Midnight on the Potomac page 4

 Midnight on the Potomac page 4 by ric gustafson

By the summer of 1864, Washington DC was vastly different than a generation earlier. The sleepy city was full of open air slave markets, swamps and only a handful of public buildings. But since 1860, the city had changed. Thousands had migrated to the city. Finding housing was a big problem. Entire families squeezed into rented rooms, stayed in tents or slept outside. 

Women like Louisa May Alcott were working as nurses at Union hospitals. Women came to Washington DC to find work and to fight. Many women found work as clerks in the Treasury, Patent and the Government Printing Office. Women found work as dietiticians, cooks, laundresses and seamstresses. And when their day jobs were done, these women volunteered their time in churches and hospitals. 

On April 16 1862, President Lincoln outlawed slavery in the District of Columbia. Since then, the vast majority of African Americans in the city were free blacks. More than 40,000 slaves made it to Washington DC.

research help: ' Midnight on the Potomac' by Scott Ellsworth

Peace and God's blessings. Love Ric