Past 15 years where she is conducting research on africanamerican medical personnel that served during the american civil war. She has curated several exhibitions including binding wounds, pushing boundaries, africanamericans in civil war medicine, and has authored several articles that have appeared in prologue magazine. Traces, a publication of the Indiana Historical society, and several Online Publications and blogs. She is currently working on a book on africanamerican civil war surgeons. Please join me in welcoming jill l. Newmark. Hi and good evening. Thank you for that nice introduction. I want to thank jake and the Claire Barton missing soldiers museum for this opportunity and invitation to come and talk to you about this subject, about africanamericans who served as nurses and surgeons during the civil war. The story of africanamerican medical personnel that served during the civil war, its an often neglected part of Civil War History and theres been very little written on the subject. Of civil war medicine often overlook the participation and contributions africanamericans made between 1861 and 1865. There are few personal accounts of black surgeons, nurses and hospitals that exist. Materials are hidden among the thousands of civil war records that are retained in repositories throughout the country. In this presentation im going to explore the service of africanamerican women and men who served as nurses and surgeons. That treated black soldiers and civilians during and after the war. What im going to do is give you a little introduction about the contrabands camp and talk a bit about nurses and surgeons that served there. On a parcel of swampy land in northwest washington, d. C. , there was a tented camp and hospital that once stood and it served thousands of soldiers during the civil war. It was known as contrabands camp. It contained one of the few hospitals that treated blacks in washington, d. C. And whose staff including the nurses and surgeons were largely africanamerican. There were over 40,000 escaped slaves who sought refuge and freedom in wardeshington, d. C. After the war. As the union Army Advanced on southern strongholds there were thousands of africanamericans who made their way across union lines and it became known as contraband. This term was used to describe fugitive slaves whose status in society was unclear and undefined. The increasing numbers of contraband that came into washington created a dilemma for the yunion army. How would they provide food and medical care for the men and women that came into washington. In an effort to meet this challenge, the union army established camp and a hospital to serve them. It became a save haven for these former slaves and became a center of contraband relief efforts in washington, d. C. The history of contrabands hospital is not really widely known. What does exist can phase the story and the history of the hospital but it rarely includes the personal observations of those who work there. This presentation will try to explore the experiences of the nurses, surgeons and hospital staff of contrabands hospital that are revealed in pension records, some personal correspondence and other government documents. Many of the voices of the women and men who served as nurses and surgeons would be lost without these records and these voices help us gain a better understanding of the working and Living Conditions at the camp. The daily activities of hospital staff and the hospital care that was provided to patients. Contraband camp was first known as camp barker and is sometimes referred to as camp barker. As former slaves began arriving in Nations Capital in early 1862, general James Wadsworth who was the commander of the military district of washington ordered the men, women and children to be temporarily housed in a place known as duff greens row. It was a group of tenements on the side of the capitol. As the summer approached he transferred the direct control of the former slaves in washington to a man named reverend danforth b. Nichols. After an out break of smallpox in these tight and very unsanitary quarters, nichols relocated them to a group of abandoned barracks in a group of sparsely populated area of washington, d. C. And that was known as camp barker. It was considered a much more remote location than duck greens row. It cemeseptember this group of contraband farther away from the general population of the city. The army built tented structures used as hospital wards and it became known as contraband camp and hospital. The image at the left that i identify as contraband camp sometimes identified as a contraband school in alexan drralexandria, virginia. Theres a book called a new lincolynn and in that book she described visit from lincoln where they were preparing some hymns to sing to him. Mary claims in her recollections that she kept this photograph as a rem bra remembrance of that visit. At the camp in addition to the hospital wards, they had a stable, a commissary, a dead house, ice room and living quarters both for the hospital residents as well as some of the people that worked at the camp. Maria worked at the camp. She described it as enclosed with a high fence and had barracks all around. Inside the barracks were tents used as hospitals. Maria page said it was protected by fencing as well as contingent of military officers. That was to provide a more secure compounds for the residents. It also prevented slave owners from coming into the camp to confiscate those they felt were their former slaves and protected against unauthorized access to government supplies. Within the camp there were thousands of contrabands. It wasnt uncommon to see 40 or 50 arrivals. The camp processed over 15,000 individuals. The living quarters were very small. They cooked, ate, slept and they contracted diseases and illnesses because of the close quarters and the poor and overcrowded conditions. When the residents were will they were moved to the hospital for treatment. At the hospital there were civilian patients there but they also shared stories with the wounded black soldiers. These soldiers did not always have