Traveling Exhibit on Civil War Medicine at Love Library, April 14 – May 24, 2014

The National Library of Medicine’s traveling exhibit, “Life and Limb: The Toll of the American Civil War,” will be displayed in Love Library from April 14-May 24, 2014. The exhibit illustrates the brutality of the Civil War and the resilience of those who survived with serious disabilities. The exhibit is free and open to the public during the hours Love Library is open (http://libraries.unl.edu/).

Two programs will be given to support the exhibit.  Dr. Susan Lawrence, Historian of Medicine at The Ohio State University, will be presenting “Civil War Suffering: Making Sense of the Civil War,” on Thursday, April 17, 5:30 pm in Love Library, Room 222. Lawrence will discuss why the Office of the Surgeon General was so determined to document the casualties not only in words, but also in drawings and photographs, in order to make sense of the medical experience of the war.  A reception will follow her presentation.

The second event will feature a round table discussion with veterans from the wars in Vietnam, Iraq, and Afghanistan  and providers from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs Nebraska-Western Iowa Health Care System, called “Life and Limbs After War.” This program will take place on Thursday, May 15 at 5:30 pm in Love Library, Room 222 with a reception to follow.

Panelists will discuss and answer questions focusing on changes in medicine, soldiering, and war since the Civil War as well as the similarities and connections between them.  The panelists include:

·          Moderator, A. Christine Emler, MD, Associate Chief of Medicine, Lincoln VA

·         Todd Fleischer, PhD, Chief of Psychology, VA Nebraska-Western Iowa Health Care System

·         Adam Jacobsen, CPO, VA Nebraska-Western Iowa Health Care System-Prosthetics

·         Terry Gillespie, Veteran, and Veterans Advisory Council president

·         David Ossian, Marine Corps League

 

These programs are funded in part by Humanities Nebraska and the Nebraska Cultural Endowment, the Charles and Linda Wilson Humanities in Medicine Lectureship at UNL & UNMC, the University of Nebraska–Lincoln’s Center for Digital Research in the Humanities, History Department, and the University Libraries.