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Digital Gallery Explore

Nurses: On the Go

What do we see when we look closely?

Examine this photograph of a visiting nurse, referred to as 'John's nurse,' in Oklahoma City, 1914.
Roll over different areas of the postcard to discover answers to the questions below.

    • Q1Who do you think this nurse cares for in the community?
    • A1This nurse may work for a charity that provides home nursing for clients with tuberculosis, a disease that claimed the lives of an estimated 25 percent of the city's population in 1912.
    • Q2Can you identify the animal the nurse is riding?
    • A2The nurse rides a donkey rather than a horse, an indication of her low income and comparatively low status in the community.
    • Q3Can you spot whether this is rural or urban location?
    • A3Many of the nurse's clients live in the suburbs of Oklahoma City, a thriving urban center of more than 65,000 people by 1914.
A White female nurse sitting on top of a donkey and smiling at the viewer.
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John's nurse, a rural community nurse, United States, ca. 1914

    • Q1Who do you think this nurse cares for in the community?
    • A1This nurse may work for a charity that provides home nursing for clients with tuberculosis, a disease that claimed the lives of an estimated 25 percent of the city's population in 1912.
    • Q2Can you identify the animal the nurse is riding?
    • A2The nurse rides a donkey rather than a horse, an indication of her low income and comparatively low status in the community.
    • Q3Can you spot whether this is rural or urban location?
    • A3Many of the nurse's clients live in the suburbs of Oklahoma City, a thriving urban center of more than 65,000 people by 1914.
  • 1Who do you think this nurse cares for in the community?
  • 2Can you identify the animal the nurse is riding?
  • 3Can you spot whether this is rural or urban location?