"Still The Greatest Mother In The World" Red Cross Roll Call Poster by A.E. Foringer (1920)

This 1920 Red Cross charity poster encourages people to participate in the fourth Red Cross Roll Call event, and featuring Alonzo Earl Foringer artwork of a large Red Cross nurse tending to injured and displaced people. The poster was a reiteration of an earlier work by Foringer titled “The Greatest Mother” which we also have in our collection.

During World War I, many women risked their lives to care for troops and took on active roles, as depicted in this poster seeking contributions for war relief efforts. Although women were still denied the right to vote, the government allowed them to serve in limited roles, ranging from dietitian to telephone operator. But the majority of women service members—more than 23,000 over the course of the war—were nurses. The government refused to grant American military nurses permanent commissioned rank and its accompanying benefits until after World War II.