In partnership with Military Images magazine, the Clara Barton Missing Soldiers Office Museum will be the inaugural host for a new traveling photo exhibit, “Faces of Civil War Nurses.” The exhibit, featuring life-sized portraits and the personal stories of women who served as nurses during the Civil War, will debut at a special opening event on May 24, 2025, during National Nurses Month.

“During the Civil War, thousands of courageous women stepped beyond traditional roles to serve as nurses, caring for the wounded and sick in the chaos of war’s brutal realities. In this exhibit, you’ll stand face to face with life-sized portraits of 20 of these intrepid pioneers who shaped the future of nursing and redefined the role of women in American society,” said Military Images Editor and Publisher Ron Coddington. “This is a rare glimpse into their resilience, sacrifice, and humanity.”

“We owe a debt of gratitude to these women, who not only tended to the sick and wounded of the Civil War, but who also trailblazed a path for modern nurses and medicine that still impacts us today,” said David Price, Executive Director of the National Museum of Civil War Medicine, which administers the Clara Barton Missing Soldiers Office Museum. “This exhibit is a tribute to their lasting legacy. We can’t think of a better place to debut it than the Civil War-era home and office of one of the nation’s most famous nurses and humanitarians, Clara Barton.”

Located in the heart of Washington, D.C., the Clara Barton Missing Soldiers Office Museum is the restored boarding house Barton lived in, used to store supplies for soldiers during the Civil War, and operated as an office to assist families in locating missing soldiers after the war.

At the outset of the Civil War females were forbidden to serve in “indelicate” medical settings, but women quickly broke down such social conventions, risking both disease and the brutal realities of war to care for the sick and wounded. More than 20,000 women served as nurses during the conflict, providing invaluable aid, including changing bandages, cooking food, comforting the dying, and innumerable other tasks.

See this unique and dramatic exhibit for the first time ever at a special opening event, including presentations from Coddington, Historian Heidi Campbell-Shoaf, and Author and Living Historian Carolyn Ivanoff.

Date: Saturday, May 24, 2025

Time: 1 p.m. to 4 p.m.

Place: Clara Barton Missing Soldiers Office Museum

437 7th Street NW

Washington, D.C. 20004

Refreshments will be served.

The exhibit will be on display at the Clara Barton Missing Soldiers Office Museum through September 1^st. The site is open Fridays and Saturdays from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.

About Military Images

Military Images is America’s only magazine dedicated solely to the study of Civil War photography. Its ongoing mission is to showcase, interpret, and preserve these rare images. In each quarterly issue of MI, readers find a mix of analysis, case studies, examinations of material culture, and personal stories that offer a unique perspective on the human aspect of the Civil War. Established in 1979, Military Images is available in print and digital.