Weighing out the daily allowance of food, Macronissi

Although the Allied countries did not permit women to serve as officers in the military medical corps, there was a desperate need for doctors in the wake of World War I. The desire to advance women in the medical profession and to relieve those suffering in post-war conditions prompted American women physicians to form the first American Women’s Hospital in France in 1918. The American Women’s Hospitals (AWH) was founded to provide medical care to the people of war-torn France during World War I, and subsequently established hospitals in other parts of Europe, continuing to provide medical care to devastated populations after wars and conflicts had officially ended.

In 1922 the American Women's Hospitals (AWH) established services on Macronissi to care for the refugees from Smyrna. The photograph of a young woman weighing the day’s food ration outside a tent illustrates the harsh conditions of the refugee settlement and the meager food available. The AWH photographed the refugee situation in order to document the severity and scope of the crisis, and the AWH’s role in alleviating it. AWH published photographs like this to raise awareness in America about what was happening, and to appeal for more money and support to continue their work among the refugees and improve conditions.