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Nurses: On the Job

What do we see when we look closely?

Examine this reproduction of a World War II army recruitment poster. In 1941 only 1,000 registered nurses, all women, were in service, their numbers rising to 57,000 including 217 black nurses in segregated medical units by 1945.
Roll over different areas of the postcard to discover answers to the questions below.

    • Q1Can you spot the insignia of the Army Nurse Corps?
    • A1The Army Nurse Corps, established 1901, has a distinctive badge, a yellow metal caduceus with a black "N" in the middle.
    • Q2Can you identify the nurse's army rank?
    • A2Nurses held no commissioned rank until 1947 when staff corps status was granted. Subsequently, nurses hold lieutenant status and the director of nursing is a colonel.
    • Q3Do you know who was eligible to join the Army Nurse Corps in 1942?
    • A3Single, registered nurses between the ages of 22 and 30 were eligible to join the Army Nurse Corps; if the nurses married or became pregnant, they were dismissed.
White female army nurse in uniform and cap, visible from chest up.
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A reproduction of US Army Nurse Corps World War II recruitment poster, 1990s

    • Q1Can you spot the insignia of the Army Nurse Corps?
    • A1The Army Nurse Corps, established 1901, has a distinctive badge, a yellow metal caduceus with a black "N" in the middle.
    • Q2Can you identify the nurse's army rank?
    • A2Nurses held no commissioned rank until 1947 when staff corps status was granted. Subsequently, nurses hold lieutenant status and the director of nursing is a colonel.
    • Q3Do you know who was eligible to join the Army Nurse Corps in 1942?
    • A3Single, registered nurses between the ages of 22 and 30 were eligible to join the Army Nurse Corps; if the nurses married or became pregnant, they were dismissed.
  • 1Can you spot the insignia of the Army Nurse Corps?
  • 2Can you identify the nurse's army rank?
  • 3Do you know who was eligible to join the Army Nurse Corps in 1942?

Choose another postcard from Nurses: On the Job

  • Five Japanese women nurses and one male doctor, tending to two Russian wounded men.
  • A White female nurse, stands with young White woman and points into distance.
  • Large room filled with several dozen White women looking forward.
  • Three White female nurses in white aprons and a White male doctor hold babies.
  • An African American female nurse in white holds diploma and looks at the viewer.
  • A White female nurse in white squats down while talking with a White mother and child.
  • Five Japanese Red Cross female nurses in white carrying a stretcher in a field with building behind.
  • Female nurse in white shaking hands with another female nurse, in front of group of women nurses.
  • A White female nurses in white visible from shoulder up on left, on right is stamp.