Letter of the Day: July 4

I've looked through a dozen years of correspondence and haven't found a letter yet. I had been hoping on finding one written to the Museum. In lieu of a letter, here's two photographs. Happy July 4th.



AMERICAN RED CROSS CANTEEN DECORATED FOR INDEPENDENCE DAY CELEBRATION. GARE DE L'EST. PARIS, FRANCE. World War I. (Reeve 16183).



AMERICAN RED CROSS NURSES IN INDEPENDENCE DAY PARADE. PARIS, FRANCE. World War I (Reeve 16184).

Red Cross selling items from Archives to close budget gap

The NY Times has the story today -

Red Cross to Auction Off Little Pieces of Its History
By STEPHANIE STROM
Published: October 3, 2009
To help address a $50 million budget deficit, the American Red Cross will sell some of the memorabilia it has squirreled away over many years.

This is a trend we're seeing more and more of.

More on the Red Cross and Mutilés

I came across a reference that's hosted on the WWW Virtual Library website. (Now there's a website that will cost you hours. What a great reference tool.) It's called A Statement of Finances and Accomplishments for the period July 1, 1917 to February 28, 1919, by the American Red Cross, Washington, DC, October 1919. It contains this paragraph:

The relief of French mutilés included the operation of a school farm, the manufacture of portrait masks and artificial limbs, the operation of an educational and publicity service, and assistance to French institutions offering commercial and industrial courses to mutilés. It is estimated that 6s,000 [?] of the 600,000 crippled French soldiers were reached by the Red Cross.

It has a table that shows what kind of services were provided:


I'm surprised that only 94 men received "portrait masks." I would have expected a higher number.

Another item on the Internet Archive

We uploaded the August 1918 edition of the Carry On, a Red Cross publication about reconstruction and rehabilitation of World War 1 soldiers and sailors to the Internet Archive. See it here.

For some weird reason it's there twice although I uploaded it only once.

Browsing

Today we had a request for images of people who were blinded by poisonous gas. If the requester had asked for rabbits we would have been in business, but we had nada for those two conditions together. Some blindness, some poisonous gas, but the Venn diagram did not converge.

I did find, however, some interesting pictures about blindness, and here they are.

Reeve 870, A blinded French soldier, World War 1

















Reeve 871, A blinded French soldier and his bride, World War 1






AEF007 (American Expeditionary Forces)
Blind French soldiers, patients in the department organized by Miss Winnifred Hope for the re-education of the blind. Base Hospital number 115, Hotel Ruhl. Base Laboratory Hospital Center Vichy, France. 08/1918[?].















Reeve 14494: American Red Cross workrooms. Paris, Seine, France. Stitching eye bandages on the machine in the American Red Cross workrooms for surgical dressings, rue de la Faisanderie, Paris. These bandages are used largely for gas cases.

Chapel at Walter Reed

Chapel at Walter Reed
Originally uploaded by tiz_herself

The Memorial Chapel is on the Walter Reed campus. It was built with funds raised by the Gray Ladies of the Red Cross Hospital Service and was dedicated in 1931 as a memorial to those who gave their lives in the service of their country. (The Gray Ladies were so called because of the gray uniform they wore.) The first ceremony performed was a wedding. Sunday services are still held there, and I saw funeral services being organized there last week.

It's a lovely place, inside and out.


Here's a picture of the stained glass window over the altar:


There are "gargoyles" at the top of the tower. Some of them represent the Gray Ladies:


and there are others that represent science and religion. Not sure which one this is.

Women's History Month lecture at the National Museum of Health and Medicine!

Women's History Month at the National Museum of Health and Medicine!

Plan now to enjoy a special lecture on women and the American Red Cross. Thomas B. Goehner, Manager, Historical Outreach American Red Cross National Headquarters, will discuss "American Red Cross Women: Embracing Opportunity," on March 26, 2008 at 11:00 a.m. in Russell Auditorium at the NMHM.

From the time of Clara Barton to the present, the American Red Cross has offered women opportunities for leadership, travel, independence, volunteerism and professional growth. Wherever the Red Cross is serving--either on the battlefront or the home front--women continue to embrace and achieve success with each new challenge. This talk will celebrate the achievements and unique opportunities given to women through the Red Cross, shedding light on the contributions of rank-and-file Red Cross women as well as the pioneers from the past, like Clara Barton and nursing legend Jane Delano.

Admission is free!

What: Women's History Month Lecture: "American Red Cross Women:
Embracing Opportunity"
Where: Russell Auditorium, National Museum of Health and Medicine/AFIP,
Building 54, Walter Reed Army Medical Center
Date: Wednesday, March 26, 2008
Time: 11:00 a.m.

For more information, call (202) 782-2456 or email nmhminfo@afip.osd.mil. Learn more about the Museum online at http://nmhm.washingtondc.museum.