The Strange Career of the Lady Possum of the New World
Marsupials make people think of Australia, but Europeans encountered and described their first marsupial, the Virginia opossum, in 1499.
To Get Help for Sick Kids, Mothers Wrote to Washington
In the 1930s, mothers wrote to the US president and the federal Children’s Bureau asking for support for their sick children. They rarely received help.
Mothers and War
Seeing images of mothers in wartime Ukraine sent editor Morgan Godvin down a research rabbit hole.
Class and Choice in “Mommy Track” Jobs
During a childcare crisis, it's important to listen to mothers who have made sacrifices for their kids. But not all sacrifices are identical.
Caregiving, Gender, and Power in Papua New Guinea
Among the Murik people, mothering isn't something that comes "naturally" to women who give birth; it's a form of power.
Industrial London’s Maternal Child Abductors
In industrial-era England, children took on new value in family life. Around this time, they started to be stolen more often, too.
The Divide in Feminist Ethics on Mothering
In the 1960s, two groups of feminists had very different views about motherhood. Unsurprisingly, race and family played a role.
Mary Shelley’s Obsession with the Cemetery
The author of Frankenstein always saw love and death as connected. She visited the cemetery to commune with her dead mother. And with her lover.
When Breastfeeding Was a Civic Duty
Think people are judgmental of mothers now? In the 18th- and 19th-centuries, mothers who bottle-fed their babies were blamed for many of society's ills.
Why Male Midwives Concealed the Obstetric Forceps
The history of obstetric forceps shows the dangers of privatizing important medical know-how.