Visitors are coming to the museum to see the new exhibit "American Angels of Mercy: Dr. Anita Newcomb McGee's Pictorial Record of the Russo-Japanese War, 1904." The pictorial exhibit will remain through Feb. 28, 2002.
Dr. McGee, an acting assistant surgeon in the U.S. Army and founder of the U.S. Army Nurse Corps that she directed from 1898-1901, led a group of trained nurses to work in Japanese army hospitals for six months in 1904.
The exhibit is based on photographs taken during this trip,, including works by McGee and several noted photographers of the early 20th century, which is part of the museum's Otis Historical Collections.
"This exhibit focuses on the half-year Dr. McGee and a party of nine nurses spent in Japan working side by side with Japanese nurses in the wards and operating rooms," said Michael Rhode, archivist in the museum's Otis Historical Archives. "She was given the rank of an officer in the Japanese Army, so she had unlimited access to inspect and report on various hospitals in Japan, in Manchuria, and Korea."
Curatorial assistance was provided by Frederic Sharf of Chestnut Hill, Mass., a scholar and collector of art and photography. The co-curators of the exhibit are Michael Rhode, archivist, and James Connor, assistant director for collections.
Photographs and more information about the exhibit, the Russo-Japanese War, and medicine in war can be found here.
