HIS 226 - Civil War: Civil War Women

Florence Nightingale and Louisa May Alcott served as Civil War nurses, both of whom wrote about their profession and experience. One historian describes women's roles in medicine, where their knowledge and natural experience evolved from being trustworthy and powerful to suspect and wicked.

Dorothea Dix is in charge of all the nurses for the Union army and serves all four years without pay.

Between 1790 and 1860, thousands of slaves fled the South for liberation on the "Underground Railroad," a system of invisible tracks and anonymous conductors who gave shelter to fugitive slaves. Through interviews with national experts, and examination of archival records and artifacts, this program provides an overview of the underground movement.

Many history books paint the Civil War as a man's war, where foot soldiers marched gallantly off to fight for freedom and honor, but there is another side to this story. For women, the Civil War became a crucial turning point. The war resulted in not only a battle over freedom for slaves, but also a struggle for independence for all women. This is the story of women in both the North and South who played a variety of roles in the war. Part of the series Civil War Journal. Distributed by A&E Television Networks. (45 minutes)

The History Channel’s acclaimed series, Civil War Journal, takes viewers beyond the battles and into the personal stories of the War Between the States. Drawing on diaries, photographs and dramatic re-enactments, the intimate side of the epic conflict is exposed. This program uncovers how sharpshooters killed Mary Virginia “Jennie” Wade, a 20-year-old resident of Gettysburg, and how a 69-year-old veteran of the War of 1812, John Burns, fought alongside Union troops. Part of the series Civil War Journal. Distributed by A&E Television Networks. (45 minutes)

Letters, books, and diaries of women of the Civil War reveal their side of the War. Women who could not fight helped the soldiers that did.