The life story of Shih Yang, known to history by her married name Cheng I Sao (the wife of Cheng I) would inspire countless novels and semi-fictionalized accounts of a Chinese pirate queen or “Dragon Lady” of the South China Read more…
Last summer on June 17, 2020, the Quaker Oats Company announced its decision to rename its Aunt Jemima pancake brand after 131 years. Public opinion since the announcement has been mixed. One camp believes that the change is long overdue. Read more…
Since her death in 1881 Marie Laveau has morphed from a respected and charitable neighbor, or a “she-devil” and mysterious Voodoo Queen (depending on whose talking), and into a saint of strong, Black, feminist womanhood. How do we separate popular Read more…
Whether we’ve ever really given it any study, we’re all at least a little familiar with the link between the Nazi party and the occult. Movies like Captain America and Hellboy have plot lines that center on supernatural obsessions of Read more…
In 1980s Japan, mizuko spirit attacks, or hauntings by the spirits of aborted fetuses, were on the rise among middle school and high school girls. Listen to one Japanese teen’s testimonial: “You probably won’t believe it, but mizuko spirit attacks Read more…
In the 1970s, Lorraine and Ed Warren had a spotlight of paranormal obsession shining on them. In the last decade, their work as paranormal investigators–ghost hunters–has been the premise for a blockbuster horror franchise totaling at least seven films so Read more…
In his occupation as a swineherd, Jacob Nufer had performed countless genital surgeries on his pigs. He was an expert gelder. He was convinced he could deliver his child abdominally so that both his wife and child would survive. For Read more…
Childbirth is such a routine part of life that in some ways it can become invisible, especially historically. History, people often assume, is made up of major events, political elections, wars, etc. – not routine biological processes. But for something Read more…
The 1915 silent-film The Birth of a Nation is one of the most popular and controversial films ever made. It’s success catapulted director D.W. Griffith into stardom while cementing the film, a piece of racist propaganda, into the annals of Read more…
Symphysiotomy. Probably not a word you’ve heard before – and if you have, I’m sorry? Symphysiotomy is an obstetric procedure in which a person’s pubic symphysis cartilage is cut to widen the pelvis for childbirth. Yes. Gross. I know. For Read more…
Assistant Professor of History at Mercyhurst University. Layout Editor at Nursing Clio. Writes about sex, gender, and policing in modern Ireland. "Solicitor Brown and His Boy" (2020) in Historical Reflections. Will tell you about maple creemees, just ask.
Clinical Assistant Professor of History for the University at Buffalo and Associate Director of UB Center for Disability Studies. Author of Bodies in Blue: Disability in the Civil War North. Editor at Nursing Clio. Has participated in Civil War reenactments, and still has the petticoats to prove it.
ACLS Fellow at Arizona State University, project lead of Journal of the Plague Year and independent information professional. Studies lactating women for hire in the Atlantic world during the Revolutionary era. Has won lots of really cool grants and fellowships, 2015 article on wet-nursing ads in the Journal of Family History. Unhealthy obsession with true crime podcasts.
Assistant Professor of History at SUNY Brockport. Writes about Progressive Era women and the formation of the welfare state in the US. 2019 article in the Southwestern Historical Quarterly. Texas native who married her tattoo artist (not just for the free tattoos).
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