Army Contract Surgeon Uniform
date: label: associated date
content: 1917-1918
notes: label: Description
content: U.S. Army Contract Surgeon women's uniform from World War I. The uniform consists of a coat, skirt, shirtwaist, necktie, campaign hat, gloves, boots, and insignia. The coat and skirt are made of olive drab wool. The hat is brown wool with a black and maroon hat band and black and gold hat cord. The shirt is olive drab cotton and the tie is maroon cotton. The gloves and boots are brown leather. Insignia include metal "U.S." insignia on shirt collar and bronze caduceus with a superimposed "CS" monogram on the coat lapels. World War I Victory ribbon on left breast. Three overseas service chevrons on lower left sleeve, depicting 6 months of service each. This uniform was worn by Dr. Loy McAfee, who was assigned to the Office of the Surgeon General by orders dated May 17, 1918. Donated by Dr. McAfee through The National Society of the Colonial Dames of America.
label: Description
content: During World War I the U.S. Army Medical Department employed contract surgeons in order to meet the demand for additional skilled medical personnel. Women who were contract surgeons served as anesthetists, lab technicians, dispensary physicians, and other capacities as needed.
label: Description
content: Source:
label: Description
content: Vivian Lea Young, “'Petticoats Are Part of this Uniform': American Women Volunteers of the First World War and Their Uniforms” (Master's thesis, George Washington University, 1987).
label: Location
content: Currently not on view
topic: label: related event
content: World War I
setName: label: See more items in
content: Military and Society: Armed Forces History
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content: Military
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content: Clothing & Accessories
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content: Women's World War I Uniforms
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: 1998.0165.63.02
label: accession number
content: 1998.0165
label: catalog number
content: 1998.0165.63.02
objectType: label: Object Name
content: skirt
label: Other Terms
content: skirt; Woman
physicalDescription: label: Physical Description
content: wool (overall material)
label: Measurements
content: overall (mounted): 54 1/4 in x 20 in x 9 1/2 in; 137.795 cm x 50.8 cm x 24.13 cm