Date of Graduation
2015
Document Type
Dissertation
Degree Type
PhD
College
Eberly College of Arts and Sciences
Department
History
Committee Chair
Jason Phillips
Committee Co-Chair
Elizabeth Fones Wolf
Committee Member
Ken Fones Wolf
Committee Member
Brian Luskey
Committee Member
Aaron Sheehan-Dean
Abstract
The Civil War produced over 350,000 permanently disabled men, in addition to millions of other types of injuries and diseases. Yet, despite the overwhelming destruction to men's bodies the war also laid the foundation for a number of notable advances. These generative changes include increased collaboration between medical professionals, an estimable reputation for individual surgeons, a budding international reputation for American medicine, nursing opportunities for upper class women, a rise in volunteerism in the north, and a public acceptance of anatomical study and exhibition. For all the prolific effects of the war, however, these transformations all required one thing, the destruction of soldiers' bodies. It is the purpose of this study to demonstrate that disabled bodies played an integral role of shaping how civilians and soldiers perceived the wreckage surrounding them while also allowing them to recognize the benefits of such destruction. This study also examines how surgeons, nurses, gawkers, and museum goers drew personal connections with broken bodies within nineteenth-century perceptions of ability and disability.
Recommended Citation
Feeney, William R., "Manifestations of the Maimed: The Perception of Wounded Soldiers in the Civil War North" (2015). Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports. 5583.
https://researchrepository.wvu.edu/etd/5583