Public historian Jake Wynn will discuss the fascinating role played by Washington’s military hospitals in the Civil War. Tens of thousands of wounded and sick soldiers were cared for in hospitals established across the District of Columbia. From the National Mall, to Georgetown, and dotting the hills north of the city, these medical facilities became an integral part of war-time Washington and played host to a wide range of characters from President Abraham Lincoln to Walt Whitman, from Louisa May Alcott to Clara Barton.

This is part of the multi-venue, 12-day Walt Whitman 200 Festival, celebrating the 200th anniversary of the birth of one of America’s most significant and enduring poets, who was a resident of Washington, DC for ten years during and after the Civil War.