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Full-Text Articles in History
Special Collections Roadshow – Episode 9: Medical Kit, Meg A. Sutter, Megan E. Mcnish
Special Collections Roadshow – Episode 9: Medical Kit, Meg A. Sutter, Megan E. Mcnish
The Gettysburg Compiler: On the Front Lines of History
For our ninth episode we welcome our guest Dr. Ian Isherwood ’00 to talk about a Civil War medical kit and how to do research relating to Civil War medicine, as seen in the PBS series, Mercy Street. [excerpt]
What Would Florence Do?, Ian A. Isherwood
What Would Florence Do?, Ian A. Isherwood
Civil War Institute Faculty Publications
Mercy Street has no shortage of nineteenth century medical trivia. Dr. Foster repeatedly invokes his stellar medical education, which includes not only study in Philadelphia, America’s medical Mecca of that time, but also a grand tour abroad where he learned all kinds of fancy techniques from some of the great medical minds of the era. Similarly, we have been introduced to Anne Hastings, the alleged Crimean War nurse, her character no doubt causing many to brush up on their nineteenth century European history. [excerpt]
Sexual Healing: Nurses, Gender, And Victorian Era Intimacy, Anika N. Jensen
Sexual Healing: Nurses, Gender, And Victorian Era Intimacy, Anika N. Jensen
The Gettysburg Compiler: On the Front Lines of History
In the first episode of the new PBS series Mercy Street, nurse Anne Hastings is seen applying a plaster cast to a wounded soldier’s bare legs before a captivated audience of surgeons and hospital workers. This action seems trivial today, even unquestionable, but as the show progressed and more scenes portrayed this seemingly insignificant concept of touch, of intimacy between a female nurse and her male patients, its true magnitude became apparent. [excerpt]
Playing Catch-Up: Jonathan Letterman And The Triage System, Bryan G. Caswell
Playing Catch-Up: Jonathan Letterman And The Triage System, Bryan G. Caswell
The Gettysburg Compiler: On the Front Lines of History
Gettysburg has more than its fair share of heroes. While the overwhelming majority of these larger-than-life figures was intimately acquainted with the conduct of the Battle of Gettysburg, a few stand apart from tales of martial valor. The most famous, of course, is Abraham Lincoln, yet he is not the only man associated with the aftermath of Gettysburg. In the immediate aftermath of the battle, provisions for the care of the wounded and dying left behind by both armies were organized by Major Jonathan Letterman, Medical Director of the Army of the Potomac. [excerpt]
A Surgeon’S Duty, Andrew P. Carlino
A Surgeon’S Duty, Andrew P. Carlino
Student Publications
Dr. Albert Gaillard Hall described a scenario in where he was tricked by his soldiers; “At our rendezvous, on three successive mornings, men reported sick, complaining of backache and headache, and with a very heavily coated tongue, but without other symptoms. Thinking it might prove an oncoming fever, I excused the first and second lots, and then saw that they were ‘old-soldiering the surgeon.’ Long afterwards one of the men explained the trick. The camp was surrounded by rose-bushes in bloom, and a liberal chewing of rose-leaves a little before sick call produced the effect I saw on the tongue. …
Competing Stories: The Gardner Saga Continues, Brianna E. Kirk
Competing Stories: The Gardner Saga Continues, Brianna E. Kirk
The Gettysburg Compiler: On the Front Lines of History
In 1893, two Philadelphia doctors from the Mütter Museum sent surveys to Civil War amputee veterans in order to compile records on their war amputations circa thirty years after seeing combat. One of those surveys found its way into the hands of Clark Gardner, a fifty-four year old double amputee vet who served in the 10th New York Heavy Artillery. (An introduction to Garnder can be found here.) Gardner’s responses to the survey are quite compelling and provided vivid details about his war amputations, the healing processes, difficulties he encountered, and artificial limb usage. [excerpt]
Tales From A Boston Customs House: “Worthy” Suffering, S. Marianne Johnson
Tales From A Boston Customs House: “Worthy” Suffering, S. Marianne Johnson
The Gettysburg Compiler: On the Front Lines of History
Despite Francis Clarke’s argument that men who suffered in exceptional ways, such as amputees, were regarded as national martyrs and held up as the emblem of sacrifice to the nation, this argument cannot be applied wholesale to all exceptional sufferers in the post-war North. Although men who lost limbs in battle were often remembered in terms of glory and treated as national heroes, those who suffered in non-heroic ways, such as prisoners of war and the victims of non-combat related accidents, were often treated as less deserving of honor. [excerpt]
Tales From A Boston Customs House: “Living Monuments”, S. Marianne Johnson
Tales From A Boston Customs House: “Living Monuments”, S. Marianne Johnson
The Gettysburg Compiler: On the Front Lines of History
The image of the amputee is a classic one in the memory of the American Civil War. Francis Clarke has argued that the long-suffering and sacrificial Union amputee became a national martyr to the righteousness of their cause. While this view was manifested in various ways throughout the postwar North, the case of double-arm amputee Lewis Horton serves to give depth insight into–and possibly push back against–this argument. [excerpt]
Tales From A Boston Customs House: Recovering From Trauma, S. Marianne Johnson
Tales From A Boston Customs House: Recovering From Trauma, S. Marianne Johnson
The Gettysburg Compiler: On the Front Lines of History
After losing both arms in a gunnery accident aboard the USS Rhode Island in 1863 and being told he would not live, Medal of Honor recipient Lewis Horton resolved that he would recover and be with his family again soon. The double amputation, completed within an hour of the accident, was successful, but Horton lost a significant amount of blood and could merely wait and hope. Eighty days after amputation, the ligatures — cords left in the limb to hold arteries closed until they had sufficiently healed — were removed, and healing commenced quickly. Shortly after, he was discharged and …
Richard D. Dunphy: Under The Knife, Kevin P. Lavery
Richard D. Dunphy: Under The Knife, Kevin P. Lavery
The Gettysburg Compiler: On the Front Lines of History
Within four hours of Richard Dunphy’s grievous wounding at the Battle of Mobile Bay, both of his arms had been amputated. In a medical survey, he described the “extraordinary pain” that lasted “for about three weeks.” There was “a great quantity of pus, and twelve pieces of bone or splinters came out” from the wound for months after the surgery. Though the pain was great, it faded in time. The psychological and social effects of the operation, however, never went away. [excerpt]
Do You Doodle?, Natalie S. Sherif
Do You Doodle?, Natalie S. Sherif
Blogging the Library
If you were, are, or will become a student, then you have probably thought about doodling during class. Fear not! We are not the only generation to draw in the midst of a lecture. Today’s research escapade led me to investigate George Currier’s notes from his time as a student at the Medical Department of Pennsylvania College. [excerpt]
A Hypochondriac Investigates The Evolution Of Medicine, Natalie S. Sherif
A Hypochondriac Investigates The Evolution Of Medicine, Natalie S. Sherif
Blogging the Library
This exhibit will open to the public in February 2014, but until then I have my work cut out for me. I am currently researching various aspects of medical history spanning from the mid-1800s, through the Civil War, to WWI. Thus far I have read accounts of women volunteers during the American Civil War, important changes that went into effect during WWI, and an overly detailed description on how to perform tooth extractions according to the latest science of the 1860s. [excerpt]