Johnson became director of the Department of Nursing, Atlantic Division, American Red Cross in 1917, during World War I."Mobilization of Domestic Nurses Arranged Here" Bridgeport Telegram (October 5, 1918): 22. via Newspapers.com She was responsible for equipment and over ten thousand Army, Navy, and Red Cross nursing personnel between embarkation and debarkation. She and her assistant Christine Nuno particularly assisted sick or disabled war nurses in connecting with the supports and care they required upon demobilization.History of American Red Cross Nursing (Macmillan 1922): 1035-1038. She was one of the first six American nurses to receive the Florence Nightingale Medal in 1920."Six American Nurses Recipients of Florence Nightingale Medals" American Journal of Nursing (October 1920): 39. A report on her in 1921 commented that she was "one of the real executives developed among the women of the country during the war."Nelson McDowell Shepard, "The Florence Nightingale Medal" Daughters of the American Revolution Magazine (November 1921): 646-647.
