Treating the Total War: Women and the Nursing Corps
About this episode
This episode explores the vital role of women nurses during WWII, highlighting their contributions and experiences through historical records.
Few images are burned into popular culture as deeply as that of Rosie the Riveter, the classic and ever-reproduced representation of female empowerment during WWII. Rosie endures as a metaphor for a time of incredible change for women, a time when the U.S. called women out of the home and into the workforce to support the war effort. Historic records and images, like Rosie, teach us about the experience of women who showed up and bolstered the fight in mass numbers, many as nurses. This week, former podcast intern Chris Deitner details the stories of nurses who were central to the war effort. She is joined by our host John Horan, Assistant Oral Historian Annabeth Poe, and Government Records Archivist Joshua Hager. Drawing heavily from the organizational records of the North Carolina Nursing Association, especially correspondence from Executive Secretary Marie Noell, as well as WWII posters and publications, the team discusses the personal and professional implications of the “total war” for women in North Carolina. State Archives of North Carolina Sources: 65th Pulse Beat [Fort Bragg], Oct-Nov 1942. Military Collection: North Carolina Military Camps Publications, WWII 5…
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