Issue link: http://digital.copcomm.com/i/629850
Opposite page, main image: A historic photograph of the luxury Mansion House Hotel in Alexandria, VA, which was turned into a hospital during the Civil War. Above: The dressed street in Petersburg, VA, with a false façade added to the side of a large warehouse. The top floor of the building would be added with a digital set extension. Left: Mary Phinney (played by Mary Elizabeth Winstead) and Dr. Foster (Josh Radnor) in the Ballroom Ward of the Mansion House Hospital. Mercy Street, a new series on PBS, is based on the true story of the Mansion House Hotel in Alexandria, Virginia, and its use as a military hospital during the American Civil War. The episodes explore the relationships between the doctors, nurses and patients, and the trials of the Green family, owners of the Hotel, who decide to stay nearby rather than leave and risk losing everything they have built. The series also examines the state of medical treatment, early surgical practices and the pressures to pursue innovation. Photography by Antony Platt