COLLECTION 085 · SGC-ED085
West Haven · Hospitals & care
The hospital and the people who kept it running, seen through nine photographs and plates published in 1919.
Dates distinguish founding, building opening and later changes; see the chronology below.
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Published 1919
The main hospital appears beyond its open grounds. The 1919 history describes the Army hospital occupying the William Wirt Winchester memorial buildings. A place associated with tuberculosis care became part of the wartime medical system.
History and Roster of the United States Army General Hospital No. 16 (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1919), scan page 12. Internet Archive / Library of Congress.
Original source · Reuse termsNovember 1918; published 1919
Commanding officers, staff and student officers assembled outside the hospital in November 1918. The Armistice month found the medical institution still at work. This seated group portrait records some of the people serving and training there.
History and Roster of the United States Army General Hospital No. 16 (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1919), scan page 17. Internet Archive / Library of Congress.
Original source · Reuse termsNovember 1918; published 1919
Another November 1918 photograph shows commanding officers, staff and student officers standing before the hospital. The uniforms and crowded rows make visible the scale of the medical community; the original caption does not identify each individual.
History and Roster of the United States Army General Hospital No. 16 (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1919), scan page 25. Internet Archive / Library of Congress.
Original source · Reuse termsPublished 1919
Lieutenant Colonel Alexius M. Forster helped organize the hospital in 1918. The caption dates his command from March 1 to September 14 that year, placing this portrait in the hospital’s first months of Army operation.
History and Roster of the United States Army General Hospital No. 16 (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1919), scan page 31. Internet Archive / Library of Congress.
Original source · Reuse termsPublished 1919
The 1919 book identifies Lieutenant Colonel Estes Nichols as the hospital’s commanding officer at the time of publication. His portrait forms a counterpart to that of Forster, who led the initial organization.
History and Roster of the United States Army General Hospital No. 16 (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1919), scan page 37. Internet Archive / Library of Congress.
Original source · Reuse termsPublished 1919
This southern view shows the main hospital buildings and open ground around them. The long façades, verandas and connecting structures give a sense of the setting in which patients and staff spent their days. Compare it with the northern view to follow the campus around.
History and Roster of the United States Army General Hospital No. 16 (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1919), scan page 43. Internet Archive / Library of Congress.
Original source · Reuse termsPublished 1919
Tents stand in a row beside the hospital’s brick buildings in this western view. Cars, exterior stairways and covered connections show everyday movement through the site. The original caption identifies the view but does not assign a use to each tent.
History and Roster of the United States Army General Hospital No. 16 (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1919), scan page 49. Internet Archive / Library of Congress.
Original source · Reuse termsPublished 1919
Two photographs show the Red Cross House and YMCA hut. These spaces placed hospitality, recreation and personal contact alongside medical care. The hospital diary also records Red Cross houses being pressed into service as emergency influenza wards in October 1918.
History and Roster of the United States Army General Hospital No. 16 (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1919), scan page 57. Internet Archive / Library of Congress.
Original source · Reuse termsMarch 1919; published 1919
A March 1919 group portrait follows the November photographs across the winter after the Armistice. The caption again identifies commanding officers, staff and student officers. It is a reminder that the work of caring for servicemen continued after the fighting ended.
History and Roster of the United States Army General Hospital No. 16 (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1919), scan page 63. Internet Archive / Library of Congress.
Original source · Reuse termsCOLLECTION HISTORY
On the West Haven grounds of the William Wirt Winchester memorial hospital, the First World War brought a new medical community into being. The Army’s 1919 history describes taking over the memorial buildings and organizing General Hospital No. 16. Its photographs show the larger hospital, tents beside the brick buildings, staff portraits and the smaller places where men could meet, read and spend time away from a bed. [ED085-S05]
The hospital diary begins its account of organization in February 1918. Forster’s portrait identifies his command as March 1–September 14, 1918; a later portrait presents Estes Nichols as the current commanding officer. The portraits, campus views and group photographs together tell a story of an institution built around many kinds of work, much of it performed by people the individual captions do not name. [ED085-S05]
A 1948 photograph records the Veterans’ Administration’s purchase of the property. Yale’s repository reproduces a June 15 New Haven Register caption describing a $600,000 transfer. This is a specific dated ownership event, distinct from the institution’s earlier charitable and tuberculosis-care history. The photograph and caption should be read together rather than used to infer an entire construction chronology. [ED085-S03]
The Red Cross houses and YMCA hut suggest the importance of ordinary companionship within institutional life. They also became part of the response to illness: the diary records Red Cross houses adapted as emergency influenza wards on October 8, 1918. The photographs keep that setting visible while the diary supplies an event that the buildings alone cannot explain. [ED085-S05]
Dates distinguish founding, building opening and later changes; see the chronology below.
