![]() These changes are reflected in Radnor's character, Jedediah Foster, who trained in Europe and is an early adopter of new-fangled inventions like painkillers and hypodermic needles that are viewed with skepticism by some of his peers. Burns, a collector of early medical photography and devices, gently scolds Radnor for referring to a tenaculum as a shepherd's hook: "That's like referring to rocket propulsion in 1862!"įor all the carnage it created, the Civil War also led to critical innovations in the world of medicine. Stanley Burns shows Radnor a complicated surgical procedure using a model abdomen. On location at the Laburnum House, a Neoclassical revival building in Richmond standing in for Alexandria's Mansion House, the series' medical consultant Dr. ![]() "We are held to a higher standard, and we should be," said Hoppe, noting with pride that documentarian Burns had given the series a ringing endorsement. The network enlisted a panel of advisors, including military historian James McPherson and Anya Jabour, an expert in Southern women of the Civil War era. This being PBS, historical accuracy was of paramount importance. The hospital setting also conveniently provided a way to tell a Civil War story without having to film expensive battle sequences, which would have been exceedingly difficult on a PBS budget. "I took the gamble, because I wanted to make TV that I wanted to watch," she said. Wolfinger was excited by the opportunity to create a series about interesting and messy women. It didn't reduce itself to certain simplistic attitudes and perspectives."Īnother key inspiration was Louisa May Alcott's "Hospital Sketches," a collection of letters the "Little Women" novelist and abolitionist wrote during her time as a Union nurse. "I felt like in this place with all of these various agendas bumping up against each other, you could really explore this moment in a much more variegated way, diverse way. "I didn't want to get into cliche binary oppositions of North and South, black and white," he said. The discovery of Mansion House, with so many diverse people coming together in a single space, represented a "light bulb moment," according to Zabel. ![]() The surrounding city of Alexandria was also a destination for escaped slaves - or "contraband," as they were designated by the Union - on their way to freedom in the North. The Greens' daughter Emma, whose sweetheart was a Confederate spy, tended to wounded Southerners at the hospital.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
Details
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |