Year: 2018

Faith, Superstition or Insanity?

Staff From our researchers , ,

– by Wood Institute travel grantee Alexandra Prince*

 

If you meet a new acquaintance at a party and one of the first things they share about themselves is their membership in a newly-formed religious group, you are going to assume a few things. You might be polite enough to mask your raised eyebrows with an innocent follow-up question such as, “What is the name of the group?” Or, “What is it that you believe exactly?” But I bet that, behind your polite inquiry, you are likely wondering if they might be crazy, or if they are nuts or have a screw loose or suffer from a mental illness, or any other variety of descriptive phrases or terms we assign to people whose minds we deem not to be “normal.”

My research at the Historical Medical Library at the College of Physicians of Philadelphia in the spring of 2018 concerned the history behind this presumption that members in new religious movements are insane or somehow mentally unsound. Where did this link between religion and pathology emerge? And why are we so quick to assign mental illness to those who espouse divergent religious beliefs? To better understand the pathological frameworks we often use when discussing religion, my dissertation examines how this assumption was historically shaped. To do so, I examined the Library’s collection of archival documents relating to religion and madness during the nineteenth century.

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The Royal Victoria Hotel

Staff #TravelTuesday , ,

This month we are leaving the United States and heading to the Commonwealth of the Bahamas’ capital, Nassau!

The American Civil War (1861-1865) brought an unusual increase in affluent American southern tourists to the Bahamas when Nassau acted as a blockade for the exchange of American goods. The Bahama government, hoping to cash in on the industry, built its first luxury hotel, the Royal Victoria Hotel.

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From Hysteria to Anorexia Nervosa: An Evolution of Medical Terminology

Staff From our researchers , , ,

– by Julia Jablonowski

 

Most people in our contemporary society are familiar with anorexia nervosa –more commonly known as just “anorexia.” Yet few know the development of medical thought and the advancement of medical etymologies in the Victorian era that led to the emergence of what we know today as anorexia nervosa.

Prior to the pathological conception of anorexia nervosa, its fundamental symptoms, which are grounded in self-inflicted food aversions, were not thought of as an independent disorder until the nineteenth century. A common diagnosis that was used in the days before anorexia nervosa was hysteria, a disease historically exclusive to the female gender.[1]

In the Victoria era, a woman was societally understood to be passive, feeble, emotional, and fragile.[2]  These beliefs as espoused by Victorian culture created a space in which women were understood to be societally, and medically, more susceptible to illness. From mood swings to fevers, light-headedness to exhaustion, it seemed that almost any physical or mental affliction residing within the body and psyche of a woman could be met with the diagnosis of hysteria. Other symptoms included a vast array of nervous and erratic behavior projected by women in the form of fatigue, food refusal or self-starvation, depression, bodily pains, anxiety, and the general feeling of unwellness.[3]  Because of the broad symptoms of hysteria, it was applied to a large expanse of medical, mental, and emotional cases troubling the fragile Victorian female.

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Saratoga Springs

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This month we are visiting Saratoga County, New York – home of the Saratoga Springs!  Saratoga Springs has been a popular resort for health for over 200 years.

The land was originally home to the Mohawk and Iroquois tribes, who used its forests for hunting and the mineral springs for health. Sir William Johnson of the French and Indian War spent his time healing at the springs after befriending the Native Americans of the area.

A European settlement was started in 1819, and quickly gained tourism success in 1832, when the Saratoga and Scenectady Railroad Station was built. By 1870, there was an express train from New York City to the resort town, furthering the springs’ expansion.
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How to Talk About Difficult Issues in Medicine

Staff Education and outreach, From our researchers, Out of the stacks , , ,

– by Wood Institute travel grantee Dr. Edward Allen Driggers*

 

American medicine has many problems and virtues. One way to “probe” and vindicate the virtues and deal honestly with the problems is participating in writing the history of medicine. Many of the readers of this blog suffer from or will suffer from some sort of medical illness or pathology. One difficulty of illness is talking about it with friends, family, and relatives. American society, much like many other world societies, is oddly squeamish about bodily fluids, belches, smells, and discharges. These passé manners do not serve our open and heartfelt discussions of diseases. For instance, dear reader, I suffer from Irritable Bowel Disease (IBD), specifically Crohn’s Disease. I have had abscesses, discharges, leaky bowels, and, to confess, I do not have all my original parts that I started life with. One of the most difficult things about being chronically ill is explaining these problems to friends, family, or a new lover. How do we talk about difficult things?
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The Paxinosa Inn

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This month we are joining the library team on their travel up towards Bethlehem, PA, for Caitlin’s wedding!

The Paxinosa Inn was a short-lived, but popular, destination for locals in the Philadelphia and New York areas. The inn was named after the 18th century Shawnee Chief who lived in the area and negotiated trade routes with the French.

The inn opened on July 3, 1888, and sat along the Weygadt Mountain (meaning wind gate), overlooking the Delaware River. The home was built entirely of wood and held 82 guest rooms. A. Stanley Standford and his sister oversaw the building and its daily activities.
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Finding the Flu: Crisis and Documentation

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On September 7, 1918, 300 sailors arrived in Philadelphia from Boston, where, two weeks earlier, soldiers and sailors began to be hospitalized with a disease characterized as pneumonia, meningitis, or influenza. The sailors were stationed at the Philadelphia Naval Yard.

On September 11, 19 sailors reported to sickbay with symptoms of “influenza.” By September 15, more than 600 servicemen required hospitalization.

Physicians and other public health workers in Philadelphia first met on September 18 with city officials to discuss what they perceived as a growing threat. Public health officials demanded that the city be quarantined – all public spaces, including schools, churches, parks, any place people could congregate, should be closed. City officials did not want to create panic. They were more concerned that local support for President Wilson’s efforts in World War I should not be disturbed. Anything that would damage morale – or the city’s ability to raise the millions in Liberty Loans required by federal quota – was unacceptable.

The Board of Health declared influenza a reportable disease on September 21, which required physicians to report any cases they treated to health officials. The Board advised residents to stay warm and keep their feet dry and their bowels open. The Board also suggested that people avoid crowds.
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