Juliet Opie Hopkins
| Juliet Opie Hopkins | |
|---|---|
"The Florence Nightingale of the South"
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| Born |
Juliet Ann Opie May 7, 1818 Jefferson County, Virginia |
| Died | March 9, 1890 (aged 71) Washington, D.C. |
| Resting place | Arlington National Cemetery |
| Alma mater | Miss Ritchie's private school |
| Known for | Nursing |
| Spouse(s) | Alexander George Gordon (1937-1847/49; his death) Arthur Francis Hopkins (1854-65; his death) |
| Children | Juliet Opie Hopkins Ayres (adopted) |
| Parent(s) | Hierome Lindsay Opie Margaret Muse Opie |
Juliet Ann Hopkins (née Opie; May 7, 1818 – March 9, 1890) was born on a plantation in Jefferson County, Virginia (present-day West Virginia). After her marriage to Arthur F. Hopkins of Mobile, Alabama, she relocated to that state. During the Civil War, the couple sold most of their real estate holdings and donated the money to the cause of the Confederate States of America. When her husband was appointed to oversee hospitals during the war, she went to work converting tobacco factories into hospitals. She made daily visits to the wounded, and received a battlefield injury in the course of her duties.
Her husband died within months of the close of the war, and she spent the rest of her life in poverty. When she died, she was interred with a full military burial at Arlington National Cemetery, with the Alabama congressional delegation serving as her pallbearers. In 1991, she was inducted into the Alabama Women's Hall of Fame.
She is the only female recipient, and one of only 48 total, of the Confederate Medal of Honor as recognized by the Confederate Congress and later presented the medal by the Sons of Confederate Veterans.
Juliet Opie Hopkins was born in 1818 on her parents' Jefferson County, Virginia plantation "Woodburn", which employed slave labor. The area is in present-day West Virginia. Her father, Hierome Lindsay Opie, owned an estimated 2,000 slaves. She was home schooled until she was enrolled at Miss Ritchie's private institution in Richmond, Virginia. Her mother Margaret Muse Opie died when Juliet was sixteen years old, and she was called home to handle her mother's duties at the plantation. Her first husband in 1837 was Alexander George Gordon. They remained married until his death which is given as either 1847 or 1849.
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