Free children’s day at Weems-Botts Museum Aug. 8

Stop for a free Children’s Day at Weems-Botts Museum, 3944 Cameron Street, Dumfries, VA,  22026 this Saturday, Aug. 8, from 2 to 4 p.m.

Meet Heather Butts, have a High Tea in the park, see a Civil War hospital, and have a hand at make-and-take crafts to take home!

Meet Heather Butts, author of African American Medicine in Washington, D.C.: Healing the Capital During the Civil War Era, a book that talks about service of America’s African American nurses, doctors and surgeons to heal those soldiers in defense of our Union during the Civil War.

In the nation’s capital, these brave healthcare workers joined together to begin to create a medical infrastructure for African Americans by African Americans. Famed surgeon Alexander T. Augusta fought discrimination to become a preeminent surgeon, visiting with President Lincoln, testifying before Congress and aiding in the war effort.

Washington’s Freedman’s Hospital was formed to serve the District’s growing free black population and would later become the Howard University Medical Center.

These physicians would form the National Medical Association, the largest and oldest organization representing African American doctors and patients. Including detailed analysis of African American health issues, patients and medical approaches, author Heather M. Butts recounts the heroic lives and work of Washington’s African American medical community during the Civil War

For more information call Historic Dumfries at 703-221-2218. Please RSVP for food preparation numbers.