Original WW I-Era Nursing Themed Photograph Album from Camp Devens, Massachusetts with 152 Photos of Doctors, Nurses, Patients, Soldiers...
Camp Devens, Ayer, MA: c. 1917-1919. Oblong Small 8vo. Very Good. Item #18400
A unique piece of WW I Nursing history, this historic piece features more than 150 original black and white photographs of life at Camp Devens, Massachusetts
This album is an oblong small otcavo in size, features 48 leaves and 96 individual pages, with some pages blank and others ranging from 1-4 photographs apiece.
Scenes include many individual and group portraits of nurses, soldiers, some of the grounds and architecture of the base and others of nurses and doctors involved in daily routines and one photo of a medical procedure in process.
There is no identifying information as to whom the album belonged, but presumably a nurse at the time.
Mild rubbing and edge wear, with some pages a touch rippled, presumably from glue holding down photos, but overall in very nice condition. The front board features a suede leather pastedown of an American Indian theme.
"Camp Devens, named after jurist and Civil War general Charles Devens, was established on September 5, 1917, as a temporary cantonment for training soldiers during World War I. About 5,000 acres of land as leased then later purchased from 112 owners who sold 230 parcels of land in the towns of Ayer, Harvard, Lancaster and Shirley by the federal government. Some was fine farmland along the Nashua River and other was "sprout" land where trees had been cut leaving stumps.
"The Fort's siting was due primarily to its location at a major hub of the rail network in New England. Construction, by the largest labor force assembled in the United States, to build an entire city for 10,000 requiring barracks, training buildings, water and sewer systems, raced at the rate of 10.4 new buildings every day. It was a reception center for war selectees and became a demobilization center after the war. As one of 16 temporary cantonments, Camp Devens processed and trained more than 100,000 soldiers.[citation needed] Three divisions (the 12th, the 26th and the 76th) were activated and trained at Devens during the war.
"In 1918, Camp Devens, was afflicted by the late 1918 deadly second wave of the 1918 flu pandemic. Approximately 850 soldiers, mostly privates, died at the camp during 1918 from the Spanish flu.
"In 1918, it became a separation center for over 150,000 troops upon their return from France.[citation needed] Put on inactive status, it served next as a summer training camp for National Guardsmen, Reservists and ROTC cadets." - wiki.
Price: $250.00