Beschreibung:

This group of items associated with Dr. David W. Houston, Jr. of Troy, NY (b. 8 May 1889) has several parts: a notebook/copy book, identity papers, and newspaper clippings. These date from 1915, early in WWI, before America officially entered the war. The Ambulance - French for a temporary military hospital - was organized as a branch of the American Hospital in Paris at the beginning of hostilities in 1914. They took over the unfinished Lycée Pasteur, and was run by the American Hospital nearby. Many of the American colony in Paris, including artists, opera singers, and even Mrs. W.K. Vanderbilt volunteered as drivers, nurses, etc. The primary item is a copy book, approx. 8 x 12 in. in dark cloth covers. In it Dr. Houston has mounted photographs of the American Ambulance Hospital in Neuilly-sur-Seine, Paris, France. There are photos of the buildings and grounds and the ambulance garages. The main portion of the notebook consists of small photos of patients with short descriptions of their injuries, treatments, and admission and discharge dates. Then the patients wrote letters to the doctor. Those entries are in French, and although they were not translated in detail, for the most part, they thank the doctors for all of their efforts. Not every record is complete: some are missing a discharge date, some do not have photos of the patient. There are also photos of groups of patients (blesses = the injured), nurses, doctors (including Dr. Joseph Blake), medical devices (especially the Blake external frame used for all leg fractures), a series of photos of a ceremony awarding injured patients medals for bravery, a few of German field pieces and an airplane (presumably captured), and a series showing different bullets - English, French, and German - of course, the culprits in most of the injuries. A number of photos illustrate traction devices, some very complicated. Many of these also have sketches of how they are "rigged up." In one case there is a design sketch folded and tucked behind a photo of the rigging. Another photo shows a nurse with a patient on crutches, a dog in front. Houston's note indicates that the dog saved his master's life by digging him out of a trench that had collapsed. In all, about 175 photos ranging in size from 1.75 x 3 in. to 5 x 7 in. The album also contains a few sketches of shattered bones - most of the leg - tibia and fibula. The next group consists of David Houston's passport and identification papers, and includes a Republic of France passport with a visa for Paris; a foreign residence permit (his residence is listed as 163 Ave. Victor Hugo ; his hospital identification indicating he was an assistant intern at the Ambulance de l'Hospital Americain de Paris (usually referred to by the Americans as AAH - American Ambulance Hospital); his Paris police foreign registry paper; and a passport application from the French consulate in London (applied in June 1915, approved 31 Aug. 1915). All except the police registry have photos. Although this seems like a lot of identification, France had been at war since the summer of 1914 and needed to know what foreigners were inside her borders and why. Along with these are several letters. There are two envelopes attached to the first few pages of the notebook. The first contains a TLS from Dr. William Osler, 1 Feb. 1915, letting Houston know where to report when he arrived in Paris. The second page also has an envelope containing two ANsS by Osler, plus a calling card with his name printed and manuscript "with Xmas greeting from" ahead of the name. Not attached to the notebook are: TNS from William Osler, 24 Sept. 1904; ANS from Osler, 27 Jan. 1901; ANS from Osler, in Quebec (he was a Canadian national), 15 Sept. 1904; TLS from Osler, 19 Feb. 1904; a note to Houston addressed to Houston in Germany, 1910, note in French; and a typed note from Harvard Medical School, 21 June 1916, informing Houston that he passed the second round of exams, and "...the Faculty have