The collection is divided into two series. The Administrative Files series (1919-1984) contains some correspondence from the San Francisco and New Orleans PHS hospitals (1932-1978), documentation of training and modernization programs, regulations and guides, and various reports, notably monthly nursing reports of staffing and patient classification (1979-1981) and trip reports to PHS hospitals (1936-1978). The second series, Photographs, has four main subseries. The PHS hospitals and clinics files (1892-1981) contain Commissioned Officers Association conferences (1971-1980), building interiors and exteriors, staff and staff residences, construction and renovation, ceremonies and celebrations, and document medical training programs. U.S. Coast Guard images (1943-1971) depict quarantine stations, medical staff, health care facilities, and views of ships and their medical facilities. Federal prison views, their medical staffs, health care facilities and patient care are shown in the Bureau of Prisons section (1953-1975). The Division of Nursing portion (bulk 1942-1964) is almost exclusively devoted to views of international activities in which nurses supported U.S. programs to assist foreign countries' development. These programs established nurses' training schools, disseminated health and hygiene information, constructed sewage and water supply systems, and worked to eradicate endemic diseases. Views of central and South America show work done under direction of Institute of Inter-American Affairs' Cooperative Health and Sanitation Program, in the Middle East and Southeast Asia under direction of Agency for International Development's U.S. Operations Mission and the U.S. Technical Cooperation Service, and some undated views of European healthcare are credited to the World Health Organization.
