Recruitment Propaganda
Dublin Core
Title
Recruitment Propaganda
Subject
US nurse recruitment poster World War II
Description
This poster was one of many pieces of propaganda used to encourage American women to serve as nurses in World War II. The nurse shown on the poster, circulated in 1943, represents the misguided view of military nursing that many Americans held at the time. People felt that nurses were angels of mercy, calmly and serenely saving the lives of countless men and managing to look perfect the entire time.
The realities of wartime nursing were much more brutal and uncomfortable, and would have likely deterred many women from service at first. Hospitals were often enemy targets, and nurses, especially those on the front lines, faced death everyday. Nurses had to sacrifice many daily conveniences in order to serve, and were often stationed in harsh climates with little experience of travel. They saw thousands of gruesome wounds and horrible deaths, and were even raped and abused by their own countrymen, as some of the only women in encampments and stations full of male military personnel.
The realities of wartime nursing were much more brutal and uncomfortable, and would have likely deterred many women from service at first. Hospitals were often enemy targets, and nurses, especially those on the front lines, faced death everyday. Nurses had to sacrifice many daily conveniences in order to serve, and were often stationed in harsh climates with little experience of travel. They saw thousands of gruesome wounds and horrible deaths, and were even raped and abused by their own countrymen, as some of the only women in encampments and stations full of male military personnel.
Creator
"War Information Office," Monthly Catalog, 1943, p. 1020
Source
World War II Poster Collection at Northwestern University Library, Image Repository: https://images.northwestern.edu/multiresimages/inu:dil-a2a6f3f7-12c0-46d0-a8bb-5706a51aded1
Publisher
United States Office of War Information, Division of Public Inquiries
Date
Accessed 3/16/2020
Relation
Women of World War II Website: www.womenofwwii.com:https://www.womenofwwii.com/posters/save-his-life-wwii-nursing-recruiting-poster/
Format
Digitized Poster Image, color photo, saved as a PNG file
Language
English
Type
Poster
Identifier
US World War II nursing recruitment
Coverage
US nurses in World War II, US women in World War II, World War II propaganda
Still Image Item Type Metadata
Original Format
Color photo on a poster
Collection
Citation
"War Information Office," Monthly Catalog, 1943, p. 1020, “Recruitment Propaganda,” US Nurses in World War II, accessed April 26, 2024, https://usnursesww2.omeka.net/items/show/5.