her chair.
“Please, you said you needed nurses,” she begged. “That’s what I want to be. Isn’t there any way?”
“Women from your station in life simply don’t do that sort of work,” her father insisted. “Come now. We don’t want to take any more of Reverend Greene’s time.”
“Excuse me, sir,” Greene said, “but that’s not quite true. Dorothea Dix has been appointed the Director of Nurses inWashington, and I assure you that the women she’s training to become nurses have come from the finest of backgrounds, just like your daughter.”
“Is that so? Does she accept unmarried women?”
“Well, I’m not sure, but Miss Dix herself is single. And I know that the need for nurses is very great. If Julia is serious about becoming a nurse—”
“I am,” she said. “I’ve given it a great deal of thought, and it’s what I want to do.”
“Then I suggest you write to Miss Dix for a list of her qualifications,” Nathaniel said. “In the meantime, you could gather a few letters of recommendation to accompany your application.”
Buoyed by hope, Julia wrote to the Director of Nurses inWashington that same day. The stiff reply she received from Miss Dix’s office, outlining the qualifications for army nurses, didn’t discourage her in the least:
No young ladies should be sent at all; only mature women who are sober, earnest, self-sacrificing, and self-sustained; who can bear the presence of suffering and exercise entire self-control of speech and manner; who can be calm, gentle, quiet, active, and steadfast in duty. All nurses are required to be plain-looking women. Their dresses must be brown or black, with no bows, no curls, no jewelry, and no hoop skirts .
Julia paid a visit to their family doctor, explaining that she wanted to become an army nurse and asking him for a letter of reference.
“It’s no use going to Miss Dix,” Dr. Lowe told her. “She will send you right back. You’re much too young.”
“Will you write the letter anyway?” she pleaded. “I need you to testify to my good character, my upbringing and sincerity. Please, just give me a chance.”
When Congressman Rhodes returned to Philadelphia for the holiday break, she asked him the same thing. He stared at her in disbelief.
“Bull Run was a terrible experience for all of us. Why on earth would you want to be exposed to such sights again?”
“I have to go back. I’m so ashamed of my actions that day, and I know that I could do better this time. Please, I want to help.”
“The scenes you witnessed on that battlefield won’t look any different the second time around,” he said.
“The bombs frightened me, falling as close as they did. If I worked in a hospital, I know I could keep my wits about me. I could help those poor wounded men.”
“Do you have your father’s permission, Julia?” he asked quietly.
“Well, to be honest, he’s not at all happy about my decision. But he’s allowing me to pursue it. He says that if Miss Dix accepts me, he’ll support me. All I need from you, Congressman, is a letter of recommendation.”
He sighed and gave her what she’d asked for.
Armed with letters from him, Dr. Lowe, and the retired pastor of her church, Julia went into her father’s study one night and begged him to allow her to go to Washington after the first of the year and apply in person to Miss Dix. He looked at her with such distaste, she might just as well have been requesting permission to rob a bank.
“I’m going to ask you one more time, Julia—forget this foolishness and settle down to a respectable life.” He sat stiffly behind his desk, appealing to her as a judge might appeal to a criminal to forsake a life of crime. “Why would you want to sacrifice what you have always known, a life that is safe and comfortable and predictable, to venture into the unknown? Don’t you realize that if you take such a risk, you might never get this life back again?”
“I don’t want this
“Please, you said you needed nurses,” she begged. “That’s what I want to be. Isn’t there any way?”
“Women from your station in life simply don’t do that sort of work,” her father insisted. “Come now. We don’t want to take any more of Reverend Greene’s time.”
“Excuse me, sir,” Greene said, “but that’s not quite true. Dorothea Dix has been appointed the Director of Nurses inWashington, and I assure you that the women she’s training to become nurses have come from the finest of backgrounds, just like your daughter.”
“Is that so? Does she accept unmarried women?”
“Well, I’m not sure, but Miss Dix herself is single. And I know that the need for nurses is very great. If Julia is serious about becoming a nurse—”
“I am,” she said. “I’ve given it a great deal of thought, and it’s what I want to do.”
“Then I suggest you write to Miss Dix for a list of her qualifications,” Nathaniel said. “In the meantime, you could gather a few letters of recommendation to accompany your application.”
Buoyed by hope, Julia wrote to the Director of Nurses inWashington that same day. The stiff reply she received from Miss Dix’s office, outlining the qualifications for army nurses, didn’t discourage her in the least:
No young ladies should be sent at all; only mature women who are sober, earnest, self-sacrificing, and self-sustained; who can bear the presence of suffering and exercise entire self-control of speech and manner; who can be calm, gentle, quiet, active, and steadfast in duty. All nurses are required to be plain-looking women. Their dresses must be brown or black, with no bows, no curls, no jewelry, and no hoop skirts .
Julia paid a visit to their family doctor, explaining that she wanted to become an army nurse and asking him for a letter of reference.
“It’s no use going to Miss Dix,” Dr. Lowe told her. “She will send you right back. You’re much too young.”
“Will you write the letter anyway?” she pleaded. “I need you to testify to my good character, my upbringing and sincerity. Please, just give me a chance.”
When Congressman Rhodes returned to Philadelphia for the holiday break, she asked him the same thing. He stared at her in disbelief.
“Bull Run was a terrible experience for all of us. Why on earth would you want to be exposed to such sights again?”
“I have to go back. I’m so ashamed of my actions that day, and I know that I could do better this time. Please, I want to help.”
“The scenes you witnessed on that battlefield won’t look any different the second time around,” he said.
“The bombs frightened me, falling as close as they did. If I worked in a hospital, I know I could keep my wits about me. I could help those poor wounded men.”
“Do you have your father’s permission, Julia?” he asked quietly.
“Well, to be honest, he’s not at all happy about my decision. But he’s allowing me to pursue it. He says that if Miss Dix accepts me, he’ll support me. All I need from you, Congressman, is a letter of recommendation.”
He sighed and gave her what she’d asked for.
Armed with letters from him, Dr. Lowe, and the retired pastor of her church, Julia went into her father’s study one night and begged him to allow her to go to Washington after the first of the year and apply in person to Miss Dix. He looked at her with such distaste, she might just as well have been requesting permission to rob a bank.
“I’m going to ask you one more time, Julia—forget this foolishness and settle down to a respectable life.” He sat stiffly behind his desk, appealing to her as a judge might appeal to a criminal to forsake a life of crime. “Why would you want to sacrifice what you have always known, a life that is safe and comfortable and predictable, to venture into the unknown? Don’t you realize that if you take such a risk, you might never get this life back again?”
“I don’t want this
Similar Books
