The nurses of the Civil War ushered in a new era for medicine in the midst of tremendous hardship.  While the country was at war, these women learned to advocate and care for patients in hostile settings, saves countless lives, and created a new profession.  They regularly fell ill with not one to nurse them in return, seethed in anger at an inefficient system that left wounded men on the battlefield without care, and all too often mourned for those they could not rescue.

Heroines of Mercy Street tells the true stories of the nurses at Mansion House, the hotel turned wartime hospital in Alexandria Virginia and the setting for the PBS series Mercy Street.  Drawing on diaries, letters, and books written by this nursing pioneers, Pamela Toler has created a fascinating portrait of true heroines, shining a light on their contributions during one of our country’s most turbulent periods.