Base Hospital 19 records, 1915-1918

Summary

Abstract:
This collection consists of materials related to the history of Rochester, New York's Base Hospital 19, a Red Cross-affiliated U. S. Army reserve unit. The materials between 1915 and 1918. The materials consist of a typescript history of the unity, letters, telegrams and photographs.
Extent:
0.056 Cubic Feet 1 folder and .056 Cubic Feet
Language:
English .
Preferred citation:

Base Hospital 19 Records. [box #,folder #]. Local History and Genealogy Division, Central Library of Rochester and Monroe County N.Y.

Background

Scope and content:

This collection documents the organization and some elements of the service of Base Hospital 19, a Red Cross-affiliated U.S. Army reserve unit from Rochester, New York. It includes a detailed typescript unit history, letters, telegrams and photographs related to the unit. Most of the material present concerns the unit's origins and enlistment of members from across Rochester's medical community. It also includes some material related to the unit's mobilization and deployment in France during World War I.

Biographical / historical:

Base Hospital 19 arose from a meeting between Major General William C. Gorgas, Surgeon General of the United States Army, and Dr. John M. Swan of Rochester, New York, during the American Public Health Association meeting in Rochester in September of 1915. Gorgas asked Swan if he would be interested in organizing a medical reserve unit in the form of a base hospital comprised of Rochester-area physicians and nurses who could be rapidly mobilized if the United States entered the First World War. Swan rapidly began the process of recruiting the unit, which found itself formalized as a Base Hospital in February 1916 as part of a Red Cross-led initiative to assemble 50 base hospitals across the United States. The unit was allowed to use the Third Regiment armory on Main Street for drill and training. With the entry of the United States into the war in 1917, the base hospitals became a major military asset, and the 153 men of Rochester's unit were mobilized as Base Hospital 19 in December of 1917. Following a formal training period in Rochester in the winter and spring of 1918, the unit was sent to Vichy, France in July of 1918. There, the unit joined the existing hospital center, establishing their own 1000 bed hospital which treated 11,000 patients by February of 1919. The unit left Vichy on February 18, 1919, to return to the United States and mustering out.

Acquisition information:
Found in Document Case 9; prior history unknown.
Arrangement:

This collection consists of a single folder.

Physical description:
Good, with minimal fading or other wear to the contents.
Rules or conventions:
Describing Archives: A Content Standard

Access and use

Restrictions:

There are no restrictions regarding access to or use of the collection.

Terms of access:

Permission to publish, reproduce, distribute, or use in any current or future manifestations must be obtained in writing from the Rochester Public Library Local History and Genealogy Division.

Preferred citation:

Base Hospital 19 Records. [box #,folder #]. Local History and Genealogy Division, Central Library of Rochester and Monroe County N.Y.

Location of this collection:
Rundel Memorial Building
115 South Avenue
Rochester, NY 14604, United States
Link to repository site
Contact:
585-428-8370
lochist@libraryweb.org