Jan 8, 2009
... women can never do efficient and general service in hospitals until their dress is prescribed by laws inexorable as those of the Medes and Persians. Then, that dress should be entirely destitute of steel, starch, whale-bone, flounces, and ornaments of all descriptions; should rest on the shoulders, have a skirt from the waist to the ankle, and a waist which leaves room for breathing.- Jane Grey Swisshelm Attribution: Jane Grey Swisshelm (1815–1884), U.S. newspaperwoman, abolitionist, and human rights activist. Half a Century, ch. 57 (1880). Recalling her work in Campbell Hospital, Washington, DC, during the Civil War. The only accepted female dress of the time was awkward and inhibiting.
Categories: Abolitionist, And Human Rights Activist, Dress Reform, Newspaperwoman, Nursing
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