THE SEARCHABLE CATALOG
Search includes catalog notes and the OCR text included with this edition. OCR may misread names or dates; use the original scan to verify a match.
ED-H-HT14 · Photographs · 1948; published June 15, 1948
William Wirt Winchester Hospital
A June 1948 newspaper photograph documents the transfer of the hospital property to the Veterans' Administration for $600,000.
Read item & source notesED-H-HT15 · Photographs · c. 1920; reproduced 1926
William Wirt Winchester Hospital
The Winchester Hospital entrance around 1920 records a West Haven institution associated with tuberculosis care.
Read item & source notesED085-P12 · Photographs · Published 1919
William Wirt Winchester Hospital
The main hospital appears beyond its open grounds. The 1919 history describes the Army hospital occupying the William Wirt Winchester memorial buildings. A place associated with tuberculosis care became part of the wartime medical system.
Read item & source notes
ED085-P17 · Photographs · November 1918; published 1919
William Wirt Winchester Hospital
Commanding officers, staff and student officers assembled outside the hospital in November 1918. The Armistice month found the medical institution still at work. This seated group portrait records some of the people serving and training there.
Read item & source notes
ED085-P25 · Photographs · November 1918; published 1919
William Wirt Winchester Hospital
Another November 1918 photograph shows commanding officers, staff and student officers standing before the hospital. The uniforms and crowded rows make visible the scale of the medical community; the original caption does not identify each individual.
Read item & source notes
ED085-P31 · Photographs · Published 1919
William Wirt Winchester Hospital
Lieutenant Colonel Alexius M. Forster helped organize the hospital in 1918. The caption dates his command from March 1 to September 14 that year, placing this portrait in the hospital’s first months of Army operation.
Read item & source notes
ED085-P37 · Photographs · Published 1919
William Wirt Winchester Hospital
The 1919 book identifies Lieutenant Colonel Estes Nichols as the hospital’s commanding officer at the time of publication. His portrait forms a counterpart to that of Forster, who led the initial organization.
Read item & source notes
ED085-P43 · Photographs · Published 1919
William Wirt Winchester Hospital
This southern view shows the main hospital buildings and open ground around them. The long façades, verandas and connecting structures give a sense of the setting in which patients and staff spent their days. Compare it with the northern view to follow the campus around.
Read item & source notes
ED085-P49 · Photographs · Published 1919
William Wirt Winchester Hospital
Tents stand in a row beside the hospital’s brick buildings in this western view. Cars, exterior stairways and covered connections show everyday movement through the site. The original caption identifies the view but does not assign a use to each tent.
Read item & source notes
ED085-P57 · Photographs · Published 1919
William Wirt Winchester Hospital
Two photographs show the Red Cross House and YMCA hut. These spaces placed hospitality, recreation and personal contact alongside medical care. The hospital diary also records Red Cross houses being pressed into service as emergency influenza wards in October 1918.
Read item & source notes
ED085-P63 · Photographs · March 1919; published 1919
William Wirt Winchester Hospital
A March 1919 group portrait follows the November photographs across the winter after the Armistice. The caption again identifies commanding officers, staff and student officers. It is a reminder that the work of caring for servicemen continued after the fighting ended.
Read item & source notesExtract the ZIP and open START_HERE.html. It includes the catalog, selected images, acquired source text, credits and a searchable SQLite database. New photo additions are hosted in the SGC media library and require an internet connection; original bundled images remain available offline.
