New Bedford Whaling National Historical Park To Host Exhibit On African-Americans In Civil War

An exhibit that looks at the contributions African-Americans made as nurses, surgeons, and hospital workers during the Civil War will be on display at New Bedford Whaling National Historical Park from December 17 through January 26.

The exhibit, Binding Wounds, Pushing Boundaries, is a traveling exhibit developed and produced by the National Library of Medicine with research assistance from the Historical Society of Washington, D.C.

This eight-panel exhibit, curated by Jill L. Newmark of the National Library of Medicine, contains links to New Bedford history. William P. Powell, Jr., born in New Bedford and son of William P. and Mercy (Haskins) Powell served as a contract Union surgeon during the Civil War and the exhibit touches on his history.

According to curator Jill Newmark, Exhibition Registrar of the National Library of Medicine, the exhibit "brings a voice to those that have remained silent for nearly 150 years."