Still That Kind of Girl: Teens, Sex, and Contraception

By Carolyn Herbst Lewis

My sophomore year of high school, the French teacher taught my English literature class. At some point in the semester we had to give a five minute persuasive speech on any topic of our choosing. Mine was “Why There Should Be Condom Dispensers in the School Bathrooms.” I do not remember the response of my classmates, but I will never forget what my teacher said, even before I had reached my seat: “Caroleeen, I had no idea you were that kind of girl.”In my mind, I flipped him off. In actuality, I just sat down.

Sunday Morning Medicine

By Jacqueline Antonovich

-What age you begin menstruation may have future health implications.
-The not-so-happy history behind your Black Friday shopping tradition.
-Teenage boys and body image.
-The most awesome kitchen computer from 1969.
-10 NYC street corners – then and now.
-Stalin’s daughter and the FBI.

Sunday Morning Medicine

By Jacqueline Antonovich

-Strangest modern-day menstruation myths.
-Is neuroscience helping vegetative patients communicate with their doctors?
-The history behing the father of the modern cigarette.
-Eugenics and Nikola Tesla.
-How not to run a secure archive.
-Recording of Lee Atwater’s infamous 1981 interview released for the first time.
-Is your illness named after a Nazi?

What Does Responsibility Have to Do with Reproduction?

By Adam Turner

Genetic counseling, as the previous two posts in this series suggest, has a lot to offer for navigating the tricky decisions things like prenatal testing and preimplantation genetic diagnosis raise. Well, in this post I’d like to make things a little more complicated. Enter the sheer messiness of history. I still believe genetic counseling is the best approach we have right now for helping prospective parents with hard choices, but it has a complicated — and not so distant — past that continues to shape counselors’ ways of interacting with clients.

Sunday Morning Medicine

By Jacqueline Antonovich

-Mick Jagger’s love letters up for sale.
-Does a court have the power to order an abortion?
-New risks for women who suffer from depression during pregnancy.
-A 64-year-long project to memorialize Crazy Horse.
-Abandoned suitcases of insame asylum patients.
-Just for laughs – US Presidents in mom jeans.

Sunday Morning Medicine

By Jacqueline Antonovich

-Handy tips for your annual James K. Polk party.
-How WWII GI’s shaped Britain’s view of America.
-Colonial bones and Hurricane Sandy.
-New Deal utopian town turns 75.
-Cave from Island of the Blue Dolphins located.
-Archeologists uncover Europe’s oldest prehistoric town.

When the Personal Really is Historical (and Scary!)

By Jacqueline Antonovich

So, I have pertussis. You may know it better as whooping cough. Believe me, the irony of a gender and medicine historian catching a 19th century disease is not lost on me. It’s hard enough to be a graduate student, a GSI (Graduate Student Instructor), a wife, and a mother of two, but throw in a good old-fashioned Oregon Trail disease, and you’ve got yourself one heck of a semester.

Sunday Morning Medicine

By Jacqueline Antonovich

-Historical artifacts missing from the National Archives!
-The earliest surviving photographic self-portrait.
-Want to help crack the world’s oldest undeciphered writing?
-Is intersectionality an elitist concept?
-Should cheerleading be considered a sport for health reasons?
-Punk Rock archive in Denver.

Adventures in the Archives: Colic and Fatherhood

By Ashley Baggett

Welcome to the third installment of our regular feature, “Adventures in the Archives!”
In this reoccurring series, Nursing Clio bloggers will share interesting finds in the archives and ask our readers for feedback, ideas, and analysis. It’s just like you’re sitting in the dusty archives with us!
While researching in the archives, I have learned to expect the unexpected. Several times I read letters containing humorous anecdotes leading me to laugh out loud in the middle of a quiet setting, and yes, a few times I have danced a small jig in my chair when I found the perfect bit of evidence. I have also learned useful tips, such as using the microfilm machine to warm my cold hands and make my blue fingernails appear flesh colored again or befriending the archivist to make a more productive and pleasant research trip.

There’s No Crying in the Archives!

By Jacqueline Antonovich

I remember my first time fondly. The year was 2010. It was a hot summer day in downtown Denver and I was excited, yet nervous. Would I know what to do? Would I be good at it? What if it was boring? Would I get to wear those cool white gloves? Ah yes, the first trip to the archives is always a special time in a grad student’s life (Hey – get your mind out of the gutter!). I was an MA student at the University of Wyoming and I had traveled down to the Colorado State Archives to do my thesis research on female juvenile delinquency in Progressive-Era Denver. On my way to the archives, I imagined what my first research experience would be like – perhaps I would be sitting in an old, dusty room with only an antique lamp to illuminate my precious manuscripts and documents. Maybe I would make friends with the elderly archivist, who would surely offer me a hot cup of tea. The possibilities were endless!