Health pamphlets about disabilities from the New York Academy of Medicine Library

Format:

Book

Series:

History of Disabilities: Disabilities in Society, Seventeenth to Twentieth Century.

History of Disabilities: Disabilities in Society, Seventeenth to Twentieth Century

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

People with disabilities.

People with mental disabilities.

People with disabilities--Rehabilitation.

People with disabilities--Care.

Children with disabilities.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (2,855 pamphlets) : illustrations.

Place of Publication:

1810

Summary:

The History of Disabilities program provides access to primary sources written using terminology that was in common use by the medical establishment and general society at the time, and describes diagnoses, methodologies, procedures, and treatments that may no longer be used or were debunked by later research. Users may come across words and expressions describing individuals and groups that they find condescending, upsetting, disconcerting, offensive, and not acceptable today. MiFhGG

Presented here are nearly 3,000 pamphlets from the nineteenth and twentieth centuries representing descriptions of disabilities, treatments, reports, treatises, policies, advertisements for equipment, handbooks, and more. These are rare publications, many of which will not appear elsewhere simply because they weren't commonly retained or collected by libraries. Two terms can be applied to this collection: Ephemera and Grey Literature. Ephemera: non-commercial, non-book materials, usually printed documentation, that was created for a specific purpose but was not meant to last; ephemeral items were generally discarded after use. Grey Literature: literature produced by government, academics, business, and industry in print and electronic formats, but which is not controlled by commercial publishers. It is literature which is not readily available through normal book-selling channels, and therefore difficult to identify and obtain, making it somewhat rare. While one should not judge a book, or in this case a pamphlet, by its cover, an analysis of the titles throughout the collection can help reveal common themes and subject areas from the words that most frequently appear. Among the top terms we find a focus on mental health, children, reports, treatments, education, rehabilitation, training, blind, deaf, dumb (mute), handicapped, crippled, disabled, diseases, insanity, services, laws, and institutions. Some of these pamphlets are informational guides for parents, educators, or caregivers of disabled children and adults. There are guides for amputees learning to live with their prosthetics. Vocational booklets sought to provide guidelines and help for employers in hiring workers with disabilities. Some pamphlets are advertisements for the healing waters of various natural springs, or the healthy climates and specialized treatments of sanatoriums (aka sanitariums). Testimonials relate what life was like with a particular disability, and in many cases, how an individual overcame their impairment. There are also more sinister publications concerning eugenics policies, sterilization, and elimination of the unfit. Through these pamphlets we can trace the history of the treatment, care, schooling, rehabilitation, and vocational education of people with disabilities. We can also examine how disabilities were viewed from a medical, legal, political, and social perspective. This history allows us to learn how people with disabilities have been treated over time and in different cultures, and how disabled people have interacted with and navigated the society in which they lived. To build a better future for everyone, we must not only learn from the mistakes of our past, but also take inspiration from the individuals who strove to make a better, more equitable world.

Notes:

Includes the following publications: Receiving home for foundlings and for mothers with their babies; Recent progress in child welfare legislation; Training schools for delinquent children : a guide to planning with particular reference to clinical facilities; and others.

Date range: 1810-1992.

Reproduction of the original from the New York Academy of Medicine.

OCLC:

1477835649