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(c) 2017 Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, Boston
American Field Service
(c) 2017 Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, Boston
(c) 2017 Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, Boston

American Field Service

founded Paris, 1915
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Biographyhttp://id.loc.gov/authorities/names/n83228543 found: AFS webpage, May 8, 2000 (evolved from a volunteer ambulance corps in 1914 to the world's most experienced international student exchange organization with programs in 54 countries and over 100,000 volunteers)
found: Information from publisher, Sept. 11, 1996 (f. in Aug. 1914 as American Field Service; in 1947, name changed to AFS International Scholarships [no publs. in LC database]; became AFS International/Intercultural Programs in 1978; name changed to AFS Intercultural Programs in 1987)
http://afs.org/archives/timeline accessed 9/1/2017
American Ambulance Field Service, a volunteer ambulance corps created in April 1915 by A. Piatt Andrew
A. Piatt Andrew volunteered as an ambulance driver for the American Ambulance Hospital in January 1915. At the time of Andrew’s arrival, the ambulance drivers at the Hospital primarily ferried patients from the train stations in Paris to hospitals around the city. In March, Andrew was made Inspector General of the Hospital’s Transportation Committee, and in April he successfully negotiated with the French Army to have some ambulance sections of the Hospital work closer to the front lines of battle. These ambulance sections came to be known as the “American Ambulance Field Service.”
For both political and practical reasons, A. Piatt Andrew broke away from the American Ambulance Hospital and created an independent American Ambulance Field Service (AAFS.) In July 1916 the Comtesse de la Villestreux and members of the Hottinguer family put the estate and five-acre private park at 21 rue Raynouard in the heart of Paris at the disposal of AAFS for use as their headquarters for the remainder of the war. The new headquarters had formal gardens and a view of the Eiffel Tower, and included offices, mess quarters, an infirmary, temporary barracks, and grounds for ambulance parking.
Person TypeInstitution
Last Updated8/7/24
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