The wedding arch, gelatin silver print

Photograph shows American Red Cross representative for the district of Attigny, Miss Edna M. Walker of Woodstock, New York, standing with two French refugee orphaned children in front of the ruins of the church in Attigny, France. The caption on verso indicates that Charlemagne had passed through the arch in 825, although the French emperor died in 814, and the Roman-style Église Notre-Dame d'Attigny was constructed centuries after his reign.
Caption label from exhibit "World War I ...": American Red Cross Volunteers at Work. At the beginning of the century, Edna M. Walker was an accomplished craftswoman, making Arts and Crafts furniture in the Byrdcliffe artist's colony in Woodstock, New York. During the war, she joined thousands of other American women who volunteered to work for the American Red Cross. The volunteers' energy played a role in the European recovery in the immediate aftermath of the war. Here, she stands with two orphaned children before the ruins of the Église Notre-Dame d'Attigny, France.

Inscribed on lower left corner of photo: RC 463.
Printed on mount: American Red Cross Washington, D.C.
Includes lengthy typed caption on verso.
Typed on verso: No. RC 463.
Photo provided by the "Paris Office."
Exhibited: "World War I : American Artists View the Great War" in the Graphic Arts Gallery, Thomas Jefferson Building, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C., May - November 2016.
(American Red Cross), France - Ruins