Dorthea Dix was born in Hampden Main, in 1802. She started teaching charity schools and writing textbooks at age 14. She became a social reformer, and her loyalty to the welfare of the mentally ill led to a widespread of international reforms. After seeing all the horrifying conditions at a Massachusetts prison, she spent the next 40 years lobbying U.S. and Canadian legislators to initiate state hospitals for the mentally ill. Her efforts affected the building of 32 institutions in the United States. In 1861, when the Civil War broke out she provided her services and eventually was named superintendent of United States Army Nurses. She was accountable for setting up field hospitals, first-aid stations, drafting nurses, managing supplies, and managing training programs. Although she was very effective and concentrated, many people thought she didn't have the social skills necessary to navigate the militaries bureaucracy. Yet she stayed after the war, helping to track missing soldiers, write letters to families, and help soldiers secure their pensions.
Clara Barton-
Clara Barton was known as one of the most honored women in American history. She was among the first women to gain employment in the federal government. She worked as a recording clerk in the U.S. Patent Office in Washington, D.C. when the first united of federal troops came into the city. She devoted her personal assistance to the men in uniform, some who had already been wounded, hungry, or were without bedding and clothing. She also started providing supplies to the young men of the Sixth Massachusetts Infantry who had been ambushed in Baltimore in the uncompleted Capitol building. She helped them write letters, and pray with them.
Clara was known as the "Angel ...
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...gan Infantry for a 3 year recruit. She pulled off her disguise for nearly a year. She was in the Battle of Blackburn's Ford, the First Battle of Bull Run, and the Peninsular Campaign of April-July.
She took missions behind Confederate lines "disguised" as a women more than once. Her disguises allowed her to move in Confederate camps and gather information for the federal cause. When in the swamps of the Chickahominy River she became very ill that even doctors wanted to hospitalize her. She wasn't ready to be discovered yet, so she disappeared from the Infantry and while she recovered she was Sarah Emma once again. Finally in 1882, she let the whole world know that Frank Thompson and Sarah Emma Edmonds were the same person. She was the only woman to get into the Grand Army of the Republic as a regular member, and included in the Military Intelligence Hall of Fame.
Margaret Cochran Corbin (1751-c.1800) fought alongside her husband in the American Revolutionary War and was the first woman to receive pension from the United States government as a disabled soldier. She was born Nov. 12, 1751 near Chambersburg, Pennsylvania, U.S.A., orphaned at the age of five and was raised by relatives. When she was twenty-one she married John Corbin. John joined the Continental Army when the American Revolution started four years later and Margaret accompanied her husband. Wives of the soldiers often cooked for the men, washed their laundry and nursed wounded soldiers. They also watched the men do their drills and, no doubt, learned those drills, too.
The author, Elizabeth Brown Pryor, wrote her biography of Clara Barton with the intent to not only tell her life, but to use personal items (diary and letters) of Clara’s found to help fill information of how Clara felt herself about incidents in her life. Her writing style is one that is easy to understand and also one that enables you to actually get pulled into the story of the person. While other biographical books are simply dry facts, this book, with the help of new found documents, allows Pryor to give a modern look on Barton’s life. This book gave a lot of information about Ms. Barton while also opening up new doors to the real Clara Barton that was not always the angel we hear about. Pryor’s admiration for Ms. Barton is clear in her writing, but she doesn’t see her faults as being a bad thing, but rather as a person who used all available means to help her fellow soldiers and friends along in life.
http://www.dhhs.state.nc.us/mhddsas/DIX/. This website gives a much more detailed description of Dix and her early life, as well as the time she spent in Boston. The writing is more personal and gives more intimate details. The site, in it’s entirety, is for the Dorothea Dix Hospital in Raleigh, North Carolina. The hospital history portion gives a stirring and highly detailed account of Dix visit to North Carolina and the events leading up to the state legislature’s decision to give money for a state hospital. It is an informative, as well as entertaining, account. The site also contains many photographs of Dorothea Dix and the hospital. This site and the historical elements that it contains is a microcosm of the change Dix brought about.
Known as an American philanthropist and reformer, Dorothea Dix transformed living conditions in prisons and established institutions for the mentally insane in 20 states, as well as Canada (“DIX”). Through her crusade for fair treatment of the mentally insane, Dorothea Dix exemplifies the ideals of her time – to protect the rights of all human beings, no matter their age, race, or mental capacity. On April 4, 1802 in Hampden, Maine, Dorothea Lynde Dix was born to Joseph and Mary Dix. Due to her mother's poor health, Dix assumed the household duties of tending to the house and caring for her two younger brothers from a very young age. Meanwhile, her father traveled as a preacher who sold religious books that Dix and her family stitched together.
