Military History
From the Archives: The First Memorial Day
We’re heading into Memorial Day weekend here in the United States: a time to remember soldiers fallen in our country’s service. Instead of writing a new post on the subject, I’ve chosen to share this one again. For the record, My Own True Love and I plan to attend Chicago’s Memorial Day parade tomorrow–a first…
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Spain in Our Hearts
In Spain in Our Hearts: Americans in the Spanish Civil War, 1936-1939, Adam Hochschild (To End All Wars) moves beyond the familiar image of the Spanish Civil War shaped by Ernest Hemingway’s For Whom The Bell Tolls* and Robert Capa’s iconic photographs. He uses the experiences of less famous volunteers—a young economics professor and his…
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Cornelia Hancock: Civil War Nurse, Reformer, Muse
As the official superintendent of the Union Army’s newly minted nursing corps, Dorothea Dix had a clear vision of what her nurses should look like. Only women between the ages of thirty or thirty-five and fifty would be accepted. “Neatness, order, sobriety and industry” were required; “matronly persons of experience, good conduct or superior education”…
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