World War I Field Hospital

This photograph was taken in 1917, and shows a World War I field hospital. The picture was taken somewhere in the Middle East. Staff in the photograph are from the Red crescent.

Asbestos Worker

This picture shows a worker spreading asbestos on the boiler of a locomotive. It was taken in 1942. It is amazing how many old pictures you find like this one, showing someone working with asbestos, without any breathing protection. Also notice that his hat and coveralls are covered with asbestos. It was in the 1940's that people really began to suspect that there were health hazards associated with asbestos exposure. It was found to cause both asbestosis, a form of inflammation of the lungs, and Mesothelioma. Mesothelioma is a form of cancer that can almost always be associated with exposure to asbestos. It affects the linings of organs, especially the lungs. It has been found that even the family members of those working in the asbestos industry can be susceptible to these diseases.

It really makes you wonder what types of things they might tell you are safe today, and then you find out years later they were dangerous. When I was a teenager, I worked in a cotton gin for $1 an hour. While there was not any asbestos there (that I know of), there was a large amount of fine cotton fibers, which I have heard can be a concern. I only worked there one summer, so hopefully it will not be an issue. I do believe, though, that overall, worker safety has greatly improved in the United States. I think the greatest work danger these days is due to stress to get too much done in too little time.

Woman Doctor

I have always been fascinated by pioneers. Pioneers are not always men on horses taming the west or mining for gold . . . pioneers are sometimes women who are among the first to do something typically thought of as a man's job. That is why I found this photograph so interesting. It shows a woman who is a medical doctor sitting in the back of a horse-drawn ambulance. In doing some research on the image, I found that the woman is Dr. Elizabeth Bruyn of Brooklyn. Dr. Bryun was an ambulance surgeon in New York City in the early 1900's. On her first day at work in 1910, she saved the life of an 18 month old baby who had been overvome by gas from a leak in an apartment. I learned that in 1911 she was in this ambulance with a patient, when the horse pulling the wagon got spooked, and bolted, throwing the driver from the wagon. Ms. Bruyn courageously tried to protect the patient as the out of control wagon crashed into a streetcar. She was badly hurt in the wreck, but despite her serious injuries, she continued to administer aid to her patient. Only after another ambulance arrived, and her patient was in safe hands, did she pass out from her own injuries.

In 1918 Dr. Bruyn joined an all-female group of doctors that was equipped by The National American Woman Suffrage Association of New York City. This group of women doctors was sent to France in World War I to establish a 300 bed hospital dedicated to treating victims of poison gas. I was unable to find any additional information on this effort, so we can only speculate as to the magnitude of healing and comfort rendered by this group of women, sent to war-torn France.

Have you ever noticed that sometimes our greatest heroes are unsung?