The Civil War

"I think even lying in my bed I can still do something."

Dorothea Dix was the Union’s Superintendent of the nurses during the time of the civil war. A superintendent is a person who oversees work; a supervisor. Dorothea Dix organized and supervised woman nurses working in army hospitals. Dorothea believed that the woman nurses should be in uniforms because of the men they were caring for. She made sure that every woman nurse wore modest neutral colored skirts and she also did not approve of jewelry or hoops. Though her rules were very strict over 3,000 women worked as a union army nurse.

Though Dorothea worked as the superintendent through out the whole war, she did not get paid a penny. She raised money for medical supplies when the government would not provide them. After the civil war Dorothea again set out to help the mentally ill.

A nurse in the Civil War