During the American Civil War, she was one of the noted women workers, and it was through her public appeals that the question of the national soldiers' homes was agitated.

She raised money in Wisconsin for the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine in Baltimore for the purpose of having women admitted on equal terms with men.

[4] In November 1887, Aikens began to edit "The Woman's World", a special department of The Evening Wisconsin, of which her husband was one of the proprietors, published in Milwaukee.

[4] During the American Civil War, she made public appeals and announcements through the press when the question of a National Soldiers' Home was agitated.

She raised money in Wisconsin for the Johns Hopkins Medical School in Baltimore, for the purpose of admitting women on equal terms with men.