Rebecca Lane Pennypacker Price | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | September 8, 1837 |
| Died | May 17, 1919 (aged 81) |
| Occupation | Nurse |
| Known for | President of the National Association of Army Nurses of the Civil War |
Rebecca Lane Pennypacker Price (September 8, 1837 – May 17, 1919) was a nurse who served in the American Civil War, and was the penultimate president of the National Association of Army Nurses of the Civil War in 1914.
Rebecca Lane Pennypacker was born in Phoenixville, Pennsylvania, the daughter of Mathias Showalter Pennypacker and Elizabeth Buckwalter Pennypacker. Her mother was a hospital matron during the American Civil War. Governor Samuel W. Pennypacker was her first cousin; General Galusha Pennypacker was another cousin. [1]
Rebecca L. Price was a leader of the Phoenixville Union Relief Society at the beginning the American Civil War, organizing sewists and knitters, running donation drives, and delivering supplies to troops. She was given a travel pass by Pennsylvania's governor Andrew Gregg Curtin to facilitate her work. She volunteered as a nurse at hospitals in Virginia, Baltimore and Philadelphia. She rode a cattle car to offer compassionate care to badly wounded soldiers and replenish clothing, bandages, food, and other provisions after the Battle of Gettysburg. [2]
Later in life, Price was a manager of the Baptist Institute for Christian Workers in Philadelphia. She remained active with the Civil War nursing organizations, and in 1914 and 1915 was the president of the National Association of Army Nurses of the Civil War. [3] As president, she spoke to a gathering of Civil War veterans on the 50th anniversary of the war's end in 1915, saying "We can do much to lead the rising generation to see horrors of war rather than its glories that they may give their lives to preserve these blessings through peace. Peace is what we want, and not war." [4]
Rebecca Lane Pennypacker married Edwin Price in 1859. They had two children, a son, George E. Price (1874–1951), and a daughter, Cora Price (later Bowen) (1869–1961). Rebecca L. Price was widowed in 1914 and died in 1919, aged 81 years, at her home in Pottstown, Pennsylvania. [5]
In 2015, the Phoenixville Historical Society marked Armed Forces Day with an event honoring Rebecca Lane Pennypacker Price's contributions as a nurse in the American Civil War. [6] [7]
Phoenixville is a borough in Chester County, Pennsylvania, United States. It is located 28 miles (45 km) northwest of Philadelphia at the junction of French Creek and the Schuylkill River. It is in the Philadelphia metropolitan area. According to a 2022 estimate, the population was 19,354.
Dorothea Lynde Dix was an American advocate on behalf of the indigent mentally ill who, through a vigorous and sustained program of lobbying state legislatures and the United States Congress, created the first generation of American mental asylums. During the Civil War, she served as a Superintendent of Army Nurses.
Samuel Whitaker Pennypacker was an American politician and the 23rd governor of Pennsylvania, serving from 1903 to 1907. A judge assigned to Pennsylvania's Court of Common Pleas system prior to his election as governor, he also researched and wrote about Pennsylvania history.
Cornelia Hancock was a celebrated volunteer nurse, serving the injured and infirmed of the Union Army during the American Civil War. Hancock's service lasted from July 6, 1863 to May 23, 1865.
Anna Mae Violet Hays was an American military officer who served as the 13th chief of the United States Army Nurse Corps. She was the first woman in the United States Armed Forces to be promoted to a general officer rank; in 1970, she was promoted to brigadier general. Hays paved the way for equal treatment of women, countered occupational sexism, and made a number of recommendations which were accepted into military policy.
The 11th Pennsylvania Infantry Regiment was a Union army regiment that participated in the American Civil War. It had the distinction of being the oldest unit in continuous service from Pennsylvania.
Uriah Galusha Pennypacker was a Union general during the American Civil War. He may be the youngest person to hold the rank of brigadier general in the US Army and remains the only general too young to vote for the president who appointed him. He was awarded the Medal of Honor for his leadership at the Second Battle of Fort Fisher during the Civil War.
