Base Hospital 21 – the World War I U.S. military hospital base in Rouen, France that was staffed by doctors and nurses of the Washington University Medical Center and civilian volunteers from the St. Louis area – served with distinction during the war and after. Following the armistice ending the war on Nov. 11, 1918, [Read more]
On Thursday, Feb. 22, Philip Skroska, visual and graphic archivist at Becker Medical Library, will give the 61st Historia Medica Lecture, “And We Won’t Come Back Till It’s Over, Over There,” on Base Hospital 21, Washington University Medical Center’s response to World War I. The lecture will be held at 4:30 p.m. in the King Center [Read more]
By November of 1917, the original members of Base Hospital 21 were six months into their deployment to Rouen, France. Recruited from the Washington University Medical Center, the doctors, nurses and enlisted personnel who had left St. Louis in May with great fanfare were now settling into a routine that included being severely overworked. When the unit arrived in France to assume control of a British army hospital, it became obvious they were seriously understaffed.
This week, as we welcomed new residents to the Medical Center, we discovered a letter in the Archives and Rare Books Division that was written by a resident 101 years ago. The resident, Philip Moen Stimson, MD, went on to a distinguished career as a pediatrician renowned for his research in infectious disease. Becker Library has three [Read more]
When World War I began in 1914, American public opinion was divided about whether the U.S. should get involved. But by 1917, it was clear that U.S. involvement was inescapable. In early April 1917, the United States declared war on Germany. With a great show of public enthusiasm, support for the troops became a rallying [Read more]