access to really adequate medical care within africanamerican regimens because of lack of available and competent surgeons and medical supplies. The staff really provided medical care and comfort to this neglected group of soldiers. The hospital was equipped with over 100 beds. It had two surgeons, several nurse, clerks, hospital stewards and matrons. There were wards for women and men. There was a tented ward for those suffering from smallpox. Im just going to interject that this map, this drawing really is the only illustration of what the camp looked like and ill talk a little bit about the reasons why we have this. It has to do with bringing a water all they had was a well to get water. They wanted to bring in water from the water system. It required an illustration to show that. Thats the only reason why we have this. If you look at the descriptions of the camp provided by nurses that gave pension depositions, it matches up to this illustration. Cornelia hancock was a 24yearold white woman from new jersey. She served a voluntary at the camp until 1864. She wrote a lot of letters home. To a letter in january of that year, 1864, she described how the hospital treated all the africanamericans who were sick around washington and remarked that smallpox was raging there. He gave testimony and he described how the health of the people was not good and there were many cases of smallpox among them. 10 and 12 sometimes and the maximum number was five and six cases a day. The patients required treatment that were isolated in quarters from the General Hospital population because it was highly contagious. A group of tents was constructed in that separate area of the camp to serve as a smallpox ward. They did treat white people with smallpox but they were segregated in the tents. Maria page described these tented wards as large with beds on the ground and boards under the beds. The smallpox ward treated black and white patients but the General Hospital only treated black patients. White patients were rarely seen at black only hospitals but when the white relief workers contracted smallpox, they were often treated in the hospital in isolated ward but in segregated tents. The camps environment, because of the limited personnel and the increasing b patiee ining patie and the lack of supplies. The camps location was on a damp, swampy parcel of land. It had been used for making bricks and it also, the fact it was on a swampy parcel of land combined with lack of an adequate supply of fresh water, that created a breeding ground for illness. Cornelia hancock described it as muddy area gathered by all the colored people. These rude hospitals, wooden barracks are in use. William powell described the camp as roughly constructed and located on low and swampy ground. He said we are suffering from much for the want of water. The water inside the camp appears to produce diarrhea and the wells are drying up. As the staff became ill there were fewer hospital workers available to work. It forced healthier nurses and surgeons to work longer hours in more over crowded wards so it made the work much for difficult and much more exhausting. Martha brooks, a nurse in the smallpox ward recalls that help was squacarce and we had everytg to do. The influx of fugitive slaves and wounded black soldiers contributed to the increasing Patient Population of the hospital. We worked with sick people, nursed them and waited on them day and night. Another contributing factor to the difficult Living Conditions for residents as well as the high incident of illness where the very meager supplies that were provided and the failure to adequately distribute them. In the early days of the camp reverend nichols controlled camp operations. Denying food rations, blankets and stoves for heating, his action forced them to live in sub standard conditions. The american fried inquiry commission. It was a commission impanelled by secretary stanton in order to conduct hearings on the conditions of which blacks lived and worked. The panel was convened i e ed i washington d. C. In 1863. He said the health of the people at that time was no good. Tfts not good. Conditions were similar which was also under the control of danforth nichols. He said there were a number of cases where people suffered. I would find the tents damp and children and grown persons suffered a great deal with colds and sicknesses. I considered a great deal of sickness was produced by these circumstances. There were some efforts made to improve the conditions. Alexandria augusta submit add proposal for a source of fresh water which was the reason we have the drawing you saw before. In that same letter i mentioned before where augusta wrote to the method cal director, he described the lack of water in the camp and the dried up well. He produced the introduction of water pipe system that would draw water from the city ees wr main and replace it. He says i would therefore most respectfully suggest the water be fwraubrought from the main o city works. The proposal was rejected based on the cost as well as the plans under way at that time to transfer the residents in washington to a newly organized camp that was being prepared in alex sdw alexandria, virginia. Surgeons, assistant surgeons, nurses and they represent a mix of commission military personnel, civilians and volunteer relief workers. The combination of these people provided critical support for patient care and for the operation of the hospital. Surgeons attend tods patieed to performed surgery. They were responsible for hospital add nrministration and nurses provided bedside care. Nursing was not what it is today. It was more of a care giver. They did less technical, medical things. Other hospital workers were hospital stewards. They had cooks, general laborers and matrons. When the hospital was first established in 1862, most of the cooks, the nurses were africanamerican while the majority of those in position of authority such as head nurses and surgeons were white. This was typical of most plaque only hospitals. Some of the imagery that you see are there to represent other africanamericans that worked for the