The healer's calling : women and medicine in early New England / Rebecca J. Tannenbaum.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Tannenbaum, Rebecca J., author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Women in medicine--New England--History--17th century.

Women in medicine.

New England--History--Colonial period, ca. 1600-1775.

New England.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (201 pages)

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Ithaca, NY : Cornell University Press, [2019]

Language Note:

In English.

Summary:

This book, the first to describe women medical practitioners other than midwives in the colonial period, emphasizes that medical care was part of every woman's work. The Healer's Calling uses memorable anecdotes, engaging characters, and medical oddities to tell the fascinating story of the practice of household medicine in early America. Rebecca J. Tannenbaum points out that housewives provided much of the medical care available in the seventeenth century. Elite women cared for the indigent in their towns and used medical practice to make influential connections with powerful men; "doctresses" or "doctor women" supported themselves with their practices and competed directly with male physicians; and midwives were crucial "expert witnesses" in cases of fornication, murder, and witchcraft. Yet there were limits to the authority of women's healing communities, with consequences for those who overstepped the bounds. By setting women's practice in the context of contemporary medicine, gender roles, and community norms, Tannenbaum also reveals the relationship between women's medical practice and witchcraft accusations. Tannenbaum examines colonial America's full range of medical options-including the work of classically trained male doctors and male lay practitioners-with a keen eye to the interactions and tensions between men and women in the realm of healing.

Contents:

Preface

Part 1: Community

1. Calling The Healers Early Modern Medicine And Colonial Practitioners

2. Called To The Bedside Medicine In The Household

3. Calling The Women Medical Networks And Women's Communities

4. A Higher Calling High-Ranking Women And The Uses Of Healing

Part 2: Authority

5. Called To Court Women Healers As Witnesses And Authorities

6. Calling The Doctoress Commercial Practice

Epilogue: The Changing Context Of The Healer's Calling.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Description based on online resource; title from PDF title page (publisher's website, viewed September 25, 2019).

ISBN:

0-8014-7493-0

1-5017-2019-8

OCLC:

1121057802