Healing a Divided Nation: How the American Civil War Revolutionized Western Medicine

At the start of the Civil War, the medical field in America was rudimentary, unsanitary, and woefully underprepared to address what would become the bloodiest conflict on U.S. soil. However, in this historic moment of pivotal social and political change, medicine was also fast evolving to meet the needs of the time. Unprecedented strides were made in the science of medicine, and as women and African Americans were admitted into the field for the first time.

The Civil War marked a revolution in healthcare, laying the foundations for the system we know today. Drawing on her new book Healing a Divided Nation, Carole Adrienne tracks this remarkable and fierce transformation in its cultural and historical context, illustrating how the advancements made in these four years reverberated throughout the western world for years to come.

Adrienne is an author and documentary filmmaker. She has served on advisory panels for the Philadelphia Archdiocesan Historic Research Center and exhibitions on Civil War medicine and the 1918 flu epidemic for the Mutter Museum.

Adrienne’s book Healing A Divided Nation (Pegasus Books) is available for purchase.

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• Purchase your copy of Healing a Divided Nation by Carole Adrienne here.
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