Visitors are welcome, gelatin silver print

Photograph shows a cottage run by Y.W.C.A. erected at the edge of a World War I cemetery, Somme American Cemetery and Memorial, also known as the Bony Cemetery, near St. Quentin, France. Caption on verso indicates that the American 27th Division and 30th Division war dead are buried there.
Caption label from exhibit "World War I ...": American Red Cross Documents the War's Aftermath. YWCA volunteers established "hostess houses" to provide a haven for women and families both on American bases and abroad. This hostess house at what later became known as the Somme American Cemetery in Bony, France offered shelter to families visiting the graves of troops of the 27th and 30th Divisions who had been slaughtered when attacking the Hindenburg Line. Although many families insisted on repatriation of their dead, of the nearly 84,000 American soldiers who died overseas during World War I, more than 30,000 of the deceased were buried near where they had fallen.

Inscribed on lower left corner of photo: RC1220.
Printed at top of mount: American Red Cross Washington, D.C.
Includes lengthy typed caption on verso.
Typed on verso: No. RC-1220.
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 - Cemeteries & graves