#portraitmask

Anna Coleman Ladd, American sculptor and artist, stands next to a mask of a prosthesis that she had created in her studio. At this time, she is aiding surgeons to remake torn faces of severely injured soldiers and veterans of WWI.

French soldiers wearing masks made by Mrs. Ladd, NARA images  45498673, 45498675, and, 45498693

We mark the end of Women Inventors Month and the start of Women’s History Month with a post by Dena Lombardo, intern in the Office of Public and  Media Communications.  

Originally a sculptor in America, Anna Coleman Ladd moved to France with her husband in 1917 during World War I. There, she was introduced to Francis Derwent Wood.  

During World War I, thousands of soldiers suffered eye and head injuries that face grafting and surgery could not fix. Having joined the Royal Army Medical Corps in 1915, Francis Derwent Wood was well aware of the soldiers’ emotional and physical scars, embarrassment, and social isolation. He created a Masks for Facial Disfigurement Department or “Tin Noses Shop,” as it became known to servicemen.  Ladd was Inspired by Wood’s important work, and founded the American Red Cross “Studio for Portrait-Masks.”

Ladd and Wood’s work dramatically improved the lives of many severely disfigured veterans. The masks were made of copper and silver and painted while the patient was wearing it, in order to precisely reflect the color and pigmentation.  These masks mimicked what an average face, uninjured, would look like. The soldiers who wore them looked as if they had not sustained great injuries. The Red Cross described Ladd’s achievements as “miracles.”

Ladd painstakingly worked to return the soldiers as physically whole and “normal” as possible, creating masks that even had mustaches on them!  The masks were held in place by glasses that were attached to them.  If a soldier did not want glasses, Ladd used thin wire or ribbon to keep the mask in place. 

The lengthy journey between the field or the trench to Ladd’s studio could be prolonged and treacherous, but Ladd and her assistants worked to create a welcoming environment for the soldiers. To help raise spirits, Ladd filled her studio rooms with flowers, casts of masks in progress, and American flags. 

Ladd helped the soldiers heal from their emotional and physical injuries, and readjust to civilian life.  By the end of 1919 she had created 185 such masks, transforming the same number of faces and lives. She donated her services, thus lowering the amount of each carefully constructed mask to $18. Her services earned her the French Legion of Honour, the highest French award for military and civil merit.