I mostly use this blog to talk about aspects of Julia Wilbur's life and times. However, may people have asked me about meeting the deadline for my book (forthcoming from Potomac Books, an imprint of University of Nebraska Press.) The deadline for my book came and went on July 1.

 On the first morning after the Union occupation of Alexandria, May 22, 1861, Michigan troops came upon what had been a flourishing slave-trading establishment on Duke Street, less than a mile from the Potomac River.

My friend Mary visited from Connecticut and asked for a tour of Julia Wilbur sites in Alexandria. (She is a fellow history nut, writer, and great friend, as I am not sure who else would indulge me on a hot summer day!) We didn't have much time, but off we went to some of the spots on a map I built:

This past weekend, I attended the annual conference of the Biographers International Organization (BIO, nice play on words), held in Richmond. A day of great sessions by experts in the craft.

One of the many things I learned this week from Von Barron, aka Captain Turner Kitt, was that no surgeon working in the field, north or south, lasted all four years of the Civil War.

Early port-improvers used whatever materials they had available--including pieces of "trash" ships, a recent find a few months ago at 220 South Union Street, future site of the Hotel Indigo.

Mary Surratt and Julia Wilbur never met, and certainly would not have gotten along if they had. But both had to figure out how to survive in what could be an unfriendly world for a woman on their own. 

Music and storytelling were a huge part of the 19th century...

No word yet on Mercy Street returning next year. A few points from the last episode:

Last night's episode of Mercy Street included a poignant scene in which the Green and Fairfax families attempted to bury Tom Fairfax. No matter one's sympathies, seeing a funeral disrupted at gunpoint was not pleasant.

With my own research in mind, I can't resist proposing Julia Wilbur and Harriet Jacobs as two other real-life heroines of Mercy Street.

As you have watched "Mercy Street," have you wondered whatever happened to Mansion House Hospital?

One of Mercy Street's characters with perhaps the most compelling back story (not that we know much of it, at least not now) is Aurelia, the African American laundress who is victimized by the brutish steward, Mr. Bullen. I don't remember if they specifically refer to her as a "contraband," but I know the word came up during the program. Here's a little background.

The first episode of the PBS drama "Mercy Street" aired last night. Mansion House Hospital was noisy, chaotic, and rather dark. 

At 220 South Union Street, right off the Potomac River at the corner with Duke Street, a Hotel Indigo will replace a shipping terminal. Archaeologists have been peeling back the layers.