Overview

A look at the lives of the real nurses depicted in the PBS show Mercy Street.Heroines of Mercy Street tells the true stories of the nurses at Mansion House, the Alexandria, Virginia, mansion turned war-time hospital and setting for the PBS drama Mercy Street. Among the Union soldiers, doctors, wounded men from both sides, freed slaves, politicians, speculators, and spies who passed through the hospital in the crossroads of the Civil War, were nurses who gave their time freely and willingly to save lives and aid the wounded. These women saw casualties on a scale Americans had never seen before, and medicine was at a turning point. Heroines of Mercy Street follows the lives of women like Dorothea Dix, Mary Phinney, Anne Reading, and more before, during, and after their epic struggle in Alexandria and reveals their personal contributions to this astounding period in the advancement of medicine.

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9781478910510

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Reviews

Accessible and well researched... Successfully illustrates the beginnings of nursing as a designated field of medical practice.-- ""Rebecca Hill, Library Journal"" ""Suzanne Toren gives a straightforward narration of this story...Toren uses tone and pace adeptly to separate expository passages and narrative from the many excerpts from letters, diaries, and other accounts. Her admiration for these women helps to make this an easily accessible history of medicine and the status of women at this time, as well as the war itself."" -- ""AudioFile"" ""The author chronicles the lives of figures such as Georgeanna Woolsey, Hannah Ropes, Mary Phinney von Olnhausen, and Louisa May Alcott as they taught themselves how to deal with horrific conditions and injuries in hospitals, camps, and transport ships. These women worked long, difficult hours and often faced arrogant or chauvinistic physicians as well as dishonest hospital stewards...Accessible and well researched, Toler's book coincides with the recent PBS series Mercy Street and successfully illustrates the beginnings of nursing as a designated field of medical practice."" -- ""Library Journal""

Author Information

Pamela D. Toler, Ph.D., a member of the World History Association and the American Society of Journalists and Authors, is regularly published in national journals specializing in history and culture, including American History, Calliope, History, the Quarterly Journal of Military History, and SaudiAramco World. She is a contributor and author of several books including The Everything Guide to Understanding Socialism (Adams, 2011), She is particularly interested in the times and places where two cultures meet and change each other. Suzanne Toren, award-winning narrator, has over thirty years of experience in narration. She was named a ""Golden Voice"" by AudioFile magazine in 2019. She has won the American Foundation for the Blind's Scourby Award for Narrator of the Year, AudioFile magazine named her the 2009 Best Voice in Nonfiction & Culture, and she is the recipient of multiple Earphones Awards. She performs on and off Broadway and in regional theaters and has appeared on Law & Order and in various soap operas.

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