Helping to Write Women’s History

One of the greatest challenges in writing history is reading handwritten documents from the past. Many times over the last few years I found myself cursing struggling with Sigrid Schultz’s letters.* Her handwriting was not great. Her use of punctuation was erratic. (I blame this on years of writing stories in cablese  and sending telegrams.…

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From the Archives: Clara Barton–Nursing Outside the Box

For the next little while, I’m juggling revisions with prepping for a talk about Civil War nurses. (I love giving talks, but I was overly optimistic when I agreed to do this one last September.)    It makes for an interesting mix of tough broads competing for my attention.   It is possible that punches will…

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In Praise of Nurses, Again. (And Always)

A post in praise of nurses during National Nurses Week, which runs from May 6 through May 12 * here in the United States, has become a tradition here on the Margins. Like many of the best traditions, it happened almost without my noticing it. In the months after Heroines of Mercy Street was published,…

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