Louisa May Alcott, Hospital Sketches

Helena Maragou (Deree-The American College of Greece)

The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 3.2.2: American (US) Writing and Culture: The Nineteenth Century, 1783-1900.
Vol. editors: J. Michael Duvall (College of Charleston), Emory Elliott (University of California, Riverside), Stephen E. Meats (Pittsburg State University), Tony Papanikolas (San Jose State University)

Dates

First circulation or publication 1863

Places

United States (Country of Origin)

Genres and Modes

Non-Fiction
- Autobiography (literary)

Resources

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Hospital Sketches

(1863) was the author’s first claim to fame, although nowadays it is the least familiar of Alcott’s works. It originated in her own experience as a Civil War volunteer nurse at the Union Hotel Hospital of Washington, D.C. Her tour of duty began in December of 1862, after a strong recommendation by Hannah Stevenson, a well-known Boston reformer. Alcott was then thirty years old. The motivation behind her courageous, even for a single woman of the time unorthodox, decision is spelled out in her 1862 journal: “War news is bad. Anxious faces, beating hearts, and busy minds. I like the stir in the air, and long for battle like a warhorse when he smells powder”(108). In November of the same year she records: “Thirty years old. Decided to go to Washington as a nurse…

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5333 words

Citation: Maragou, Helena. "Hospital Sketches". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 24 January 2005 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=4691, accessed 19 April 2024.]

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