During the American Civil War, the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania played a critical role in the Union, providing a substantial supply of military personnel, equipment, and leadership to the Federal government. The state raised over 360,000 soldiers for the Federal armies. It served as a significant source of artillery guns, small arms, ammunition, armor for the new revolutionary style of ironclad types of gunboats for the rapidly expanding United States Navy, and food supplies. The Phoenixville Iron Company by itself produced well over 1,000 cannons, and the Frankford Arsenal was a major supply depot.
Pennypacker may refer to:
The Mont Clare Bridge is a crossing of the Schuylkill River between Mont Clare and Phoenixville in Pennsylvania, USA. The bridge was also referred to as the Intercounty Bridge, as it connects Montgomery and Chester counties. The bridge abuts a shorter county bridge across the Schuylkill Canal and towpath on the Mont Clare side to complete the crossing. The crossing carries Bridge Street and the Schuylkill River Trail.
Joseph Whitaker was an American industrialist, landowner, and legislator in the Phoenixville and Mont Clare area of Pennsylvania, during the 19th century. He was a member of the Whitaker iron family.
Camp Letterman was an American Civil War military hospital, which was erected near the Gettysburg Battlefield to treat more than 14,000 Union and 6,800 Confederate wounded of the Battle of Gettysburg at the beginning of July 1863.
The National Association of Army Nurses of the Civil War or National Army Nurses was an organization of former nurses who served in the American Civil War. It was primarily a social organization, but it also advocated for, and helped to secure, recognition and benefits for nurses who had served in the war.
Sarah Middleton Robbins Broadhead was a teacher, diarist, and resident of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania during the Battle of Gettysburg. She was the author of The Diary of a Lady of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania from June 15 to July 15, 1863, which is a primary historical source for what happened during the battle and especially how it impacted the residents of the borough. It has been called the most comprehensive written document on the role of women in the Civil War. Ken Burns quoted entries from the diary in his 1990 documentary series, The Civil War.
Helen Grace McClelland , a United States Army nurse, was awarded the United States Distinguished Service Cross and the British Royal Red Cross Medal for heroic actions during World War I while serving at a British Base Hospital in France. McClelland was one of only four women to receive the Distinguished Service Cross award during World War I. After returning to the United States, McClelland spent twenty-three years as Director of Pennsylvania Hospital's School of Nursing. In her role, McClelland advocated for the professionalization and modernization of nursing. McClelland was inducted into the Ohio Women's Hall of Fame in 1978.
Tillie Pierce (also known as Matilda Alleman) was the author of At Gettysburg, or What A Girl Saw and Heard of the Battle: A True Narrative. Published more than a quarter of a century after the Battle of Gettysburg, the book recounted her experiences during the American Civil War.
Clarissa Fellows Jones Dye, served as an Army nurse during the American Civil War. Later in life, she was president of the National Association of Army Nurses of the Civil War.
Elizabeth Wendell Hunter Ewing served as a nurse during the American Civil War, and later as president of the National Association of Army Nurses of the Civil War.
Anna Morris Holstein was an American organizational leader, civil war nurse, and author. From 1862 until the close of the war, Holstein was engaged in the hospital service, and after the Battle of Gettysburg, she was matron-in-chief of a hospital in which 3,000 seriously wounded men were looked after. She was the founder and first regent of the Centennial and Memorial Association of Valley Forge, and a regent of the Valley Forge Chapter, Daughters of the American Revolution (D.A.R.).
Mary Morris Husband was an American nurse during the Civil War (1861–1865). She cared for soldiers who fought at the Battles of Antietam, Chancellorsville, and Gettysburg. She cared for her seriously ill son John until he was discharged by the surgeon. After recovering from miasmatic fever, Husband returned to service. She was among the nurses who treated thousands of soldiers in Fredericksburg, Virginia following the Battles of the Wilderness and Spotsylvania Court House. She nursed at the White House Hospital in June 1864. Among other leadership positions, she was the matron of the Third Corps hospital.
