 She then moved to Portland and practiced law . Women 's rights groups promoted Hobbs as a candidate to run for governor , but she never ran for office . Within a few years Fern Hobbs became the commissioner of Oregon State Industrial Accident Commission , working on getting taxes due on the Oregon & California Lands . In 1917 , with the United States entering World War I , she began a long association with the Red Cross . From 1917 to 1922 she worked in Europe , including time spent as the chief of the casualty division in Paris , France . In that position Hobbs was responsible for notifying dead soldiers ' next of <unk> . She returned to Europe in the 1930s , working in the Rhine Valley when it was occupied by France . 
