Professor Melanie Oppenheimer, Lead CI on the Resilient Humanitarianism project, has recently written an introductory essay for the Adam Matthew Digital – Medical Services and Warfare Collection.
The essay, titled “The League of Red Cross Societies and its Nursing Bureau” can be read online via the Adam Matthew site.
Primary source materials in the Medical Services and Warfare Collection tell the story of medical advances during warfare and cover the period from the mid-nineteenth century to the post-war reforms of the twentieth century. Content in the Collection has been sourced from libraries and archives across the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada and Europe, and includes documents, films, images and posters.
Melanie’s essay introduces researchers to the important work undertaken by the Department of Nursing of the League of Red Cross Societies (later called the Nursing Division and then the Nursing Bureau), as documented in its Information Bulletin for Red Cross Nurses, which can be accessed via the Adam Matthew Digital site. The Bulletin provides us with a valuable insight into the work of national Red Cross societies and the significant roles performed by individual national societies and nurses during World War Two.
“In mid-1943 … the LRCS Secretariat decided to publish an Information Bulletin for Red Cross Nurses. This quarterly publication sought to bridge the gap produced by the war, and to maintain the bonds that existed between Red Cross nurses across the world, irrespective of which ‘side’ they were on. It was available in English, French, German and Spanish (the languages of the Red Cross Movement) for an annual subscription of three Swiss francs. The Nurses’ Bulletin aimed to ‘keep alive this universal effort … inspired … by the noblest ideal of service, that which lies at the foundation of all Red Cross work’. The Bulletin was another way for the LRCS’ Nursing Bureau to keep its ‘post box’ role alive during the war. It sought to keep the flow of information and new developments in the field of nursing moving despite the conflagration. It also filled a gap as the International Council of Nurses’ Bulletin had been suspended, as had the International’s Association’s newsletter from March 1940, and the Florence Nightingale International Federation had a limited outreach due to the war.”
(Extract from: Oppenheimer, “The League of Red Cross Societies and its Nursing Bureau.” Medical Services and Warfare, 2020.)
