Mercy Street, a New Historical Drama Employed Experts on Southern Gentility, on Civil War Medicine, on Runaway Slaves and Society

Mercy Street

Nurse Mary Phinney (Mary Elizabeth Winstead) and Jedediah Foster (Josh Radnor) in Mercy Street

Editor's Note: We came late to information about this series but then watched the first episode on Sunday night, quite impressed by the cast and the care to depict the chaotic scene and carnage that actual Civil War military hospitals must have endured. The acting cast was immediately impressive in the person of renowned actress, Cherry Jones, a guest star, playing the real-life Dorothea Dix, known as 'Miss Dix', the formidable superintendent of Union Army nurses.

Phrases such as "Men fight; women pray", "Army doctors do not like nurses", and "You have no idea what you've signed up for" pepper the first episode but hopefully more original dialogue will appear in subsequent episodes of this drama.

But, a bit of preparation background first: "They capture that inner space that women created, one where they were, of course, essential to every aspect of life, especially in a hospital setting, while having to navigate a wide range of biases and restrictions."

It is late April in Richmond, at the outset of filming for the Mercy Street, and actors Josh Radnor, Mary Elizabeth Winstead and McKinley Belcher III are going to school.

The day's particular lesson was the art of suturing, and it came courtesy of Dr. Stanley Burns, a medical consultant, author and archivist who has an unmatched collection of medically themed photographs from the period.

"We did what we call 'Medical School and Surgery 101,'" Burns said. "I explained what the philosophy of surgery and medicine was at the time, and how physicians worked during this period, one that was very much a medical crossroads. I showed them what the real wounds and infections looked like and then I showed them how to hold a scalpel, how to hold a saw, how to bandage and how to tie, because these are things that have to look accurate on screen."

"Accuracy was a hallmark of the Mercy Street process from the very beginning," said executive producer and co-creator Lisa Wolfinger. "We have spent a lot of time making sure this series is historically accurate," she said. "This is about the Civil War. This is PBS. And we have the responsibility to get it right."

Toward that end, she assembled an all-star team of historical advisors from a wide variety of specialties and topics. "We had eight or nine experts who read every script," said executive producer and head writer David Zabel, whose credits include ER. "We had experts on Southern gentility, we had experts on Civil War medicine, experts on runaway slaves, society … they really provided me with great details and information."

Experts included preeminent Civil War scholar James McPherson; author and Civil War medical historian Shawna Devine; scholar and author Anya Jabour, whose specialty is young women in the South during that period; Audrey Davis, Director of the Alexandria Black History Museum; and George Wunderlich from the National Museum of Civil War Medicine in Frederick, Maryland.

"From the very beginning of this process, we wanted to bring into the discussion and into the process as many experts from the period as we could in order to ensure that the story is being told as authentically as possible, and that the visual expression of that is realized in the most accurate way one can," said executive producer David Zucker, Scott Free Productions.

The historical advisors were involved in all aspects of the creative process, from vetting scripts to, in many cases, being on set to watch and offer insight and suggestions during filming. For instance, on his first visit to the Richmond, Virginia set, Dr. Burns asked, "Where are the mirrors?" Mirrors, he explained, would have been used by surgeons to direct and reflect light during operations, much as they were used by miners prior to the advent of electricity.

Historian Anya Jabour’s journey to Mercy Street began some three years ago with a call from Lisa Wolfinger.

"Lisa had read a book that I had written about young women in the Civil War, called Scarlett Sisters: Young Women in the Old South," said Jabour, who is professor of history and co-director of the program in women's gender and sexuality studies at the University of Montana. "And she thought that that matched up very well with the characters of Emma and Alice Green, the two young Confederates in the show."

Pages: 1 · 2

Culture and Arts, Theater and Film, History, Culture Watch, Learning, Women of Note, Senior Women Web, Articles, Sightings, What's New

Mercy Street, a New Historical Drama Employed Experts on Southern Gentility, on Civil War Medicine, on Runaway Slaves and Society

More Articles