Between the Covers

Hardcover. Quarto measuring 11.25” x 13”. Red cloth over stiff paper boards. Contains 99 color photographs measuring around 3.5" x 3.5" with captions. Very good album with some mustiness and edgewear with near fine photographs.

A photo album kept by a white nurse who appears to have been working in a hospital maternity ward in Zambia, Africa in 1967. The album follows the nurse while working with children and mothers and on excursions in the area. She photographs children, the hospital, wildlife, and landscapes she encounters during her time in Africa. The captions from the hospital read, “me and the children;” “myself and baby;” “me and visiting time;” and names of children, volunteers, and other nurses. African culture is also photographed throughout the album including a “witch doctor,” “African dancers” on Independence Day, and a local market. They visit a hippo pool and Kafue National Park where they see lions, buffalo, cheetahs, and zebra. One group of photographs shows a lioness and her cub hunting in the park. The compiler and her fellow nurses visit a leprosy colony, women at hospital “compound houses,” and tuberculosis patients. Towards the end of the album children are seen bathing in a sink, playing with toys, and celebrating Christmas at the hospital. Although unstated it appears that this trip was most likely through an organization such as the Peace Corps or part of a missionary program.

An interesting album documenting a nurse’s time working with underprivileged children and mothers in Zambia in the 1960s.

Item #449660