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Women of Public Health

Women have always been leaders in the field of public health. Today, they comprise 76% of all healthcare workers in the United States. They serve as caretakers, doctors, administrators, researchers, and innovators. They research diseases, nurse patients, administer medicines, steward records, invent new technologies, and more. The Smithsonian’s extensive collections evidence a long and strong historical record of these contributions. They include a plethora of materials, ranging from tools of the trade and professional attire to memorial images, sheet music, and calls to action. Through these collections, we research, remember, and honor the important ways that women contribute to the field of public health.


Badge, Flight Nurse, United States Army Air Forces

(Nurse)

Join Now! The American Red Cross Serves Humanity

Miss Olive Blackwell, Red Cross nurse [acetate film photonegative]

Public Health Nurse's Bag - New York City Dept. of Health No. 771

Join! American Red Cross

Pair of nurse's shoes worn by Pauline Brown Payne

"Enlist in a Proud Profession ... U.S. Cadet Nurse Corps" Poster

Caduceus; US Army nurse navy blue uniform

The Most Beautiful Girl in the World, a US Army Nurse

Black Americans; Black American Nurses

You Are Needed Now / Join the Army Nurse Corps / Apply at Your Red Cross Recruiting Station. U.S

Wanted More Navy Nurses ... U.S. Navy Department.

The Red Cross Nurse Carries Our Soldiers Out of Sickness Out of Darkness Back to the Light of Good Health Help the Red Cross.

Five Thousand by June Graduate Nurses Your Country Needs You

Nurses the Call From No Man's Land is "Come Across"

Alice Hamilton (1869-1970)

What Can You Do? Join Our Red Cross Membership Including Red Cross Magazine $200 No Field Service Required

Health Resources and Services Administration, Division of Nursing 50th Anniversary Pin

Make Nursing Your War Job - It's War Work With a Future ...

Mathilde Krim

dress, red cross

Pearl McIver (1893-1976)

Public Health Nurse's Uniform

I Am the Red Cross Nurse / I Love My Country / I Love Her Soldiers ... I Pledge My Country With My Life to Do or Die / Will You Help Me?

Lillian Josephine Hawes (b. 1905)

15c Emily Bissell single

A Call to the Women of New England Nursing Survey Week ...

United States Public Health Service Flag, Quarantine Flag

School Nurse


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