army in similar capacities. Edwin bent lley was the white surgeon in charge. Alexander augusta was the first africanamerican surgeon in charge. When he was appointed, it began a shift in the racial makeup of the hospital staff. When blacks taking over leerdship positions from whites, africanamerican surgeons and assistant surgeons, like i mentioned before, they were commissioned military officers or private physicians that are under contract with the hospital. They were recovering patients themselves and these men and women took over for the departing white nurses. During the civil war surgeons provided medical care to nearly 400,000 sick and Wounded Soldiers in hospitals and on the battlefield during the war. Of the more than 12,000 surgeons who served the union army, theres been four that i identified as africanamerican. That number will say eight or nine. Sta sometimes it will say 10 or 11. Of the africanamerican men that served there. There were two. Augusta was the first africanamerican commissioned in the army. He was one of two the highest ranking africanamerican served during the civil war. Since many white surgeons and white officers would not serve alongside black surgeons in the field or be their subordinated. All but one was signed to military hospitals or recruiting stations where they would examine africanamericans. Several were signed to cont contrabands camp between 1863 and 1865. Not all at the same time. It all indicate duty stations that treated only africanamerican patients. There were no black surgeons assigned to white only hospitals or to any confederate hospitals. This was not true of africanamerican women who served as nurses. They served at union and confederate hospitals and hospitals that treat black and white patients. I wanted to mention them because i think its important for women to know they did serve as surgeons. It included one africanamerican woman. Rebecca was educated at the new england medical college. Theres no known photographs of her. This image serves to represent the achievement of becoming the first africanamerican woman in the United States to earn a medical degree in 1864. She practiced in boston for a short time before she moved to virginia. Thats where she attended to the medical needs of the friedman there. She made note of her sfervice i virginia. She said the last quarter of the year, 1866 i had access each day to a very large number of others of different classes in a population of over 30,000 colored. Her book is one of first medical publications by an africanamerican woman. Nu nurzing during the zifrl war was seen as a care giving role. Most of the nurses had no formal train, i thad provided care to soldiers, helped doctors, gave out medicine, provided special uniforms. They wrote letters home for ailing soldiers. They had a mirror rad of services they provided. They worked long hours for little or no pay. This was susie king taylor. She worked along her husband who was a soldier in the regiment. She describes it as reminiscence of life in camp. Her memoirs are the only known account of africanamerican women. Many are not officially seen or recognized as recorded as being a nurse. They performed the tasking of nurses. Much of what we know about africanamerican nurses, they came from the pension lix. Their applications really provide some insight into their lives and eernxperiences as numbers. Their story would be off in they did not apply for these pensions. With over 25 hospitals in the washington, d. C. Area, the capitol city, they have the greatest need for thurss and hospital other hospitalers. The newly arrived future to slave, they were an ideal source of labor. They could fill hospital positions. A typical day for contrabands nurse involved long hours day and night. Tending to the needs of their patient. She said i remember many a night of having to sit up and take care of the wounded. They made the bed, kept the wards clean. They prepared the bandages and did whatever else was needed or asked. The duties was very varied. Work assignment were women were determined by gender. Women were discouraged from contact with men in a closed setting. When larger numbers of wound soldiers came in, the wards were combin combined. As nor men contracted the disease they were assigned nursing duty. It was very unlikely they treated female patients. Male nurses but the female nurses did treat both male and female patients. She served as a nurse in the General Hospital as well as a nurse in the smallpox ward. She had a very arduous journey. She was placed in the hospital under the care of another nurse named betsy lawson and betsy lawson nursed her back to health. After she became healthy, she was hired as a nurse by the white surgeon in charge. In her pension application poll jer describes how she became a head snurs in the hospital ward. She said my husband took down small pock and we were taken to the ward. We nursed both white and colored general and women. The nurses were very committed to their work. They were dedicated to providing them with care and comfort. He wrote a letter to his uncle and said they were the ernest laborers these angels of mercy. A lot of times what they did was write letters to newspapers like the christian recorders and tell about their experiences. One soldier named jane john pain. He spoke about the service of women and whoet to the reason recorder. He said many of our officers and men who are wounded at the bat the battle of deep bottom. They lay weltering in their plood on the pang of the land. There she could be seen. The only woman present like an angel from above giving words of cheer and all in her power to relieve the suffering, wounded and dying. They had a lot of opportunity to become acquainted with each other. The lay out of the camp. The similarlity of the work that they provided to each other as well as patients when they were ill. She made her way to washington and hired by one of the white concerns as a nurse in the hospital and earned 10 a month. She said i would give medicine as i was ordered by the doctor and gave personal care to the attention of sick people. She became