Originally recorded on November 19th, 2023, Jessica’s Sealey’s lecture Monstrous Instruments: The Vaginal Speculum and the Contagious Diseases Acts Repeal Movement is now available for viewing on the Museum of Health Care’s YouTube Channel. … More MARF 2023 Lecture Recording and Manuscript Now Available
The notorious advocate for repeal of the CD Acts, Reverend Robert Eli Hooppell, was known for his vivid descriptions of the speculum examinations at repeal meetings in the North of England, even going so far as to display the instrument itself to shocked crowds of working-class men and women. This practice was considered particularly distasteful by the repeal leader Josephine Butler, who described it as “needlessly and grossly indecent,” repelling “many good men” from their cause … More “Unfeeling Glass and Steel Telescopes”: The Speculum and Pelvic Exam in Repeal Propaganda
This project brings together a history of the object with examples drawn from the Museum of Health Care’s collection, alongside a critical examination of repealer writing on Contagious Diseases Acts’ medical examinations and the instrument of the speculum. … More 2023 Margaret Angus Research Fellowship Lecture
The “thing in petticoats” the author describes is an unnamed female nurse who attended patients and aided the military physician at the Flora Lane inspection office. Reportedly, as the widow “entered the surgeon’s den, weeping,” the attending nurse (or “thing in petticoats”) told her “not ‘to take it to heart so.’” While it may appear that this particular nurse was being singled out for her cruelty and dismissiveness toward her patients, the article in its entirety presents a surprisingly scathing attack on all the female nurses who participated in the CD Acts medical examinations. … More “A Thing in Petticoats” Nurses and the Contagious Diseases Acts of Britain
the landscape of gynaecology changed dramatically during the nineteenth century. Along with experimentation, research, and increasing knowledge came innovation in techniques and technologies until, for better or worse, the Victorian gynaecologist had a veritable arsenal of tools at their disposal. Drawing primarily from the Museum of Health Care’s collection, this blog post examines some of the medical instruments that helped change the face of gynaecology in the nineteenth century, many of which are still in use in some variation today. … More Nineteenth-Century Gynaecology: A History in Objects
Over the last 4 years, I have dedicated my time to researching and writing about the Contagious Diseases Acts of Britain (CD Acts) (1864-1886). Despite being an important moment in medical, military, and feminist history, the CD Acts have become a relatively forgotten phenomenon. In my conversations with curious friends and family over the years, most have been shocked to learn that the British government once detained women accused of prostitution, forcing them to undergo invasive vaginal examinations to search for signs of venereal disease. … More Prostitution Regulation and Public Health: The Contagious Diseases Acts of Britain
The Museum of Health Care is pleased to announce that Jessica Sealey is this year’s recipient of the Margaret Angus Research Fellowship. Jessica Sealey is a PhD candidate in Cultural Studies at Queen’s University. Jessica holds a Masters in the History of Art from the University of Western Ontario and has previously worked in the … More Welcome MARF 2023: Jessica Sealey
This competition is now closed. The Museum of Health Care would like to thank all applicants. The Museum of Health Care is accepting proposals for a resident 16-week summer research fellowship (May – September), which will investigate a topic relevant to the history of health and health care. The fellow will communicate the results of … More 2023 Margaret Angus Research Fellowship (MARF) Competition Open
If you missed the live presentation of this lecture, a recording is now available at the link below. You can also access a digital version of Anna’s manuscript below. Anna’s project examines the lived experience of cystic fibrosis (CF) in the latter half of the 20th century as expressed through the healthcare objects associated with … More MARF 2022 Lecture recording and manuscript now available
For those living with cystic fibrosis (CF) from the 1960s to mid-1970s, nights called for fog. People with CF would tuck into bed under a plastic canopy filled with a medicated mist, accompanied by one or more whirring compressors nebulizing solution all night long. These “mist tents,” as the devices were known, were considered a mainstay of CF treatment—until, abruptly (and perhaps mercifully), they weren’t. … More “You wake up soaked”: Mist Tents and Cystic Fibrosis
