"Commissioned by God": Mother Bickerdyke during the Civil War

Abstract

Mary Ann Bickerdyke, nurse, herbalist, and humanitarian, stood out as a singular figure during the American Civil War and afterward. She advocated nutrition and herbal medicines at a time when "heroic," if futile, treatments were often the rule. Her compassion toward ill soldiers was legendary and provided her with the nickname "Mother." Nevertheless, she did not hesitate to stand up to the bureaucratic and occasionally incompetent physician administrators who opposed her. Working in an arena typically off limits for women, she exceeded the bounds proscribed for her sex during the 19th century as a naturopathic physician, humanitarian, and social reformer.