History of Nursing During the American Revolution
About the event
The Association of Philadelphia Tour Guides (APT) has arranged an outing on Wednesday, October 21 at 11 am to the [Penn School of Nursing’s Bates Center](https://www.nursing.upenn.edu/history/) (Claire M. Fagin Hall, 418 Curie Boulevard, floor 2U on Penn’s Campus). There is no cost for this 60-minute guided tour led by APT Secretary and Penn Nursing alumna, Pam Covey.
Our tour will focus on the exhibit covering nursing during the American Revolution. Many who think of nurses on the battlefield typically think of the Civil War and the World Wars. But there were nurses present to tend to the wounded and the sick during the American Revolution as well. For every physician who prescribed treatments and dressing changes during the Revolutionary War, there were multiple nurses, mainly women, who aided injured or sick soldiers in distress. Many people believe the professional nursing profession began with Florence Nightingale and the establishment of community hospitals, but women have tended and nursed the sick for centuries before that. This exhibit will give us insight into the overlooked nurses of the American Revolution.
For more than 30 years, the Barbara Bates Center for the Study of the History of Nursing has hosted and facilitated special events that have highlighted the history of nursing and healthcare. The Center is committed to preserving a voice of nurses’ history, and provides considerable evidence for scholars and students to “question traditional disciplinary paradigms, to give voice to the historical power of nursing, and to analyze the strengths and weaknesses of local and global approaches to issues of health and illness.” The Center has a unique collection of historical documents and materials in curated displays that will help us learn more about the history of nursing, especially in revolutionary Philadelphia.
You can reserve your spot for the tour by emailing APT Secretary Pam Covey directly at [Phillyguides@gmail.com](mailto:Phillyguides@gmail.org). Join us for an interesting tour! All are welcome.
