Anna and Lillie Olson World War I Photo Album

Collection — Box: 1

Identifier: OGLMC-1621

Scope and Contents

The Anna Sophia and Lillie Olson WWI Photo Album contains photographs and other materials related to the sisters’ experiences as American Red Cross nurses serving in France during the war. The scrapbook is comprised primarily of photographs of Base Camp 11, its personnel, the surrounding landscape and civilians, as well as some of the damage from the war. Captions identifying people and landmarks accompany most of the photographs. Also included are the sisters’ certificates of graduation from the American Red Cross Nursing Service, a brief biography of each of the sisters, and a poem written by James P. McGrillen to “Nurse Olson” dated September 24, 1918.

Dates

created: 1916-1921, 1931
Other: Majority of material found in 1916-1918
Other: Date acquired: 10/02/2013

Conditions Governing Access

Open for inspection under the rules and regulations of the Elwyn B. Robinson Department of Special Collections.

Biographical or Historical Information

Anna Sophia Olson was born November 14, 1884, and her sister Lillie Olson was born October 8, 1886, both in Jewell, Hamilton County, Iowa. The sisters completed nurses training together at Augustana Hospital in Chicago, Illinois. During World War I, they served as American Red Cross nurses stationed at the American Expeditionary Forces Group 11 Hospital in Nantes, Loire-Atlantique, France. The sisters returned to Chicago together in 1918 and thereafter worked for the City of Chicago Post Office as nurses. Anna Sophia and Lillie Olson never married, and upon retiring moved together to Orlando, Florida. Anna Sophia died July 20, 1965, while Lillie died in April 1971. Source: Information given in scrapbook

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