The Sanitary Commission’s Other Agenda
The US Sanitary Commission is credited with saving lives during the Civil War, but its leadership hoped it would be remembered for advancing racialized science.
The Question of Geophagy: Why Eat Dirt?
Scientists have three theories about why people and animals eat dirt.
When San Francisco Feminists Rated Mexican Abortions
The California activists played the role of a health agency to ensure women received safe and competent health care in Mexican clinics.
The Milk Banks of New York
Milk banks, a successor concept to wet nursing, are a little discussed part of the contemporary landscape of infant care.
Medicalizing Domestic Violence
What happens when experts position domestic violence inside a biomedical model of care?
The Birth of the Modern American Military Hospital
The founding of Walter Reed General Hospital at the beginning of the twentieth century marked a shift in medical care for military personnel and veterans.
Can Religion Be Helpful for People With Chronic Pain?
A group of researchers asked this question of a group of patients in secularized Western Europe.
Neurasthenia, Vietnamese Style
To self-diagnose with neurasthenia was to identify with modernity and civilization while also recognizing the harms caused by colonial structures.
Home Pregnancy Tests
Before the arrival of home pregnancy tests, women had to seek answers at the doctor’s office, which was costly, inconvenient, and potentially embarrassing.