acquainted with many of the Black Hospital nurses including a young girl named maria page who served in the smallpox war. Page was a former slave who was a very young child. She had no idea and caped during the war. She ae rooifed in washington and first put into the contrabands camp. Then she was taken to live outside the camp by a white wok. After contracting smallpox a year later she was returned to the camp and put in the smallpox campaign. In her deposition she wrote a deposition supported maria pages pension application. Pet si l betsy aweson did this. She said i could stand in the dar of t door of the barracks. The mediums als were all cookede same cooks. It was the duty to come after the meals for their patients. That way id be acquainted with maria page. You can see the female wards and male wards are and where the kitchen is. The friendships that formed became a source of support later in their lives when they provided depositions for those that applying for nurses pensions from the government. Their continued relationships were a testimony to the bonds they formed from shared experiences at the hospital. Without these depositions their stories would be lost. Con dra band hospital survived for over a year from 1862, 163. The camp was disbanded. The hospital continues to provide medical care. By late 1864 it moves from its original location. They moved to a lot of land that was bounded by vermont. It was a former Army Medical Facility and boundary streets is now florida avenue. It was now known as freedmans hospital. It had a Waste Disposal system. It had up to 600 bed capacity. The hospital continues to serve the Africanamerican Community after the war. It moved to 18 66, it maim the Teaching Hospital for the medical department there. The warrant was over. The nurses continued because the sick and the wounded remaps ins the hospital. Many of those that served continue their hospital work. Others sought employment outside the hospital. It expanded services to black and white patients. In 1962, President Trump kennedy signed a bill that would officially transfer to howard university. In march 1975, they moved into new facilities and the hospital became known as horde university hospital. It endured during the civil war and into the 21st century. Not only because of the needs of the community but the women and men who dedicated themselves to the hospitals survival. It owed its ron jehovahty to the dedication of those who committed careers to survival and growth. They refuse to let the nation forget this was no hospital. Thank you. [ applause ] im happy to answer any questions. The pension system, let me just say this. Africanamericans that applied for pensions, there were some contract surgeons that did and a number of nurses that did. They didnt always get their pensions. Part of it was that they had to prove that say a nurse was going to file a pension application. A lot of times they werent listed as nurse. The official record didnt say they were nurses. It said they were a cook. They would get the other fellow nurses to get their position positions and say she was a nurse at this kmp and she did this and that or the other thing. A lot of the depositions were from other africanamericans. The credibility by the Pension Bureau was not always great. There were three women who worked in a hospital in virginia that applied for a pension. There was a white surgeon that did a bad decision and that i had i dont know who they are. The nurses to the white concerns for invisible. They didnt pay any attention to them pause theyre not important. The largest hospital has like 7,000 patients. Most of the nurses that served, lets say a lot of the nurses served were africanamerican. A lot of them were men and the large majority were still enslaved and the plantation owners or the insurgents work there for them these slaves were enslaved were detailed to work there. The surgeon in charge had written a letter. In the letter he said that without these nurses or without these africanamericans that were working there, the hospital would not survive. Clearly they were special to the function and ability of the hospitals to continue to do what they did. On the other hand they didnt feel that they whats interesting is they were a few free africanamericans that worked side by side with these enslaved w ed women and plen. If they werent working there, wouldnt have sur vif vivesurvi. There was one lawyer in washington, d. C. That seemed to take the cases. They might have gotten 10 a month or 15 or 12. If you think about their whole life, here they war enslaved the majority of their lives. They have to come acrosswalk from virginia or maryland. They come here and get sick. They have to go into the hospital, they come into the comp and then they have to fight for a pension. 10 a month was a lot of money at that time. This lawyer was able to do it. The flip side is there was something that the lawyer was doing that wasnt above board. You werent allowed to take a fee or take a fee and he claimed he was getting a gift or 10. He was disbarred because of that. It did get the women some pension. Would you name like three of the women that you highlighted in this. Maria toliver and maria paige. They told a bit of that story because they needed to tell how they got there and to justify why they deserved a pension. A lot of cases it will give the plantation they worked on, the year they left. What it came with. Yes. Were there many camps like this. There were africanamerican soldiers that were still fighting. Slaves being liberated. They wouldnt make their way up to d. C. At this time. My question is for the free societies i mean for the abolitionists societies up north for the africanamericans that were established up north, did they provide certain funding. Did they send supplies down . Did they send nurses and physicians down . Let me go to the first question. You might have to remind me of the second one. A lot of times what happened is as the africanamericans are coming into the Union Cross Union lines, a lot of the men joined in. They also were hired by the white regiments traveling around. I think