The Library of Congress Homepage

Free to Use and Reuse: Nurses and Nursing

Women and men have long provided nursing services by caring for the sick and wounded at home and during wars and international relief efforts. The pictures in this set focus on the mid-1800s to mid-1900s, including portraits of such famous figures as Florence Nightingale and Clara Barton as well as women like Susie King Taylor who are gaining recognition for their courageous stories. The emphasis on nurses during the Civil War and in the American Red Cross represents significant nursing concentrations at the Library of Congress. Unless otherwise noted, the selected images are from the Prints & Photographs Division.

Browse more content that is free to use and reuse

• 

  Florence Nightingale (1820-1910) is known as "the founder of modern nursing." Photo by H. Lenthal, around 1856

• 

  Midwife wrapping her kit to go on a call in Greene County, Georgia. Photo by Jack Delano, 1941

• 

  American Red Cross in Italy. Scores of these little are's are taken in the water daily on the doctor's prescription watched carefully by their nurses. Red Cross Collection photo, 1919

• 

  The Public Health Nurse She answers humanity's call : Your Red Cross membership makes her work possible. Poster by Gordon Grant, 1914-1918

• 

  Susie King Taylor (1848-1912), known as the first African American Army nurse

• 

  Clara Barton (1812-1921), known for her roles in nursing during the Civil War and in founding the American Red Cross. Photo by Claflin, March 1865

• 

  St. Rose's nuns and nurses with patient. Photo by Bernard Gotfryd, 1984

• 

  Dogs of War. Red Cross nurse bandaging up a wounded foot of collie. Photo by Underwood & Underwood, 1917

• 

  Marie Brose Tepe (1834-1901), Civil War nurse and vivandière in zouave uniform with Kearny Cross medal, barrel canteen, and revolver. Photo by R.W. Addis, 1862-1864

• 

  O.W. Waite, male Civil War nurse at smallpox hospital, in uniform. Photo, 1861-1865

• 

  Surgical nurse, Herrin Hospital (private), Herrin, Illinois. Photo by Arthur Rothstein, 1939

• 

  Nurses parade, Chicago. Red Cross Collection photo, 1918

• Remember the Nurse. Sheet music cover, 1918

• Group of American Red Cross men, Lts. Kelly, Dubois, Fraser and Vance, placing a wreath on Miss Edith Cavell's grave immediately after the departure of the Germans from Brussels. Red Cross Collection photo, around 1918

• A nurse hands a cup of methadone to a man in a medical clinic at 456 C St., N.W., Washington, D.C. Photo by Warren Leffler, 1971

• Dorothea L. Dix, Superintendent of Army Nurses for the Union Army with a medical bag on the floor. Photo, 1865

• Japanese nurses attending to a patient in an operating room. Photo by Underwood & Underwood, 1905

• An Army nurse wears the Caduceus, the winged staff and serpent of the Medical Corps, with the "U.S." on her outdoor uniform. Photo by Joel Feder, 1914

• The nurse. Photo by Harry Frees, 1914

• Nurses at tea. Photo by Bain News Service, 1915-1920

• A handbook for school nurses. Book by Helen Kelly, 1918

• Junior Red Cross. Red Cross Collection photo, 1919-1929

• Little sisters class, Podgoritza Orphanage, Montenegro, where Miss Robinson is the director. Miss Jeannie Frasier, A.R.C. nurse is shown instructing. Red Cross Collection photo, 1919-1929

• The Queen and territorial nurses. Nurses leaving the palace on foot and in cabs. Red Cross Collection photo, 1917-1919

• Red Cross nurse. Photo by Adolf de Meyer, around 1920

• Eye Tray. Army Training School for Nurses. Walter Reed Hospital. Red Cross Collection photo, 1920

• Florence Nightingale medal. Red Cross Collection photo, 1920

• We Live and Laugh: The Nurse. Grey dress, white apron, black heels, and white nurse's cap. Costume design drawing by Emile Stoner, 1935-1939 (Music Division, Federal Theatre Project)

• U.S. Nurse wins international award. Miss Butler is the fifteenth American nurse to receive the Florence Nightingale award. Photo by Harris & Ewing, 1937-1939

• Army and Navy Nurses Memorial. Photo by Harris & Ewing, around 1938

• The Dept. of Health, Mobile Ophthalmic Clinic. Operating in Arab villages of the South Country, N.E. of Gaza. Closer view of nurses tending to the eyes to prevent or heal the dreaded disease. Photo by American Colony, 1939

• Uncle Sam Needs Nurses. World War II poster, 1941-1945

• Train to be a nurse's aide Phone your boro Civilian Defense Volunteer Office. Poster by Federal Art Project, 1941-1943

• Chicago, Illinois. Provident Hospital. A preliminary student nurses' class in bacteriology. Photo by Jack Delano, 1942

• Nurse training. A graduate nurse (right) watches student Susan Petty prepare a hypodermic for a patient. Photo by Fritz Henle, 1942

• Johns Hopkins Hospital, Baltimore, Maryland. Student nurse at work in the pediatrics ward. Photo by Ann Rosener, 1943

• Orphanage (with nurse), Manzanar War Relocation Center. Photo by Ansel Adams,1943

• Penasco, New Mexico. Nurse Marjorie Muller, of the clinic operated by the Taos County cooperative health association, starting out on a call. Photo by John Collier, 1943

• Hebron hospital, nurse's bedroom. Photo by Matson Photo Service, 1944

• First group of African American nurses to arrive in England during World War II. Photo by U.S. Signal Corps, 1944.

• The Nurses' Float, decorated by registered nurses from across the United States, in the 124th Rose Parade in Pasadena, California. Photo by Carol Highsmith, 2013