Without Concealment, Without Compromise: The Courageous Lives of Black Civil War Surgeons
by Jill L. Newmark
Southern Illinois University Press, 2023 (click here for ordering information)
Of some twelve thousand Union Civil War surgeons, only fourteen were Black men. This book is the first-ever comprehensive exploration of their lives and service. Jill L. Newmark’s outstanding research uncovers stories hidden for more than 150 years, illuminating the unique experiences of proud, patriotic men who fought racism and discrimination to attend medical school and serve with the U.S. military. Their efforts and actions influenced societal change and forged new pathways for African Americans.
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Charles B. Purvis and President James Garfield
Charles B. Purvis and President James Garfield On the morning of July 2, 1881, President James Garfield was waiting for a train at the Baltimore and Potomac station in Washington, D.C. when an assassin’s bullet struck him in the back and the arm. Garfield fell to the floor of the station and several physicians came […]
Rebecca Lee Crumpler: Providing Medical Care to Freedmen
Rebecca Lee Crumpler: Providing Medical Care to Freedmen Although very few women physicians served during the American Civil War, one African American woman, Rebecca Lee Crumpler, worked as part of the Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen and Abandoned Lands in Richmond, Virginia after the war providing medical care to Black women, men, and children. She was […]
J.D. Harris Runs for Virginia Lieutenant Governor
J.D. Harris Runs for Virginia Lieutenant Governor Joseph Dennis Harris, better known as J.D. Harris, served as an acting assistant surgeon during the war primarily at hospitals in Virginia that served Freedmen and Black soldiers. After the war in 1869, Harris pursued a political career running for Lieutenant Governor of Virginia on a Republican ticket […]
Richard Henry Greene’s Civil War Letters
Richard Henry Greene’s Civil War Letters In 2014, Yale University Manuscripts and Archives acquired the letters of Richard Henry Greene, who served as an acting assistant surgeon in the U.S. Navy during the American Civil War. In his letters, written between September 1863 and December 1864, Greene shared with his wife the details about life […]
John H. Rapier, Jr.: A Letter to his Uncle James Thomas
John H. Rapier, Jr.: A Letter to his Uncle James Thomas John H. Rapier, Jr. was a man of adventure and ambition, but also a man of service to his family and his country. A prolific writer of prose, poetry, and letters, his words provide us with the unique perspective and social commentary of an […]
John H. Rapier, Jr.’s Letter to the Medical Director of New Orleans
John H. Rapier, Jr.’s Letter to the Medical Director of New Orleans In June 1864, John H. Rapier wrote a letter to the Medical Director in New Orleans, Louisiana, applying for a position as an acting assistant surgeon. In the letter he identifies himself as a “quadroon” [one-quarter Black by descent] of Southern birth and […]
Contraband Camp and Hospital, Washington, D.C.
Contraband Camp and Hospital, Washington, D.C. On a parcel of swampy land in northwest Washington, D.C., a tented camp and hospital stood that served thousands of the formerly enslaved and Black soldiers of the U.S.C.T. during the American Civil War. Known as Contraband Camp, it contained one of the few hospitals that treated Black people […]
Alexander T. Augusta’s Surgical Kit
Alexander T. Augusta’s Surgical Kit On April 4, 1863, Alexander T. Augusta received a commission with the U.S. Army as a surgeon. When he arrived in Washington, D.C., he made the rounds of several hospitals, including Armory Square Hospital where he encountered poet Walt Whitman, who served there as a nurse. Augusta was stationed at […]
Alexander T. Augusta Confronts Resistance at Camp Stanton
Alexander T. Augusta Confronts Resistance at Camp Stanton In October 1863, Major Alexander T. Augusta joined his regiment at Camp Stanton in Benedict, Maryland where the mustering of the 7th, 9th, and 19th Regiments of the U.S.C.T. was taking place. Augusta’s arrival was met with controversy when the white assistant surgeons learned that Augusta, a […]
Introduction
Without Concealment, Without Compromise: The Courageous Lives of Black Civil War Surgeons by J. Newmark A forthcoming title in the “Engaging the Civil War” Series Southern Illinois University Press
