Explore the overlooked yet essential role of nurses during the American Revolution, whose vital work helped shape early American healthcare.
Hosted by: Bates Center
Although they have been nearly erased from the historical record and excluded from accounts of the military’s generals and physicians, nurses played a crucial role in the American Revolution. In doing so, they participated in a moment of significant transformation in the history of America and in healthcare. This exhibit challenges the widespread belief that nursing began in the 19th century with Florence Nightingale by providing rare evidence of a world of nursing and caretaking that thrived before, during, and after the American Revolution.
In 18th century America, nursing was part of a complex and diverse web of healing knowledge and practices. Although the idea of the “professional nurse” would not take its modern shape until almost a century later, nursing played a key role in the lives of early Americans. The caregiving practices and skills that formed the basis for nursing care had long been carried out by women in their homes and the homes of their neighbors. Over years of bathing, cleaning, feeding, preparing, and administering herbal remedies, and comforting their sick family and friends, some women developed particularly strong skills as healers, apothecaries, and midwives. Yet, as colonial cities like Philadelphia grew in population and developed as international centers for trade and commerce, the need for healthcare outgrew the bounds of the home. Community leaders founded the nation’s first hospitals to provide care to the indigent, the transient, and anyone else who lacked the support for care at home. These early hospitals also served as convenient spaces where aspiring and respected physicians alike could learn, treat, and develop their reputations in the burgeoning field of scientific medicine. But for every physician who might diagnose and prescribe a treatment, there had to be nurses to provide care for the patient’s basic needs and to oversee and administer the treatment. When Americans declared their independence, they staked their fate to a myriad list of uncertainties, including whether they could keep their population and soldiers well enough to see themselves to victory. This exhibit excavates the hidden story of the nurses who participated in this remarkable moment of historical change.
The exhibit includes reproductions of materials from the collection of Chris Foard and from other Philadelphia-area collections, and a small set of original materials from the Bates Center’s collection.
On view from January 14 to November 20, 2026. Located in the Barbara Bates Center for the History of Nursing, Floor 2U, Fagin Hall.
The exhibit is open and accessible to Penn students, faculty, and staff Monday through Friday from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. and 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. Check in with the security desk in the main entrance of Fagin Hall before proceeding to floor 2U to view the exhibit.
Public access is by appointment only; contact nhistory@nursing.upenn.edu to schedule your visit.
Featured image: The compleat midwife's companion: or, the art of midwifry improv'd. [Jane Sharp, 1724]. Wellcome Collection.
The University of Pennsylvania, located in the heart of the city, was at the center of the dramatic events of 1776 and the Revolution that followed. 250 years later, partners across the university are exploring how history can help us better understand the present and create a sustainable and inclusive future.