Small American Hospital Grouping

[Croix de Guerre]

Here is another offering of some rather esoteric items from my collection. I was inspired by a post from CWNorma when he spoke of noblesse oblige.

 

The first is a little note book that was given in 1915 as a Christmas present by Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney to the handful of volunteer ambulance drivers then serving at the American hospital at Juilly. The sheer fact that this has survived still amazes me.

 

The second is a 1915 era Red Cross armband worn by an American volunteer ambulance driver for the American Ambulance Hospital in Paris. Note it is stamped "Section Sanitaire Automobile Americane" and "American Ambulance Paris".

 

Here is some info on the hospital and Mrs. Whitney;

 

Gertrude Vanderbilt was born in 1875 to Cornelius Vanderbilt and his wife Alice Gwynne Vanderbilt. Gertrude was their eldest daughter; her mother's namesake and Gertrude's older sister died at age five the year before Gertrude was born.

 

As a youngster, Gertrude showed the quality of individuality. Her temperament went against the conception of what a young woman was supposed to be like. Gertrude was alert to all sense-data of life, the tiny details of shape, texture, and movement around her. She was exquisitely attuned to her internal sensations and feelings.

 

Gertrude was married to Harry Payne Whitney on August 25, 1896. He was the son of William C. Whitney, a prominent attorney, and his mother was the daughter of a Standard Oil Company magnate. Gertrude and Harry had three children, Flora, Cornelius, and Barbara.

 

Gertrude had a passion for art, which she rediscovered on a trip to Europe in 1901. She longed to study sculpture from her mature perspective. This trip became a transformation for her, which made her a very different woman. Gertrude gained different feelings from the artwork she saw. She looked at the different aspects of her life and tried to figure out how to approach them. The trip made her become open-minded. She committed herself to sculpture. She became an advocate for art and opened up the way for the advancement of women in art.

Gertrude was a major patron of American artists. She organized an exhibition for the exclusive Colony Club. She founded the Whitney Museum.

 

During World War I, Gertrude Whitney dedicated a great deal of her time and money to various relief efforts, establishing and maintaining a hospital for wounded soldiers in Juilly in the Seine-et-Marne département in France. Following the end of the War, she was involved in the creation of a number of commemorative sculptures.

 

Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney died on April 18, 1942 from bacterial endocarditis.

 

 

 

“From the Surgical Career of Dr. Walter S. Sutton”

 

After WWI started, Sutton wrote to Dr. Hugh Auchincloss in New York on November 6, 1914 for information about the Military Hospitals sponsored by Mrs. Harry Payne Whitney. During the war, Mrs. Whitney started and maintained American Base hospitals in France that were manned by physicians and nurses from American universities. Mrs. Whitney was Gertrude Vanderbilt, daughter of Cornelius and Alice Vanderbilt. She studied sculpture in New York and Paris. When the Metropolitan Museum of Art turned down her donation of 500 pieces of modern American art, she started her own art museum, the Whitney Museum, which opened in 1931 in New York. Her own sculptures often reflected the WWI soldier.

 

Therefore, Sutton was familiar with the medical needs in France and had a reserve army commission when surgeons at Columbia University asked that he help them man Hospital B near the front. On Sunday, February 7 1915, Dr. Lyle at Columbia University sent a telegram to Sutton hoping to recruit him, with the plan that Sutton would later take over as officer in charge of the hospital. Sutton promptly wrote Lyle that he would make the boat on the 13th. Sudler secured a leave of absence from the university for Sutton through a letter to Chancellor Strong on Feb. 9, 1915. "Through Dr. George Bewer, Attending Surgeon of Roosevelt Hospital, New York City, Dr. Walter S. Sutton has been invited to accept a position with the American Hospital at Paris. ... Inasmuch as Dr. Sutton has given about three years of his time to the work in the medical school and hospital without vacation, with the exception of a period of twelve days last summer, I would respectfully recommend that he be granted leave of absence, on full pay, for this work…" The small surgical group met on the deck of the U.S.M.S "Philadelphia" on the morning of February 13 and sailed for France. They arrived in Liverpool, England and after a day there, crossed the English Channel to France. They arrived at College de Juilly February 23. It was now partially converted to a hospital 40 miles from the front and wounded had been received for about three weeks. Wounded French soldiers were first brought to College de Juilly for care during the first Battle of the Marne in September 1914 and several months later, in January of 1915, the French Government gave space in the buildings to Mrs. Harry Payne Whitney for a hospital.

[Croix de Guerre]

Here is another offering of some rather esoteric items from my collection. I was inspired by a post from CWNorma when he spoke of noblesse oblige.

 

The first is a little note book that was given in 1915 as a Christmas present by Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney to the handful of volunteer ambulance drivers then serving at the American hospital at Juilly. The sheer fact that this has survived still amazes me.

 

The second is a 1915 era Red Cross armband worn by an American volunteer ambulance driver for the American Ambulance Hospital in Paris. Note it is stamped "Section Sanitaire Automobile Americane" and "American Ambulance Paris".

 

Here is some info on the hospital and Mrs. Whitney;

 

Gertrude Vanderbilt was born in 1875 to Cornelius Vanderbilt and his wife Alice Gwynne Vanderbilt. Gertrude was their eldest daughter; her mother's namesake and Gertrude's older sister died at age five the year before Gertrude was born.

