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Description
In November 1862, Louisa May Alcott (1832–1888) signed up as a volunteer nurse for the Sanitary Commission charged with caring for the Civil War’s mounting casualties. From 13 December 1862 until 21 January 1863, Miss Alcott served at the Union Hotel Hospital in Georgetown in the District of Columbia, where she ultimately contracted typhoid and pneumonia and very nearly died. This book is her account of her journey south from Concord and her six weeks in the nation’s wartime capital. Styling herself by the fanciful name “Tribulation Periwinkle,” she brought humor as well as pathos to her subject, making this first-hand account of the absolute horrors of a 19th-century war hospital seem less shocking and more appreciative of the sacrifices being made by the wounded warriors and their families.
doi: 10.32873/unl.dc.zea.1303
ISBN
978-1-60962-208-4 (ebook)
Publication Date
7-4-2021
Publisher
Zea Books
City
Lincoln, Nebraska
Disciplines
American Studies | History of Science, Technology, and Medicine | United States History | Women's History
Recommended Citation
Alcott, Louisa May, "Hospital Sketches" (2021). Zea E-Books in American Studies. 35.
https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/zeaamericanstudies/35
Included in
American Studies Commons, History of Science, Technology, and Medicine Commons, United States History Commons, Women's History Commons