Speaker: Richard Gunderman is Professor of Radiology at the IU School of Medicine. He is a Scientech Member and frequent contributor.
Many know Walt Whitman as a great American poet.
Fellow bard Ezra Pound called him “America’s poet,”
writing “He is America,” 1 and the critic Harold
Bloom wrote, “If you are American, then Walt Whitman is
your imaginative father and mother.” United States President
Bill Clinton was in the habit of giving copies of Whitman’s
magnum opus, Leaves of Grass, to people he befriended.
However, what many people don’t know is that Whitman
spent most of the Civil War in hospitals near Washington, DC,
working as a volunteer at the bedsides of thousands of wound-
ed and sick soldiers. For this American greatest poet, life’s
deepest lessons were to be found at the bedside, a lesson that
should not be lost on physicians and patients today.
Today’s Presentation
Program: Walt Whitman in Civil War Hospitals.
Speaker: Richard Gunderman, MD, PhD, John A Campbell Professor of Radiology, IUSM, Indianapolis, Scientech Club member
Introduced By: Andy Ratermann
Attendance: NESC: 88, Zoom: 27
Guest(s): Kimberly Boulden, Louise Kinney
Scribe: Bill Dick
Editor: Ed Nitka
View a recording of today’s Zoom presentation at:
Today's program 060324
Dr. Richard Gunderman visited Scientech Club again with one of his intelligent and inspiring presentations. This time it was Walt Whitman at Civil War hospitals. Whitman has been called by many critics, such as Harold Bloom or Ezra Pound, as “America’s greatest poet.”
Though Whitman really did volunteer to work in some of those hospitals, he had no formal medical training. His brother, George, was a patient in one of the hospitals. Whitman found his brother to be healthy, but Whitman stayed on for three years to minister to the sick.
He made over 600 visits and cared for thousands of patients. Whitman was not well educated even though he produced Leaves of Grass in 1855. Whitman helped transport soldiers from Virginia to Washington, DC where he worked from 1862-1866. Despite little medical or nursing training, he helped where he could. It might entail holding the hand of a patient during an amputation or simply writing a letter for a soldier. Recall that many soldiers were illiterate or could not write because of an injury. Walt Whitman gave the soldiers courage - would remain all night with some patients.
Whitman gave the soldiers charity. He had little money and worked part-time at the paymaster’s office. Dr. Gunderman quoted some lines that Whitman wrote. He gave the soldiers food and whatever he could. He always gave them a pen, paper, and stamps. Families often received a letter about their loved one written in Whitman’s hand.
Whitman gave the soldiers compassion. He read to them or simply held their hand. Each soldier had a unique story. He felt for his fellow man. Whitman gave them communion or communication. He wrote many letters for soldiers. He cared for the families of the soldiers. They were desperate for news from the battlefront.
Dr. Gunderman finished by reading lines from another of Whitman’s poems. The inspiring words summarized the feelings of Whitman for his fellow man.
Richard Gunderman
