"The Charming Ladies in White": the Female Medical Staff of World War I
Camp Lee Base Hospital Expansion
Camp Lee’s base hospital had a modest campus and few staff when it was opened on September 1, 1917 under the command of Major Ferdinand Schmitter. In April 1918 the base hospital was in dire need of expansion to accommodate the influx of soldiers both domestically and from overseas. New buildings were completed in May and included convalescent barracks, eleven new wards and a Red Cross. After the Armistice was signed in November 1918 the Base Hospital became a Reconstruction Hospital for soldiers wounded overseas. To encompass the wave of wounded soldiers and medical staff the hospital was again expanded to create a massive sprawling complex. The staff included 100 Officers, 190 Nurses, and 900 Enlisted men. Two new mess halls, the American Red Cross, Detachment barracks, and new Nurses’ buildings were built to accommodate the amount of staff and patients. The departments at Camp Lee’s Base hospital ranged from Orthopedic, Dispensary, and Head Surgery, to Physiotherapy, Mess, and Sterilization to form a place where a soldier could be treated for any number of ailments. The hospital also saw the use of Reconstruction Aides and the Army Nurse Corps, as well as cutting edge technology and research in medicine.
Reconstruction Aides
Reconstruction Aides were civilian women hired by the U.S. Army to rehabilitate wounded soldiers during World War I. They served from early 1918 until the term “reconstruction aide” was phased out in 1926 in favor of the more encompassing term “physiotherapy aide.” They worked as early physical and occupational therapists and were first used at Walter Reed General Hospital. They underwent specialized training that focused on anatomy, physiology, corrective exercises, and the application of early cognitive behavioral therapy. Using massage therapy, hydrotherapy, radiotherapy, suntherapy and electrotherapy the Reconstruction Aides encouraged movement in broken, injured, and amputated limbs. The occupational department taught basket weaving, knitting, sewing and other similar activities to help recovering soldiers. If soldiers were unable to make it to the department’s building the Reconstruction Aides would go to their bedside and teach them a craft that improved fine motor skills, mental focus, and alleviated boredom. Soldiers also could learn a variety of trades while recovering like telegraphy, typewriting, carpentry, and foreign languages taught by men in the vocational department. This sent soldiers back to civilian life with professional training. The Reconstruction Aides were at the forefront of medical discovery in the art of modern rehabilitation and recovery which has become an essential section of medicine today.
Benia Sawitski
Benia Saitski was a Reconstruction Aide in 1919 on Camp Lee. She was from Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania. She took many photos of nature, buildings, soldiers, nurses, reconstruction aides and events. While stationed here she visited many local cities including Richmond and Petersburg, posed for pictures with many soldiers and friends. The photo album she created while she was stationed at the base hospital gives great insight on the people at Camp Lee and the surrounding areas.
Army Nurse Corps
The Army Nurse Corps was established in 1901 and was comprised of semi-military contracted women. They didn’t have official ranks or commissions, but instead had their own internal hierarchy. These women were given relative ranks in 1920 and allowed to wear rank insignia and command authority over patients, but did not receive equal pay or full officer privileges as their male counterparts. In 1944, they were given temporary full commission and rank that later became permanent after World War II in 1947. The Army Nurse Corps came to Camp Lee in October 1917 to staff the new base hospital that was still under construction when they arrived. The first group of nurses was made up of twelve women from Baltimore. While the hospital was still under construction, they had few basic comforts. They were limited to one bath per week, had no off-duty activities, and were required to share the patients' mess hall. After completion more nurses arrived, quality barracks and amenities were built, and entertainment programs were hosted in the Nurses’ Red Cross Building. During World War I many nurses came and went from the hospital, some going overseas to join individual units, others going to other base hospitals across the country. These women were at the forefront of wartime wound treatment that saved the lives of countless soldiers.
Ethel Dallard
Ethel Dallard was a night nurse in the Army Nurse Corps. She was born in Flintstone, Maryland on November 6, 1889 and died October 11, 1978. She served at Camp Lee’s base hospital from September 28, 1918 till her honorable discharge on April 23, 1919. The scrapbook she created contains photos, records of service, poems, postcards, and various memorabilia from events on Camp Lee. Her scrapbook sheds incredible light on the lives of army nurses and life on Camp Lee.
Influenza Pandemic
The influenza pandemic swept across the world from 1918 to 1920. At Camp Lee’s Base hospital approximately 8,000 patients were received, of which, 700 succumbed to the disease. This less than ten percent casualty rate was remarkably low compared to other outbreak sites around the country. Of the hospital's workforce, a third of enlisted personnel, half the nursing staff and a quarter of medical staff were admitted after contracting the disease. The hospital was pushed to its limits to accommodate the influx of influenza patients. Initially, seven barracks were cleared out and used as receiving wards for influenza victims. They filled up so quickly that within a few days more barracks were taken over until the hospital was using twenty barracks as wards to create an annex. The healthy soldiers set up camp on training fields to make room for the ill in the barracks. All parts of camp operations like the Quartermaster Corps, the Registrar's Office, and the Army Chaplains were directed to help the hospital with the mass number of patients and their families. Enlisted men were detailed to handle fatigue and ward duties, Chaplains helped with mental and spiritual hardships, and even the Y.M.C.A. on Camp Lee loaned its building to be used for administrative work. All these different departments and organizations helped the nurses and medical staff with patients which gave them insight and appreciation towards the inner workings of the medical department and the women who are instrumental to the hospital’s success.
"Lest We Forget" Camp Lee yearbook, 1919
In 1919 the leadership of Camp Lee created a yearbook, aptly naming the publication “Lest We Forget.” This yearbook included everything from new infrastructure to medical advancements made during the year. Most information included in this exhibit was gained through this comprehensive yearbook, including the title: "The Charming Ladies In White." While there is a lot of information and writing in this yearbook, there are also many pictures, drawings, poems and caricatures that make it witty and similar to yearbooks of recent times. It highlights individual soldiers and their words and stories, as well as the history of whole departments. The “Lest We Forget” yearbook shows us medical practices, daily life, and small moments that would otherwise be lost to time.
