Under the Red Cross flag at home and abroad: base hospital unit #44, evacuation hospital #5

Collection History

NYPL has a very strong collection of printed materials about the First World War, originally cataloged as the "European War, 1914-1918." It also holds original materials that are not well known. This digital presentation offers two unique compilations and two rare, published works. The two albums and the postcard series are relatively recent acquisitions, while the French automaker's publication was a routine acquisition of the 1910s.

Background

The First World War lasted from 1914 to November 11, 1918 (the date on which the United States commemorates its war veterans), but the United States was an active participant for only the last eighteen months of the conflict. The two albums are both American, joining a larger tradition of creating personal records of one individual's participation in momentous events. The French book records the military use of a civilian factory, and the German postcards portray the German side of the war.

Related Resources

Carmichael, Jane. First World War Photographers (1989).

Dewitz, Bodo von. So wird bei uns der Krieg geführt!: Amateurfotografie im Ersten Weltkrieg (c1989)

Gallagher, Jean. The World Wars through the Female Gaze (1998).

Gilbert, Adrian. World War I in photographs (1986).

Haythornthwaite, Philip J. A Photohistory of World War One (1989-90, repr. c1993).

Holmes, Richard. The First World War in Photographs (c2001).

Der Krieg als Reise: der Erste Weltkrieg - Innenansichten (1999).

Latos, Henryk. Z historii fotografii wojennej (1985).

Miquel, Pierre. 1918, images de la victoire: janvier-novembre (c1998).

Miquel, Pierre. 14-18: mille images inédites (c1988).

Der Weltkrieg im Bild (1927-[1929?]). 2 v. [Bd. 1] Originalaufnahmen des Kriegs, Bild, und Filmamtes aus der modernen Materialschlaft; [Bd. 2] Frontaufnahmen aus den Archiven der Entente.

See also in Library Catalog: World War, 1914-1918 -- Pictorial works

Collection Data

Description
Leather-bound album (lacking spine) with black kraft paper pages. Title, compiler's name and drawing of a caduceus with letters for the Army Nurse Corps on first leaf. Color drawing of flags of 14 allied countries on second leaf. Snapshots, commercial photographs, collotypes and drawings interspersed with excerpts of Ethel Anderson's diary, poetry and captions, in white ink. On separate sheet is photo-collage of portraits of nurses and view of a hospital sent to Anderson as a greeting before she was sent overseas. Diary entries begin April 6, 1918 when Anderson reported for duty and was sent to Camp Upton, Yaphank, L.I. and end with April 20, 1919 when she returned on the S.S. Mobile to the U.S. Entries detail conditions in camp and hospital, camp life, French and Belgian scenery and the war's destruction, activities, outings, dances, Christmas 1918, and a 14-day leave to the south of France and Monte-Carlo. Poetry includes works by friends or colleagues of Anderson, and Henry Van Dyke, Elsie Janis and unidentified authors. Inserted in the album is a letter of recognition to nurses from Thomas J. Leary, Commander of Evacuation Hospital No. 5. Photographs include images of nurses at Camp Upton, the camp and troops drilling; ships in a convoy; rooftops and street in Le Havre; destroyed bridge over the Marne; Bealleau Wood; destruction in Chateau Thierry; train yard at Chateau Thierry; visiting the bases of captured German "Big Bertha" guns; women washing outide of nurses' tent; camp at Viller-Cotterets showing tents; ambulance company attached to Evacuation Hospital 5; harvested fields; Chateau Pierrefonds; fort at Verdun showing walls, building, streets, a Y.M.C.A.; view overlooking town and plain outside fort; nurses embarking on train; dugout at French hospital; Argonne forest, trenches and shell holes; Ville-Sur-Coursances; destroyed village; camoflaged trenches, barbed wire defenses; eating out-of-doors; village of Châlons including view of group having a glass of wine; views in Reims, including Cathedral and other destruction, barbed wire entanglements, dstroyed Convent of the Little Sisters of the Poor, dugouts and machine gun emplacements; train with troops; windmills, houses; ruins in Belgium; American and German cemeteries in Belgium; gate of German cemetery; interior view of nurses' tent; views of nurses in an airplane, doing laundry, with Belgians, in camp, wearing gasmasks; group portrait of the staff of Evacuation Hospital No. 5 at Malo Le Bain, Dunkerque; the beach including a mine washed ashore; ruins at Iepres. Other views include tourist views of Brussells and Paris; views in Toul; casinos and scenery in Nice and Monte Carlo; mountains and village at Grenoble; Hotel Royal at La Baule; a collage of portraits in memory of Anna Bell F. West, a nurse who died in service after an illness; a collage of portraits that have been cut up into the letters of the word "Buddies," 6 with signatures and messages; collage of drawing showing cross surrounded by flowers, with photograph of cemetery filling the arms of the cross.
Names
Anderson, Ethel, active 1910-1919 (Compiler)
Dates / Origin
Date Created: 1918 - 1919
Library locations
The Miriam and Ira D. Wallach Division of Art, Prints and Photographs: Photography Collection
Shelf locator: MFZ (Anderson) 94-343
Topics
World War, 1914-1918
Nurses
United States. Army Nurse Corps
American Red Cross
France
Belgium
Camp Upton (N.Y.)
Genres
Photographs
Drawings
Diaries
Poetry
Notes
Acquisition: Anonymous gift, 1980
Statement of responsibility: Ethel Anderson, R.N.
Physical Description
Extent: 1 album : photographic prints, drawings, collage ; 26 x 32 cm
Type of Resource
Still image
Text
Identifiers
RLIN/OCLC: NYPG94-F114
NYPL catalog ID (B-number): b12318097
Universal Unique Identifier (UUID): 9f86c7b0-c6d0-012f-f3ba-58d385a7bc34
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