BGuthrie Photos: DC -- Natl Postal Museum -- Exhibit (Case): In Her Words: Women's Duty and Service in World War I

DC -- Natl Postal Museum -- Exhibit (Case): In Her Words: Women's Duty and Service in World War I:

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Description of Pictures: In Her Words: Women's Duty and Service in World War I
February 2, 2018 – May 8, 2018
World War I was a watershed for global political, economic, and social change, and for women’s rights and labor in the United States. During the war, women officially served in and alongside the military in unprecedented numbers and in ways that shaped the professionalization of women’s work. Through the letters and artifacts of four women, visitors can explore unique, personal perspectives on life, duty, and service during the war. This exhibition was developed jointly by the Smithsonian’s National Postal Museum and the Women In Military Service For America Memorial Foundation.

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Copyrights: All pictures were taken by amateur photographer Bruce Guthrie (me!) who retains copyright on them. Free for non-commercial use with attribution. See the [Creative Commons] definition of what this means. "Photos (c) Bruce Guthrie" is fine for attribution. (Commercial use folks including AI scrapers can of course contact me.) Feel free to use in publications and pages with attribution but you don't have permission to sell the photos themselves. A free copy of any printed publication using any photographs is requested. Descriptive text, if any, is from a mixture of sources, quite frequently from signs at the location or from official web sites; copyrights, if any, are retained by their original owners.

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[1] HERWOR_180203_01.JPG	[2] HERWOR_180203_06.JPG	[3] HERWOR_180203_11.JPG
[4] HERWOR_180203_15.JPG	[5] HERWOR_180203_22.JPG	[6] HERWOR_180203_25.JPG
[7] HERWOR_180203_29.JPG	[8] HERWOR_180203_36.JPG	[9] HERWOR_180203_40.JPG
[10] HERWOR_180203_43.JPG	[11] HERWOR_180203_47.JPG	[12] HERWOR_180203_51.JPG
[13] HERWOR_180203_54.JPG	[14] HERWOR_180203_57.JPG	[15] HERWOR_180203_60.JPG
[16] HERWOR_180203_62.JPG	[17] HERWOR_180203_65.JPG	[18] HERWOR_180203_66.JPG
[19] HERWOR_180203_70.JPG	[20] HERWOR_180203_72.JPG

Specific picture descriptions: Photos above with "i" icons next to the bracketed sequence numbers (e.g. "[1] ") are described as follows:
1. HERWOR_180203_06.JPG: In Her Words: Women's Duty and Service in World War I From the outset of World War I in 1914, American women went abroad to volunteer with uniformed civilian organizations, like the Red Cross, providing war relief services. After the US declared war on Germany on April 6, 1917, the Army and Navy assigned nurses to overseas duty in record numbers, and the war marked the first time women enlisted in the Navy and Marine Corps. Despite these developments and the increasing visibility of women's contributions, the military establishment did not treat women as it did men, offering them limited opportunities and unequal benefits. The work they performed and how they were treated during and after the war raised significant questions and helped set new precedents for women's employment opportunities and political rights. This exhibition explores the typical wartime experiences of four women who served in and alongside the American military. In letters shared with family and friends, these women recorded their work, daily lives, and hopes. Their words were shaped by their own personalities and relationships, as well as by social expectations and policies like military censorship of mail written by Americans serving overseas.
2. HERWOR_180203_15.JPG: Greta Wolf, US Army Nurse, 1917-1919 Greta Wolf was stationed at Base Hospital No. 54, Mesves, France. Even with professional qualifications, Wolf served without rank as did all of the Army's more than 21,400 nurses. The majority of the Army Nurse Corps were graduates of nursing schools, but the Army waived state registration requirements and increased age limits to alleviate staffing shortages. As her letters document, Wolf showed consistent professionalism and devotion to patients despite the austere working conditions and her lack of status.
3. HERWOR_180203_22.JPG: Christmas menu, Base Hospital No. 54, 1918
4. HERWOR_180203_25.JPG: World War I Victory service medal, c 1919
5. HERWOR_180203_29.JPG: Remembrance notebook, c 1919
6. HERWOR_180203_36.JPG: Identity card, 1918 Identification tag, 1918
7. HERWOR_180203_40.JPG: Lulu Wolfe, US Army Nurse, 1918-1919 Lulu Wolfe graduated from the Newark City Hospital School of Nursing in 1912. Wolfe joined the Army during the war and was assigned to Base Hospital No. 48 at the Mars Hospital Center, Mars-sur-Allier, France. Working under primitive conditions, the medical staff treated soldiers suffering from shrapnel wounds and the effects of gas poisoning. Part of patient care included entertainment and social activities, and Wolfe's records reflect the psychological value of camaraderie.
8. HERWOR_180203_43.JPG: Fred Stratmanm U.S. S.S. AEF, to Lula WOlfe, c 1919
9. HERWOR_180203_54.JPG: Wedding announcement, 1917
10. HERWOR_180203_57.JPG: World War I Victory lapel button, c 1920
11. HERWOR_180203_60.JPG: Ruth (Woodworth) Creveling, US Navy Yeoman (F), 1917-1920 Eighteen-year-old Ruth (Woodworth) Creveling joined the Navy Reserve on March 30, 1917, the same month the Navy opened enlistment to women for the first time. She went on active duty as a Yeoman (F) -- the "F" denoted "female" -- and received the same pay as a man. She used the Navy's official protocols for correspondence in her clerical work, excelled at typing and stenography, and was promoted to the highest rate available to Yeomen (F).
12. HERWOR_180203_62.JPG: "Made 500 doughnuts . . . considering we didn't use an egg nor any milk they weren't so bad and now we are making the best doughnuts in France." -- Ethel Ash to her family, March 30, 1919 In this letter to her family, Ethel Ash shows her can-do attitude when tasked with starting a mobile (or rolling) canteen for making and distributing sweet and nourishing doughnuts to boost the morale of the military personnel.
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