Laboring Bodies: Dispossessed Women and Sexuality in Colonial New England

We invite CMCH members and visitors to join us for a brown bag lunch talk with Emily J. Clark, PhD Candidate of Johns Hopkins University in the Department of the History of Medicine.  Emily is a New England Regional Fellowship Consortium (NERFC) fellow who will be conducting research here this fall.

Enslaved, servant, and poor women made up a crucial part of colonial society. Yet, they were often overlooked in histories of New England.  In this brown bag talk Emily will examine the intimate lives of these women using cases in which their supposedly “deviant” bodies entered the historical record– in court cases, almshouse ledgers, and cheap print.

Their bodies and labors (productive and reproductive) were used against their wills. Nonetheless, these sources reveal laboring women’s everyday efforts to control their own bodies and sexualities.

Emily will share the results of her research at the CMCH with us during this informal presentation.

We will provide coffee and dessert; bring your lunch to enjoy during the talk. Please RSVP by Tuesday, December 10^th by calling (860) 236-5621 x282 or emailing rsvp@chs.org. Questions? Contact Jennifer Busa, Public Programs and Special Events Coordinator, at jennifer_busa@chs.org.

Free for members, included with admission for non-members.

Image: “Flora’s Profile” (Bill of Sale), 1796, Stratford Historical Society, Stratford, CT