Ethel Hurn - Wisconsin Women in the War Between the States

As the fiftieth anniversary of the American Civil War neared, the Wisconsin History Commission was established to develop and publish a series of original papers on Wisconsins role in what was officially called the War of Rebellion. Picked as the sixth selection and published in May 1911 was Wisconsin Women in the War between the States by Ethel Alice Hurn. Five thousand copies were printed.

In many ways it was a landmark effort. Certainly it was one of the first formal recognitionsnot only in Wisconsin but nationallyof the then overlooked and almost forgotten role Northern women played in 18611865. Reuben Gold Thwaites, superintendent of the State Historical Society of Wisconsin, noted in his brief introduction that thousands of writers had touched on almost every phase of the struggle to preserve the Union but curiously enough, the part taken by the patriotic women of the North has thus far failed of adequate description.

The author of the study was Ethel Hurn of Oshkosh, then a student at the University of Wisconsin. Gathering the material for the book proved a daunting task. During the Civil War era women could not vote, hold bank accounts, or take a direct role in business. Nevertheless, in the time of national crisis, women took over farms and shops and other endeavors, and some left quiet family hearths to move onto the public stage. They prepared food, sewed and laundered, knitted socks and gloves, and organized campaigns and fairs asrelief efforts that raised millions of dollars to aid wounded soldiers and assist war widows and orphans. However, these womens work was generally undertaken without thought of keeping a formal record. It could be found only in scattered collections of letters, newspaper files, several interviews, and the brief reports and pamphlets of soldier fairs and soldiers aid societies.

But the author proved up to the task. Unfortunately, only little is known of Miss Hurn, who produced this important and significant work. A search by John Zimm of the Wisconsin Historical Society found that she apparently wrote no other books, never married, had no children, and seems to have moved on to a lengthy career as a teacher after her work on the book was finished. She secured a teaching appointment in Oshkosh two years after publishing her work, then twelve years later began teaching at Edgewood High School in Chicago, where she spent twenty-nine years. According to a brief obituary in the Chicago Daily Tribune September 19, 1958, Ethel Hurn was seventy-seven when she died. She was survived by two brothers and one sister.

While the work of several well-known individuals, such as Cordelia A. P. Harvey, widow of Governor Lewis Harvey, and Mrs. Henrietta Colt of the Wisconsin Soldiers Aid Society, was documented, Hurn concentrated her study chiefly on the thousands of average Wisconsin women who stepped forward. Thwaites correctly put the book into perspective: With a tireless and courageous energy worthy of Spartan mothers, they kept the wheels of industry in motion, and thus saved the country from economic ruin. It is probable that future historians of the War may consider this the most important contribution of Northern women to the cause of the Union.

Of course, Wisconsin Women in the War between the States is just as significant today as it was a century ago because it documented an important turning point in the changing role of women in American society. Other scholars have added tothe record in the passing years, but Hurns groundbreaking book is welcomed back in print during this 150th anniversary of the American Civil War to be discovered and enjoyed as well as to enlighten a new generation of readers.

LANCE J. HERDEGEN
Chair, Wisconsin Civil War Sesquicentennial Commission
Walworth County, Wisconsin

WISCONSIN HISTORY COMMISSION: ORIGINAL PAPERS, No. 6

WISCONSIN WOMEN IN THE WAR BETWEEN THE STATES

BY ETHEL ALICE HURN, B. A.

WISCONSIN HISTORY COMMISSION
MAY, 1911

FIVE THOUSAND COPIES PRINTED

Copyright, 1911
THE WISCONSIN HISTORY COMMISSION
(in behalf of the State of Wisconsin)

Opinions or errors of fact on the part of the respective authors of the Commissions publications (whether Reprints or Original Narratives) have not been modified or corrected by the Commission. For all statements, of whatever character, the Author alone is responsible

DEMOCRAT PRINTING CO., STATE PRINTER