This assembled collection of posters was originally acquired by Dr. D’Ann Campbell, a scholar with extensive research experience on the history of women in war. The posters were issued by the U.S. government to entice new recruits, they convey the various assignments and accomplishments that women could experience as enlisted military nurses. The posters were intended for display during wartime in public spaces and could commonly be found in libraries, post offices, and schools.
Finding Aid for D’Ann Campbell Memorabilia
(MC26)
| VOLUME: | 3 cubic feet; 19 posters |
| ACQUISITION: | The items in this collection were donated to the Bellevue Alumnae Center for Nursing History Archive, by Dr. D’Ann Campbell in one accession in 2000 |
| ACCESS: | This collection is open to the public by appointment. |
| COPYRIGHT: | Please consult the repository for information about duplication or publishing of any materials from this collection. |
| PREFERRED CITATION: |
D’Ann Campbell Memorabilia (MC26), Bellevue Alumnae Center for Nursing History Archive, Center for Nursing, Guilderland, NY |
Summary
“The Army Nurse Corps,” a 2003 publication of the U.S. Army Center of Military History presents figures that contextualize the need for military nurses during the second World War. At the onset of WWII, fewer than 1,000 nurses were on the Army roll. Throughout the course of the war enlistment numbers for nurses rose to more than 59,000. In addition to increased recruiting, the U.S. military also restructured its nursing program at this time. From 1943 to 1945 the U.S. Army began to offer a four week intensive program that integrated basic military training along with a nursing education. This revised training program provided an increased opportunity for women’s professional development.
The recruitment posters in this collection represent the nurse’s war-time role as a source of inspiration, she is shown as a healer of spirits and bodies. Using graphic and textual representation, the posters collectively describe the wartime nurse as a guardian of morale as well as a stalwart and skilled technician in adverse and dangerous conditions.
Biographical Sketch
Dr. D’Ann Campbell is a scholar and educator. Her primary areas of research interest include women’s history, social and military history, and women in the military in the 20th century, especially World War II. Her published works include her 1984 book Women at War with America: Private Lives in a Patriotic Era (Harvard) and over 40 scholarly articles. Campbell has been employed at Culver-Stockton College; Montana State University, Billings; White Pines College; Sage College; Austin Peay State University; Indiana University, Bloomington; and United States Military Academy, West Point. At West Point, Campbell helped integrate women into the military academy. She has also been an advisor for: The Army War College, the Air Force Academy, and the Secretary of the Air Force. As Dean of Academics at the United States Coast Guard Academy, Dr. D’Ann Campbell became the first woman to serve in that capacity at any of the military service academies in the United States. She received her BA from Colorado College in 1972 and her Ph.D. in history from the University of North Carolina in 1979 where she earned summa cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa, Phi Gamma Mu, and Phi Kappa Phi honors.
Scope Note
This collection contains posters issued to recruit new enlistment for the American military during both World Wars. The bulk of the collection focuses on World War II and Army Nurse Corps recruitment. There is no textual documentation on recruitment practices, the production of the posters, the Army Nurse Corps, or the origin of the items (other than the publishing agencies as printed on the poster).
Arrangement & Description
Items have been arranged according to categories expressed on the inventory document that was provided with the collection during acquisition. The inventory document divides materials chronologically, separating WWI items from WWII. The inventory also differentiated the Army Nurse Corps recruitment posters from other recruitment agencies, within the WWII category.
Additional sub-series not provided in the inventory have been imposed to collocate WWII items within a shared poster campaign. In the interest of space, some WWI and WWII posters are housed in the same box. This resulting arrangement organizes the collection into three series:
- World War I posters (various recruitment agencies, nursing and non-nursing)
- World War II posters (various recruitment agencies, nursing and non-nursing)
- World War II posters designed for Army Nurse Corps by the U.S. Army Recruiting Publicity Bureau.
The bulk of the collection is focused on WWII Army Nurse Corps recruitment, and all of these items are located in Box 2. Since posters from other WWII recruitment agencies are fewer in number, they are housed together with WWI items in Box 1.
Series Description:
World War I posters (various recruitment agencies, nursing and non-nursing)
World War II posters (various recruitment agencies, nursing and non-nursing) ( Box 1)
These two series combined contain 9 items. Recruitment posters from World War I span both nursing and non-nursing contributions women could make to the war effort. The World War II posters in this container were created by recruitment agencies other than the Army Nurse Corp, such as the American Red Cross, the Marines, or Women’s Army Corp (WACs). Some of these WWII posters are not nursing specific but do focus on women as a military recruiting audience.
World War II posters designed for Army Nurse Corps by the
U.S. Army Recruiting Publicity Bureau (Box 2)
This series of posters was used by the Army Nurse Corps to recruit new enlistment from 1939-1945. Within this series there are two subseries of poster campaigns: “The Army Nurse in War” depicts active-duty women and provides detailed captions about the nursing experience. A second subseries “In the Soldier’s Voice” focuses on the images and individual voices of male soldiers and provides captions on how nurses saved their lives.
Note: The grouping of posters in this second subseries has been titled “In the Solider’s Voice” for the purposes of archival arrangement, although this is not the official title as issued by the U.S. Government
Box & Folder List
Box 1
World War I posters
(various recruitment agencies, nursing and non-nursing)
| Title: Help send across the Red Cross
Date: n.d. Dimensions: 21.25 x 28 inches Image: Color. Illustrated nurse tending to wounded soldier, crying woman with child in background, bombed buildings Artist: RTE Agency: American Red Cross, St. Paul Chapter, Minnesota |
| Title: The spirit of the Red Cross
Date: n.d. Dimensions: 19 x 25 inches Image: Color. Illustrated and photographic elements. Uniformed nurses, soldiers in trenches, hospital building Agency: Red Cross Committee of the National Association of the Motion Picture Industry Note: Caption text forms an image of a cross in typographic arrangement. Promotes a motion picture by James Montgomery Flagg, a movie produced to support a Red Cross Fundraising campaign, the movie was “25 minutes of rapid firing drama” intended to show the public how donated funds were used overseas. |
| Title: You can help: American Red Cross
Date: [1918?] Dimensions: 20 x 30 inches Image: Color. Illustrated woman knitting Artist: W.T. Benda Agency: American Red Cross Printer: Alco-Gravure, Inc. New York Note: Penciled in margin “Rec’d July 31, 1918” |
World War II posters
(various recruitment agencies, nursing and non-nursing)
| Title: Fighting men need nurses (lithograph)
Date: n.d. Poster number: 708 Dimensions: 20 x 30 inches Image: Color. Illustrated nurse holding wounded soldier with barbed wire in background Artist: Jon Whitcomb Agency: American Red Cross |
| Title: Fighting men need nurses
Date: n.d. Poster number: 115 Dimensions: 11 x 28 inches Image: Color. Illustrated nurse with injection needle Agency: American Red Cross Printer: Allied Printing Trades Council, Chicago |
| Title: WACS with the Army Air Forces
Date: 1944 Poster number: P-82–RPB–5-4-44–10M Dimensions: 19 x 25 inches Image: Black-and-white. Photographic, shows uniformed women at work as flight observer, weather observer, dispatcher Agency: Women’s Army Corps (WAC) Publisher: Recruiting Publicity Bureau, United States Army Note: Describes the WAC job assignments that provide orientation and safety for Army Pilots |
| Title: Be a Marine: free a Marine to fight
Date: n.d. Poster number: NOm-42757 335000 Dimensions: 14.25 x 20 inches Image: Color. Illustrated portrait of uniformed woman, airplane Agency: U.S. Marine Corps Printer: McCandlish Litho Corporation, Philadelphia, PA Distributor: OWI |
| Title: Enlist in a proud profession
Date: n.d. Dimensions: 14.25 x 20 inches Image: Color. Illustrated portrait of uniformed woman Artist: Edmundson Agency: U.S. Cadet Nurse Corps Publisher: U.S. Public Health Service, Federal Security Agency |
| Title: You are needed now: Join the Army Nurse Corps
Date: 1943 Poster number: 710-A Dimensions: 20.5 x 31 inches Image: Color. Photographic portrait of uniformed woman Artist: Ruzzie Green Agency: U.S. Army Nurse Corp, American Red Cross Printer (location): Wascine, Wisconsin |
Box 2
World War II posters designed for Army Nurse Corps by the U.S. Army Recruiting Publicity Bureau
The Army Nurse in War
Items from this poster campaign illustrate the nursing experience with black and white photographs and each image is accompanied by a detailed caption describing war activities.