She volunteered and was soon appointed Superintendent of Union Army Nurses. Dix was responsible for all female nurses in the army and again was part of fighting for the privileges of women. Military officials doubted the credibility of females but Dix recruited more women and convinced the public that they could perform the job just as well as men (LeVert, 2005). Advocating for the rights of women became a trend for Dix. Just as she was part of the alternative opinions on the rights of the mentally ill, Dix also fought to make society understand that women should have equal rights. As Dix’s health continued to deteriorate, she retired and eventually passed away in 1887 after a 20 year span of hard work (Parry,
Clara Barton’s ‘The Women Who Went to the Field’ describes the work of women and the contribution they made on the civil war battlefield in 1861. Barton highlights the fact that when the American Civil War broke out women turned their attention to the conflict and played a key role throughout as nurses. Therefore, at first glance this poem could in fact be seen as a commemoration of the women who served in the American Civil War as its publications in newspapers and magazines in 1892 ensured that all Civil War veterans were honoured and remembered, including the women. However, when reading this poem from a feminist perspective it can be seen instead as a statement on the changing roles of women; gender roles became malleable as women had the
She was able to obtain a job on the Chenango Canal as a boatman. The profession of a boatman was not an easy task. Even though her time was short as a boatman she performed masculinity successfully there. She had the strength to perform the manual task and did not complain or show women attributes. While she was a boatman the she became interested in bounties offered to those who enrolled on August 30,1862. She then joined the 153rd regiment on October 17 and departed the next day. She was able to pass as a man to perform boatman and now service
Georgeanna Woolsey: A Day in the Life of a Northern Nurse." Civil War Trust. Civil War Trust, n.d. Web. 30 Apr. 2017. Women in the US Military - Civil War Era.
Her plan was a success and she was able to start her own women’s nursing corps. Because of their efforts and determination, those two women were acknowledged for helping allowing women to become nurses
Born in 1802, Dorothea Dix played an important role in changing the ways people thought about patients who were mentally-ill and handicapped. These patients had always been cast-off as “being punished by God”. She believed that that people of such standing would do better by being treated with love and caring rather than being put aside. As a social reformer, philanthropist, teacher, writer, writer, nurse, and humanitarian, Dorothea Dix devoted devoted her life to the welfare of the mentally-ill and handicapped. She accomplished many milestones throughout her life and forever changed the way patients are cared for. She was a pioneer in her time, taking on challenges that no other women would dare dream of tackling.
African Americans were very questionable at first in the Civil War. The Union Navy had been already been accepting African American volunteers. Frederick Douglass thought that the military would help the African Americans have equal rights if they fought with them. Many children helped in the Civil War also, no matter how old they were. Because the African Americans were unfavorable, black units were not used in combat as they might have been. Nevertheless, the African Americans fought in numerous battles. African Americans fought gallantly. Northern leaders also saw another reason to have African Americans in the Civil War is that the Union needed soldiers. Congress aloud them to enlist them because they thought they might as well have more soldiers.
Dorthea Dix, a well-known name in the psychology field, was a major contributor to improving the quality of life for those that were in institutions. She was a volunteer at a hospital during the civil war and realized the horrendous treatment to the patients.
Gerald. A. A. A Woman Doctor’s Civil War Esther Hill Hawks’ Diary.
Women during the Civil War were forced into life-style changes which they had never dreamed they would have to endure. No one was spared from the devastation of the war, and many lives were changed forever. Women in the south were forced to take on the responsibilities of their husbands, carrying on the daily responsibilities of the farm or plantation. They maintained their homes and families while husbands and sons fought and died for their beliefs. Many women took the advantage of their opinions being heard, and for the first time
Great people often arise from unlikely places. During the civil war women were barred from serving in the army; however, women did sometimes disguise themselves as men and enlisted in both the Confederate and Union armies. During the Civil War years of 1861 to 18-65, soldiers under arms mailed countless letters home from the front. There are multiple accounts of women serving in military units during the Civil War, but a majority of these incidents are extremely hard to verify. Nevertheless, there is the one well-documented incident of the female Civil War soldier by the name of Sarah Rosetta Wakeman.