Life — July 18, 1918 — page 4: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

# "Nurses Wanted" - WWI Recruitment (1918) This is a wartime recruitment advertisement, not political satire. The illustration depicts Liberty (the allegorical female figure, identifiable by her classical drapery) carrying a wounded soldier, with military personnel in the background. The text announces an urgent call for 25,000 volunteer nurses, aged 18-35, to serve in World War I. Registration began July 20, 1918, with assignments starting April 1, 1919, at civilian hospitals or the Army Nursing School. The appeal emphasizes patriotic duty: "Here is the opportunity for every free woman in America to do her country an incalculable service." This reflects the massive medical demands of late-stage WWI, when casualty care required unprecedented numbers of trained nurses. The call represents both genuine wartime need and gendered expectations of women's contribution to the war effort.