1942.

Military career In 1942, Dryden enlisted as a military nurse and traveled to Alabama with two of her classmates, Alice M. Dunkley and Mary Rickards. She recounted in an interview with Tuskegee University that she "didn't eat the whole trip" due to rules requiring black passengers to eat behind a curtain after white passengers had finished. Their wedding was the first military wedding at Tuskegee. In 2014, Dryden received a Congressional Gold Medal for her military service.

Dryden died at the age of 100 in September 2020. She was the oldest living Tuskegee Aircorps nurse at the time of her death.