Newsnote: Daughters of Charity nurses in World War I cont’d

This postcard was part of a recent acquisition by the Vincentiana collection at DePaul University’s Archives and Special Collections. At the separation of Church and State in France at the beginning of the 20th century the Daughters of Charity and other nursing sisters were largely expelled from their hospital work. Ten years later when World War I broke out and the French military hospital system was overwhelmed by a deluge of casualties the sisters were welcomed back to work at newly-formed hopitaux auxiliaires sponsored by women’s division of the French Red Cross. Many of these hospitals were set up in commandeered schools, convents, mansions and other institutions. It is estimated that there were more than 900 French military hospitals set up on an emergency basis during the war. This card pictures a Daughter of Charity working in surgery at Hopital Auxiliaire #115 located in La Raincy outside of Paris.