a lot of the time they just followed the union troops and the union troops tried to help and provide them with things. I think there were some camps in other places but i cant give you any specifics. Elizabeth, who you probably fwhoe who is mary lincolns seamstress, she ran a contraband relief fund that contributed to the contraband camp. Mary lincoln gave money towards that. There were some when i talked about nurses and about male nurses there was an image of a man there who was a nurse for a couple of years and then became a surgeon. They were well known aboliti abolitionis abolitionists. They supported all causes. They were very outspoken and charles purviss cousin has a diary thats been published. She went south to South Carolina and did a small amount of nursing and also was a teacher and taught freed men there. She was associated with the 54th regimen and robert shaw because i think they were friends. What kind of training did they have and where did they receive it . Getting a medical education, an africanamerican man trying to get an education was difficult. It might surprise you that they did get formal medical educations, almost all of them. Some got them in europe. Al Alexander Augusta got his in canada. There were four africanamericans that served as surgeons that got their education in iowa. There was another that got his at the university of liverpool. Thats a whole other talk i could give on him and his family. Would there be more of a prerequisite to become care givers . No. It wasnt focused on technical medical things unlike it is now. Medical education was a little bit different. You could get it by an apprenticeship. Apprenticeships and going to medical school at the same time. Once we get to the late 1800s, early 1900s, what happened was you have medical physicians, africanamerican with no hospital to work in. They formed an operated their own hospitals. Provident hospital in which i was the first own and operated hospital. The hospitals haed a hospital and a Training School for nurses. The nurses couldnt get any training. You wouldnt be able to practice because you couldnt practice at a white hospital. There was frederick dougdouglus hospital. Do you have any information related to mary lincoln visiting some of the colored hospitals . Many people dont know she did visit. A lot of the white soldiers that were injured. I dont have any information about that. I think theres a lot of things i can say about Alexander Augusta because he was oo major Walking Around the treat it was a bit controversial. He met with a lot of opposition and sometimes violence. Was augusta the first man to receive a Commission Period or first medical in. Its a little bit iffy. There was after doing a little bit more research. He my other question youll probably answer it was that controversial . Officially did he how did he do that . Somebody must have given him that. Obviously someone in the government recognized him as that. I was not able to fientnd anyth that said give him a commission. You can still see it. Its still there. After he died. His wife got everything. His wife provided that money for the window to be done. There was one surgeon who was the only africanamerican doctor to serve with his regiment, which was the 35th. There was one of the Commanding Officers named reid. While this is all going on, reid, every one believed that reid had some africanamerican ancestry. That was never specifically identified in what he was doing. He was a lieutenant kerncolonel also. You sometimes see a mention of her working at the freedmans hospital. Yes, she did do some work at the hospital. Whats interesting about her story is let me step back and try to make this quick. In february 1864, alexandria augusta was tossed off of a streetcar while going to haends to a court nar shl that marshal. He heard about this. Brought up before congress this issue to try to desegregate the streetcars. Africanamericans had to stand up front with the driver in the uncovered part. Couldnt sit in the covered part. It was raining and muddy and he was refuse and the guy kicked him off. He had to walk there and write a testimony of why he was late. She got on the streetcar and ta tried to get her off. She said she knew what he rights were and she went getting off. She stayed on and went pay past her own station because of that. I think she did get thrown off a streetcar and got injured. One of the africanamerican surgeons at this hospital treated her. Any other questions . Thank you very much for coming. I appreciate it. [ applause ] weeknights this month were featuring American History tv programs as a preview of whats available every weekend on cspan3. This week a look at our weekly lectures in history series which takes you into College Classrooms around the country. Programs that examine legal history including the 1981 trial of jean harris. Sarah fields discusses mrs. Ha background, her long relationship of the doctor and her conviction for his murder. Labor day weekend on American History tv. Saturday at 8 00 p. M. Eastern on lectures in history. A discussion about Abraham Lincoln and native americans. On real america, the 1950 film invasion of Southern France and monday labor day, at 8 00 eastern, the commemoration of the 400th anniversary held at james toup. Explore our nations past on American History tv. Every weekend on cspan3. The u. S. Senate comes in back into session on monday september 9th. Before senators return to washington, get a behind the scenes look at the senate with cspans history program, the senate, conflict and compromise. Here is a preview. This government was created in the spirit of compromise. Our founders envisioned. Lets follow the constitution. The farmers established the senate to protect people from their rulers and as a check on the house. The fate of this country and maybe even the world falls in the hand of congress and the United States state senate. The senate, conflict and compromise using original interviews and unique access to the senate chairman. Well look a t the history, traditions and roles of the u. S. Senate. Sunday at 9 00 p. M. Eastern and pacific