Binding Wounds, Pushing Boundaries: African Americans in Civil War Medicine

The National Library of Medicine, part of the National Institutes of Health, recently opened a new exhibition, Binding Wounds, Pushing Boundaries: African Americans in Civil War Medicine.

This exhibition is near and dear to me. I collaborated with their education department to design and develop the K-12 education materials that support the exhibition. You may find those online. Additionally, my maternal grandfather, after fleeing Austria in 1939, worked at NIH.

About the Elementary Lesson:
Students learn about four African American surgeons and nurses who served in the Union during the American Civil War. In Class 1, students consider African Americans' experiences of being limited by others in what they could do due to slavery and prejudice against them. Students closely examine Dr. Augusta's letter to President Lincoln, written in 1863, as a case study of an African American who became a doctor and worked with African American soldiers in the Union army. In Class 2 (and 3 if needed), students read the biographical sketches of Dr. Augusta and one of three other Civil War African American doctors and nurses. Students reflect upon what they have read and learned, and then write about that reflection.

About the High School Lesson:
Students view several primary sources and closely examine transcripts of the sources, featuring two Civil War African American surgeons and a nurse. In Class 1, students assess and then build on their existing knowledge about African American doctors and nurses during the U.S. Civil War. In Class 2 students share their findings from close examination of two primary sources from Class 1 and study the case of Dr. Augusta's streetcar incident in 1863 through several related primary sources, including a record of a congressional debate on the resolution to desegregate Washington, DC, streetcars. In Class 3, students share their findings from the examination of the congressional record, and write a short essay about the contributions African Americans made to expanding the roles available to African Americans during the Civil War and to others' views of them and their roles in society.