Historical Figures in Nursing

University of

10-15-12

During ancient civilizations little was known about the cause of disease and treatment often revolved around magic. Witch doctors or priests were looked upon very favorably and had a high status in these ancient societies (Blais & Hayes, 2011). As societies evolved more was learned about the causes of disease. In 1900 B.C. there were recorded codes regarding sanitation and public health. The Bible even speaks of quarantine to prevent disease and nurses are mentioned as caring for infants and the sick. But, much of today’s nursing practice seems to have evolved from the need to provide care to soldiers during wartimes. Two historical figures that left an impact on the development of modern nursing are Harriet Tubman and Walt Whitman. Araminta Ross, also known as Harriet Tubman, was born into slavery. At age 25 she married John Tubman, a free African American. They did not share the same desire to move north and after 5 years of marriage, Harriet left her husband and escaped to Philadelphia (“Harriet Ross Tubman Timeline”, 1996). After her escape, she became an operator of the Underground Railroad, an abolitionist, nurse and spy for the Civil War, suffragist, and humanitarian. In 1862, in support of Union activities, Harriet joined Northern abolitionists. She provided nursing care during the Civil War to newly freed slaves and black soldiers. After the war she moved to Auburn, New York. Tubman treated dysentery with a brew of boiled roots and herbs, a remedy she brought from her native Maryland (Domrose, 2011). Such accounts were recorded in letters written by others, because she could not read or write. Henry Durrant, the assistant surgeon in charge of the Union’s Contraband Hospital in Beaufort, S.C., wrote: “My position as medical officer in charge of contrabands in this town, and in hospitals, has given me frequent and ample opportunity to observe her general deportment, particularly her kindness and attention to the sick and suffering of her own race” (Domrose, 2011). Although Harriet Tubman suffered from poor health, she continued to care for wounded soldiers in the Washington, D.C. area. She was also appointed matron of the Colored Hospital at Fortress Monroe, VA (Domrose, 2011). She was denied a military pension, but actually received a Civil War nurse’s pension. She continued to appear at suffrage conventions until the early 1900’s. Harriet Tubman passed away at 91 years of age on March 10, 1913 (Larson, 2003). Most of us are familiar with Walt Whitman as one of America’s great authors. Few, however, probably know of his service as a nurse during the Civil War. Whitman was a trained printer, a teacher on Long Island, then a journalist. Eventually he became an editor and poet. His classic “Leaves of Grass” was published in 1855 (Hanink, 2012). After his brother, George, was injured in Virginia during the Civil War, Whitman went to care for him. He also volunteered as a nurse’s assistant. These experiences were recorded by Whitman and sent to several New York newspapers. His book of poetry, “Drum Taps”, is also his feelings about the war and its’ consequences on society (“Brooklyn in the Civil War”, 2004). Walt Whitman gained the trust of the field doctors as he cared for thousands of injured soldiers. Much of his written work is a result of time spent in Washington, D.C. as a psychological nurse to the soldiers. “The doctors tell me I supply the patients with medicine which all their drugs & bottles & powders are helpless to yield” Whitman wrote to a friend in 1863 (Price, n.d.) During Whitman’s time as a nurse, he kept notebooks filled with addresses of friends, bits of poetry, and notes about the wounded soldiers. In one of his notebooks he writes “I have been…a good deal to Campbell and Armory Square Hospitals, and occasionally to that at the Patent Office….Every one of these cots has its history—every case is a tragic poem, an epic, a romance, a pensive and absorbing book, if it were only written” ( Price, n.d.). Whitman’s writings of his experiences as a nurse brought to life the realities of the Civil War. He was also able to fulfill his own needs to love and nurture others, stating “finding myself in my element among these scenes” (Price, n.d.). And he concluded “Drum Taps” by saying “yet there are two things inure me:/I have nourished the wounded, and sooth’d many al dying soldier;/ And at intervals I have strung together a few songs,/Fit for war, and life of the camp” (Price, n.d.). No one can express Whitman’s influence on nursing more that Whitman himself. His compassion and love for the sick is beautifully recorded in his personal notebooks and published works.
Harriet Tubman is mainly remembered for her selfless work on the Underground Railroad. Walt Whitman is discussed in English classes regarding his literary achievements. Now, I think of them in a new light: as nurses. They were brave, compassionate, and were pioneers in the development of modern nursing.

References

Blais, K., & Hayes, J. (2011). Professional nursing practice: concepts and perspectives (6th ed.). : Prentice Hall.
Domrose, C. (2011). Profile: Harriet Tubman. Retrieved from http://news.nurse.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20110429/NATIONAL02/304290027/-1/frontpage&tem
Hanink, E. (2012). Walt Whitman, American writer and civil war nurse. Retrieved from http://www.workingnurse.com/articles/walt-whitman-american-writer-and-civil-war-nurse
Harriet Ross Tubman Timeline. (1996). Retrieved from http://www.math.buffalo.edu/~sww/0history/hwny-tubman.html
Larson, K.C. (2003). Bound for the promised land: Harriet Tubman, portrait of an American hero. Retrieved from http://www.harriettubmanbiography.com/
Price, A. (n.d.). Whitman's drum taps and Washington's civil war hospitals. Retrieved from http://xroads.virginia.edu/~cap/hospital/whitman.htm