During the American Civil War, poet Walt Whitman spent time visiting hospitalized soldiers wounded on the battlefield. He traveled with soldiers from one hospital to another and visited wounded soldiers daily. As the war continued, Whitman resolved to stay in the Union and serve the wounded as they recovered from their injuries. It was a critical moment in his life and greatly affected his poetry later.

Lifelong learners and self-directed teens are invited to read Whitman’s “The Wound-Dresser” along with Bart Wolffe’s reading of the same in this video file…