The granite inscription above the Civil War Nurses Memorial bronze relief states: "They comforted the dying, nursed the wounded, carried hope to the imprisoned, gave in his name a drink of water to the thirsty."
Civil War Nurses Memorial
The granite inscription below the Civil War Nurses Memorial bronze relief reads: "To the memory and in honor of The Various Orders of Sisters who gave their services as nurses on battlefields and in hospitals during the Civil War."
Two bronze figures sit on the left and right of the relief. One figure represents Patriotism (with a shield) and the other represents Peace (with wings).
The Civil War Nurses Memorial sits in the National's Capital as a reminder of nursing service to the country during a time of great national dissent. It is located at the intersection of Rhode Island Avenue NW and M Street, NW, just east of Connecticut Avenue in Washington, DC.
The memorial sits unobtrusively in a busy downtown DC corridor that is more frequently visited for its proximity to Saint Matthew's Cathedral. The cathedral famous for holding the requiem mass for President Kennedy. The memorial is just across the street from the cathedral. The face of the memorial has a large bronze panel relief showing twelve nuns dressed in traditional habit. Tribute is paid through this memorial to the over six hundred nuns who nursed soldiers of both armies during the Civil War.
The images presented in bronze in the panel of the memorial are representations of: the Sisters of Saint Joseph, Sisters of Our Lady of Mount Carmel, Sisters of Saint Dominic, Sisters of Saint Ursula, Sisters of the Holy Cross, Sisters of the Poor of Saint Francis, Sisters of Mercy, Sisters of Our Lady of Mercy, Sisters of Charity, Sisters of Charity of Emmitsburg, Sisters of Charity of Nazareth, and Sisters of Divine Providence.
The Civil War Nurses Memorial was
erected in 1924 by the Ladies Auxiliary to the Ancient Order of Hibernians of
America by order of Congress and sculpted by Jerome Connor.
The sculpture was dedicated on
September 24, 1924 by removing an American flag which covered it. Sailors
present at the dedication lifted signal flags spelling "faith, hope and
charity" and a flock of white pigeons were released.
Regardless
of military or religious affiliation, nursing memorials throughout the
metropolitan Washington, D.C. area validate the association of the nursing
profession with the pledge of faith, charity, hope and last but not
least, patriotism.
