Broken Bodies, Suffering Spirits: Injury, Death, and Healing in Civil War Philadelphia

FAIN: GE-50360-11

College of Physicians of Philadelphia (Philadelphia, PA 19103-3001)
Robert D. Hicks (Project Director: August 2010 to August 2012)

Planning for a 1,000-square-foot permanent exhibition, a website, and educational programs that would provide an intimate understanding of military injuries in the Civil War, including wounding, death, and long-term legacies.

The College of Physicians of Philadelphia’s Broken Bodies, Suffering Spirits: Injury, Death, and Healing in Civil War Philadelphia will transcend the basic facts of war, offering visitors an intimate view of the experiences of real people augmented by anatomical specimens, instruments, manuscripts, images, and printed texts. The exhibit and web-based educational materials will explore two major themes: how the war forced soldiers, healers, and family members to manage injury, recovery, and death in dramatically new ways; and how the lasting effects of the devastating conflict forever changed soldiers’ relationships with their own bodies and minds. In a city with strong historical connections to Civil War medical history, the College’s unique institutional history and unparalleled Mütter Museum and Historical Medical Library collections ensure that the exhibit will offer a new view of the conflict, firmly grounded in the medical humanities, to a large, diverse audience.