Under two flags: Rapprochement and the American Hospital Ship Maine

This thesis is an examination of the creation and mission of the American Hospital Ship Maine by twenty American women living in England during the Boer War. Attention is given to the funding, outfitting, and staffing of the Maine as well as the work of the Maine on its first voyage to South Africa. Due to the patriarchal time in which they lived, the identities of many of the American women behind the Maine were till this time unknown. With much effort, biographical information had been recovered and is included here. This study builds upon existing rapprochement scholarship to demonstrate the ways in which the Maine corresponds to British-American relations at the end of the nineteenth century, therefore highlighting the international importance of the American Hospital Ship Maine.