Monthly Archives: July 2015

Meeting of October 8, 2015

Robert Hicks on “‘Straight and swift to my wounded I go’: The Reality of Civil War Medicine”

Bearing the bandages, water and sponge, Straight and swift to my wounded I go… To each and all one after another I draw near, not one do I miss.

– Walt Whitman, “The Wound Dresser”

Robert Hicks tintypeDespite recent commemorations of Civil War battles and leaders, the war’s medical dimension has received comparatively little public attention. America’s “good gray poet,” Walt Whitman, who volunteered in hospitals during the war, observed that “the real war will not get in the books.” For Whitman, the war’s true story was found in the hospital. The war affected every family: on average, one citizen in ten was killed, wounded, or became sick because of the war. The massive casualties made huge demands on medical practice, stimulating the reorganization of professional medicine. Faced with catastrophe, the federal medical establishment re-invented itself and created the modern hospital-centered mode of emergency care that remains the Civil War’s chief legacy to medicine. Focusing on specific wounded soldiers as lenses to understand the larger picture of the medical war, this presentation follows their experiences from the battlefield to distant general hospitals. The presentation previews the permanent exhibition of “the real war” at The College of Physicians of Philadelphia, Broken Bodies, Suffering Spirits: Injury, Death, and Healing in Civil War Philadelphia.

Robert Hicks with leechesRobert D. Hicks, PhD is the director of the Mütter Museum and Historical Medical Library of The College of Physicians of Philadelphia. He also directs the F. C. Wood Institute and holds the William Maul Measey Chair for the History of Medicine. Formerly, he supervised exhibits, collections, and educational outreach at the Chemical Heritage Foundation in Philadelphia. He has worked with museum-based education and exhibits for over three decades, primarily as a consultant to historic sites and museums. This work led Robert to obtain a doctorate in maritime history from the University of Exeter, United Kingdom. Concurrent with the museum consulting, Robert worked for the Commonwealth of Virginia as a senior program manager in criminal justice, providing managerial assistance throughout the state. Earlier, he performed criminal justice work in Arizona, and obtained B.A. and M.A. degrees in anthropology and archaeology at the University of Arizona. He also served as a naval officer with the U.S. Naval Security Group. His most recent book is Voyage to Jamestown: Practical Navigation in the Age of Discovery (U.S. Naval Institute Press, 2011).

October 2015 Newsletter

Camden C.C. Course: The Campaign and Battle of Gettysburg

Old Baldy’s Herb Kaufman will be teaching a course at Camden County College this fall:

The Campaign and Battle of Gettysburg

Camden County College
Rohrer Center, RT. 70 & Springdale Rd., Cherry Hill, NJ
September 17 through October 15, 2015 (Thursdays, 4:00 – 6:30)

To Register: www.camdencc.edu/civiccenter (856-227-7200, ext. 4333)

Thure de Thulstrup illustration (Wikipedia)

Thure de Thulstrup illustration (Wikipedia)

This is a new course designed to explore the Campaign and Battle of Gettysburg, and the creation of the National Battlefield Park. The course will focus on the correspondence, communication, orders, and memoirs of the citizens, soldiers, and politicians of the era. As well as the three days of the Battle of Gettysburg, learn about the Southern viewpoint of the campaign, the response in the North, the biographies and actions of the officers on both sides, controversies of the battle, critical decisions, and lesser known actions that affected the outcome of the battle, cavalry actions and controversies, and the history of the creation of the National Battlefield Park.

This course explores contemporary accounts as well as recent historic analyses of aspects of the battle.

Meeting of September 10, 2015

John Zinn on “New Jersey Base Ball during the Civil War Era”

John ZinnJohn traced the game’s origins in New Jersey and Philadelphia and pointed out prominent early teams and players. He also touched on the impact of the war on the game’s development in New Jersey and how the state’s soldiers brought the game to the battlefront. There was also a description of how the early game differed from today’s game, especially regarding rules and equipment.

John Zinn is an independent historian with special interest in the history of baseball as well as the Civil War. He is the chairman of the board of the New Jersey Historical Society and was the chair of New Jersey’s Committee on the Sesquicentennial of the Civil War. John is the author of three books including two about the Brooklyn Dodgers as well as numerous essays and articles. He is currently working on a biography of Charles Ebbets, longtime owner of the Brooklyn Dodgers. John also writes a blog on base ball history entitled “A Manly Pastime.” He holds BA and MBA degrees from Rutgers University and is a Vietnam veteran. John is the score keeper for the Flemington Neshanock vintage base ball team. John lives in Verona, N.J. with his wife Carol.

September 2015 Newsletter