On Monday, March 24, an event called “Clara Barton and Susie King Taylor: Pioneering Nurses on the Civil War Battlefield” was held in room 219 at Pray-Harrold. Laura Schultz Pipis, chief executive officer of the Monroe County Chapter of the Red Cross, gave a speech about two woman nurses during the Civil War, Clara Barton and Susie King Taylor.
Pipis made comparisons between the two nurses. Both of these women were suffragettes, and they both faced several kinds of discrimination.
Clara Barton, who founded the American Red Cross, not only worked as a nurse in the battlefield, but she also worked in African-American hospitals and visited prisons.
Susie King Taylor was one of the first African-American women to serve as a nurse in the American army. She also worked for the Women’s Relief Corps and served as their president at one point.
Pipis ended her speech by saying that the women’s stories showed “heroism and humanism,” and that she believed that everyone should know about what these women did.
Mary-Elizabeth Murphy, who is in charge of Women’s History Month, added to this by saying, “This year, we are celebrating women with courage, commitment and character. As women are still struggling to gain equality today, history can still inspire us.”
Sabri Alhussein, a professor in the language department at Washtenaw Community College, attended the presentation. “The speech was very informative,” he said. “I think everyone should be educated about this topic.”