 

As a youngster, Gertrude showed the quality of individuality. Her temperament went against the conception of what a young woman was supposed to be like. Gertrude was alert to all sense-data of life, the tiny details of shape, texture, and movement around her. She was exquisitely attuned to her internal sensations and feelings.

 

Gertrude was married to Harry Payne Whitney on August 25, 1896. He was the son of William C. Whitney, a prominent attorney, and his mother was the daughter of a Standard Oil Company magnate. Gertrude and Harry had three children, Flora, Cornelius, and Barbara.

 

Gertrude had a passion for art, which she rediscovered on a trip to Europe in 1901. She longed to study sculpture from her mature perspective. This trip became a transformation for her, which made her a very different woman. Gertrude gained different feelings from the artwork she saw. She looked at the different aspects of her life and tried to figure out how to approach them. The trip made her become open-minded. She committed herself to sculpture. She became an advocate for art and opened up the way for the advancement of women in art.

Gertrude was a major patron of American artists. She organized an exhibition for the exclusive Colony Club. She founded the Whitney Museum.

 

During World War I, Gertrude Whitney dedicated a great deal of her time and money to various relief efforts, establishing and maintaining a hospital for wounded soldiers in Juilly in the Seine-et-Marne département in France. Following the end of the War, she was involved in the creation of a number of commemorative sculptures.

 

Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney died on April 18, 1942 from bacterial endocarditis.

“From the Surgical Career of Dr. Walter S. Sutton”

 

After WWI started, Sutton wrote to Dr. Hugh Auchincloss in New York on November 6, 1914 for information about the Military Hospitals sponsored by Mrs. Harry Payne Whitney. During the war, Mrs. Whitney started and maintained American Base hospitals in France that were manned by physicians and nurses from American universities. Mrs. Whitney was Gertrude Vanderbilt, daughter of Cornelius and Alice Vanderbilt. She studied sculpture in New York and Paris. When the Metropolitan Museum of Art turned down her donation of 500 pieces of modern American art, she started her own art museum, the Whitney Museum, which opened in 1931 in New York. Her own sculptures often reflected the WWI soldier.

 

Therefore, Sutton was familiar with the medical needs in France and had a reserve army commission when surgeons at Columbia University asked that he help them man Hospital B near the front. On Sunday, February 7 1915, Dr. Lyle at Columbia University sent a telegram to Sutton hoping to recruit him, with the plan that Sutton would later take over as officer in charge of the hospital. Sutton promptly wrote Lyle that he would make the boat on the 13th. Sudler secured a leave of absence from the university for Sutton through a letter to Chancellor Strong on Feb. 9, 1915. "Through Dr. George Bewer, Attending Surgeon of Roosevelt Hospital, New York City, Dr. Walter S. Sutton has been invited to accept a position with the American Hospital at Paris. ... Inasmuch as Dr. Sutton has given about three years of his time to the work in the medical school and hospital without vacation, with the exception of a period of twelve days last summer, I would respectfully recommend that he be granted leave of absence, on full pay, for this work…" The small surgical group met on the deck of the U.S.M.S "Philadelphia" on the morning of February 13 and sailed for France. They arrived in Liverpool, England and after a day there, crossed the English Channel to France. They arrived at College de Juilly February 23. It was now partially converted to a hospital 40 miles from the front and wounded had been received for about three weeks. Wounded French soldiers were first brought to College de Juilly for care during the first Battle of the Marne in September 1914 and several months later, in January of 1915, the French Government gave space in the buildings to Mrs. Harry Payne Whitney for a hospital.

[Croix de Guerre]

close up

[Croix de Guerre]

flags

[Croix de Guerre]

Merry Christmas

[Croix de Guerre]

The Arm Band

[Croix de Guerre]

The Stamps; Section Sanitaire American and American Ambulance Paris.

[Croix de Guerre]

Here is Mrs. Whitney circa 1917

[Croix de Guerre]

Here is Mrs. Whitney circa 1917

 

 

As a little side note, Mrs. Whitney lost a brother on the Lusitania.

[cwnorma]

CdG,

 

Wonderful items. You really have captured the spirit of the era.

 

Thanks again for sharing items from your outstanding collection!

 

Chris

[Croix de Guerre]

Thank you for your kind comments.

[Bugme]

Man, you have rekindled my interest in pre-AEF history! I love these items you've been posting!

[Belleauwood]

croix,

 

You have some truly wonderful artifacts. You are an asset to all of us who have a desire to preserve this unique history. I guess I'll have to get back into AFS collecting!!

 

DJ

[Croix de Guerre]

croix,

 

You have some truly wonderful artifacts. You are an asset to all of us who have a desire to preserve this unique history. I guess I'll have to get back into AFS collecting!!

 

DJ

No, you don't have to do that,,,no really it's ok,,,man that marine stuff NOW THAT's COOL!! This ambulance crap is for sissies,,,,

[Belleauwood]

No, you don't have to do that,,,no really it's ok,,,man that marine stuff NOW THAT's COOL!! This ambulance crap is for sissies,,,,

 

Well, i do know where to get some KILLER AFS groups!!! Maybe I can sell some Marine Corps groups and go get'em.

 

DJ

[Croix de Guerre]

Well, i do know where to get some KILLER AFS groups!!! Maybe I can sell some Marine Corps groups and go get'em.

 

DJ

Just pack them up and send them on down!