| Title: The Army nurse in war “Removing stitches”
Date: 1944 Poster number: P-153–RPB–12-6-44–12M Dimensions: 19 x 25 inches Image: Black-and-white. Nurses at work, removing stitches, applying nerve therapy, and treating eye wound Agency: U.S. Army Nurse Corp Publisher: U.S. Army Recruiting Publicity Bureau Note: Captions for “removing stitches,” “soothing hands,” and “medicated pack” |
| Title: The Army nurse in war “Cheerful nurse”
Date: 1945 Poster number: P-166–RPB–4-14-45–12M Dimensions: 19 x 25 inches Image: Black-and-white. Nurses at work, pushing surgical dressing cart, eating together, feeding soldier Agency: U.S. Army Nurse Corp Publisher: U.S. Army Recruiting Publicity Bureau Note: Captions for “cheerful nurse,” “chowtime,” and “feeding” |
| Title: The Army nurse in war “Belgium, Italy”
Date: 1944 Poster number: P-155–RPB–12-6-44-12M Dimensions: 19 x 25 inches Image: Black-and-white. Nurses at work in front-line hospitals, evacuation hospitals, and general hospitals in various geographies Agency: U.S. Army Nurse Corp Publisher: U.S. Army Recruiting Publicity Bureau Note: Captions for “Germany,” “Belgium,” and “Italy” |
| In the Solider’s Voice
Items in this campaign use a photograph portrait or image of a wounded soldier, text narrates the soldier’s personal experience to express the value of wartime nurses. Title: “She stood by me for hours” Date: 1944 Poster number: P-141–RPB–9-9-44–15M Dimensions: 19 x 25 inches Image: Black-and-white. Wounded soldier, leg wound Agency: U.S. Army Nurse Corps Publisher: United States Army Recruiting Publicity Bureau Note: Caption from Sergeant Hampton Scofield, Airborne infantryman from Coldspring, New York |
| Title: “They kept right on working…”
Date: 1944 Poster number: P-139–RPB–9-8-44–15M Dimensions: 19 x 25 inches Image: Black-and-white. Soldier portrait in civilian clothing Agency: U.S. Army Nurse Corps Publisher: United States Army Recruiting Publicity Bureau Note: Caption from Sergeant Robert Gold, paratrooper from Floral Park, Long Island, New York |
| Title: “I’d have been a goner…”
Date: 1944 Poster number: P-132–RPB–9-6-44–20M Dimensions: 19 x 25 inches Image: Black-and-white. Wounded soldier, arm wound Agency: U.S. Army Nurse Corps Publisher: United States Army Recruiting Publicity Bureau Note: Caption from Staff Sergeant John Schuster, infantryman from Stelton, New Jersey |
| Title: “I’d given up hope…”
Date: 1944 Poster number: P-133–RPB–9-6-44–20M Dimensions: 19 x 25 inches Image: Black-and-white. Wounded soldier, shoulder & spine wound Agency: U.S. Army Nurse Corps Publisher: United States Army Recruiting Publicity Bureau Note: Caption from Private First Class Lorenzo Catlett, infantryman from Louisburg, North Carolina |
| Title: “I owe my life…”
Date: 1944 Poster number: P-136–RPB–9-7-44–12M Dimensions: 19 x 25 inches Image: Black-and-white. Wounded soldier receiving injection from uniformed nurse Agency: U.S. Army Nurse Corps Publisher: United States Army Recruiting Publicity Bureau Note: Caption from Private First Class Leo Yehl, amphibious engineer from Rochester, New York |
| Title: “The touch of a woman’s hand…”
Date: 1944 Poster number: P-135–RPB–9-7-44–15M Dimensions: 19 x 25 inches Image: Black-and-white Note: Missing. included in deed of gift inventory list, not in box |
| Other Posters for Army Nurse Corps Recruitment
Title: They cared for freedom… I’ll care for them Date: 1944 Poster number: LX–129R–RPB–8-26-44–50M Dimensions: 18 x 24 inches Image: Three color. Photographic and illustrated, nurses training, taking oath, administering care to soldiers Agency: U.S. Army Nurse Corps Publisher: United States Army Recruiting Publicity Bureau Note: 4 detailed paragraphs about basic training, assignment and duties, and the broadened professional horizons that Army Nurses can expect |
Bibliography of works by Dr. D’Ann Campbell:
A longer bibliography of D’Ann Campbell articles is available in the source file for this collection.
Women at War with America: Private Lives in a Patriotic Era. Cambridge: Harvard: 1984.
“Women in Combat” The World War II Experience in the U.S., England, Germany and U.S.S.R.” Journal of Military History 57 (1993): 301-323
Weblinks to related resources:
The American Red Cross, Partnership with America’s Military Members
http://www.redcross.org/about-us/history/red-cross-american-history/military-partnership
Official website provides a brief history of Red Cross military nursing from the Spanish American War to present day conflict zones.
The Army Nurse (1945)
http://youtu.be/eneEmDtSvzI#aid=P9f1xeiF0Aw
This 16 minute video produced in 1945 by the War Finance Division of the U.S. Treasury Department depicts training and study, the daily life (both on duty and off duty) of Army nurses.
The Army Nurse Corps in WWII
http://www.history.army.mil/books/wwii/72-14/72-14.HTM
A 2003 government issued article. Prepared at the U.S. Army Center of Military History by Judith A. Bellafaire with an introduction by Gordon R. Sullivan, General of the United States Army, Chief of Staff.
The History of the Army Nurse Corps
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iDExHl_aVQ8
This 38 minute video created by the U.S. Army provides a total overview of the Army Nurse Corps and is narrated by LTC Nancy Cantrell, Army Nurse Corps Historian 2011-2012.
The U.S. Army Nurse Corps
http://armynursecorps.amedd.army.mil/
The U.S. Army Medical Department official website for the Army Nurse Corps.
WWII Poster Collection at Northwestern University Library
http://digital.library.northwestern.edu/wwii-posters/
The Government and Geographic Information and Data Services Department at Northwestern University Library has a comprehensive collection of over 300 posters issued by U.S. Federal agencies from the onset of war through 1945.
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© 2001-2006 Foundation of the New York State Nurses Association, Inc.
© 2006-2017 Foundation of New York State Nurses, Inc.
Index code: MC26
Finding Guide:
