"SHE RANKS ME"

Today is the birthdate of Dorothea Dix, Union Superintendent of Nurses during the Civil War. She wanted plain looking women between the ages of 35 and 50 with no make-up or jewelry in order to provide a modest environment and keep them from being exploited by the wounded men (and the Doctors) , but by the end of the war her only question was "When can you start?".
She worked the duration of the war without pay.
At the end of the war General Sherman had this to say about her:
"She ranks me"*

Part Two of the Six Part Ken Burns Masterpiece 'The Civil War" on tonight, and continuing on through the week. I advise you record it.
It could help get rid of a pesky bill collector someday.

*Uh-oh-- occasionally I try to write these things up from memory, and after doing a fact check I find it was not  Dorothea Dix that General Tecumseh Sherman said this about. It was Mary Ann "Mother" Bickersdyke.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_Ann_Bickerdyke