Browse Items (57 total)

These women, tip-toeing through the muddy slush surrounding the tent they call, "The Powder Room," in their pajamas, are the epitome of some of the more comical struggles World War II nurses faced on the front lines. Serving in the Mediterranean…

Here are two photographs, one of RN Virginia Sneed Dixon during her service in the US Army Nurse Corps in World War II, and the other of her during her interview in 2012. Dixon also served in the Korean War. Dixon was born in 1919, the seventh of ten…

This item is actually an excerpt from the World War II diary of US Army Nurse F. DeWitt, spanning from 1943 to 1944. DeWitt clearly has a sense of humor even when discussing dark topics, and seems to try to make the best of things throughout her…

This poster is simple compared to some of the other recruitment propaganda used during World War II, but it carries a powerful message. Many feel that women who became nurses during the war were not breaking gender barriers, but the fact that they…

This recording shows the upbeat spirit evident in the music of the Army Nurse Corps, but also of the other branches of military service women. These songs were meant to inspire loyalty, patriotism, and courage in the women marching to its beat as…

American nurses had to be ready to treat wounded soldiers in any conditions, including the cramped, constantly moving, dangerous location of an evacuating aircraft. Just as Lt. Katye Swope is doing in the photo taken in July of 1943, other flight…

Contrary to popular belief, American nurses in World War II had to deal with imminent danger not only for troops, but for themselves as well. These women were trained in keeping themselves safe, and had to use methods such as the one shown in the…

These large and small packets of sulfa drugs, specifically crystalline sulfanilamide, were meant to be applied directly to open wounds. Individual soldiers had the small packets issued to them in their first aid kits, and were trained in how to use…

The colorful image here is a government poster promoting increased morale during the war. This propaganda calls for the American people to keep fighting in order to free American military nurses imprisoned by the Japanese, portraying the captive…

The food you see in these photographs represents the kind of "chow" that all military personnel, including nurses, had to eat in the field during World War II. Some nurses' most prominent memories of everyday life during their service involved…