Experience Life at a Frontier Army Hospital This Saturday at Fort Hays State Historic Site

Learn about health care and medical services at a frontier Army post during a special presentation at the Fort Hays State Historic Site this Saturday, September 5 from 2 to 3 PM.

“Healthcare and Service at a Frontier Army Hospital” will be presented by Sherrie Smith, a longtime Fort Hays volunteer, who has dedicated more than 40 years to researching and sharing the history of the site. Smith’s research has primarily focused on women’s history, including the lives and roles of camp followers, washerwomen, officers’ house servants and hospital matrons.

The presentation will explore health care at Fort Hays during the years the post was operational, with a focus on diseases that affected soldiers and other residents of the frontier military community. Smith will also discuss the challenges faced by Army medical personnel as they treated illnesses in an isolated frontier environment, as well as the important role hospital staff played in maintaining the health of the post.

This is a free event and open to the public, but donations are always appreciated and go directly to supporting the preservation of Kansas history. For more information about this presentation, and other programs at the Fort Hays State Historic Site, visit kansashistory.gov.