History Articles of Interest
Walt Whitman and the Art of Nursing
Strickler, J. (2024). Walt Whitman and the Art of Nursing. Nursing, 54 (5), 45-47. doi: 10.1097/01.NURSE.0001009996.69647.4d.
“We don't read and write poetry because it's cute. We read and write poetry because we are members of the human race. And the human race is filled with passion. So medicine, law, business, engineering... these are noble pursuits and necessary to sustain life. But poetry, beauty, romance, love... these are what we stay alive for.” —Walt Whitman, Leaves of Grass
Much of the development of the nursing profession can be attributed to the foundation laid by well-known founding figures such as Florence Nightingale, Clara Barton, and Dorothea Dix. However, the current role of nursing has also been built by the work of figures who may be lesser known or known more by their contributions away from direct patient care. Similarly, the contributions of these other figures may not fall along the gender, racial, or sexuality lines generally associated with nursing. A case in point, males currently comprise 14% of nursing, nurses of racial and ethnic minorities represent 30%, and nurses who identify as LGBTQAI are 9%. Among the less-known contributors who have added much to the early foundation of the nursing profession is Walt Whitman, a notable American poet famously recognized for his work, Leaves of Grass . This article reviews the life of Walt Whitman and his legacy related to nursing care."
Measles, Media and Memory: Journalism’s Role in Framing Collective Memory of Disease
Conis, E., Hoenicke, S. Measles, Media and Memory: Journalism’s Role in Framing Collective Memory of Disease. J Med Humanit (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10912-021-09705-2.
"Language used to describe measles in the press has altered significantly over the last sixty years, a shift that reflects changing perceptions of the disease within the medical community as well as broader changes in public health discourse. California, one of the most populous U.S. states and seat of the 2015 measles outbreak originating at Disneyland, presents an opportunity for observing these changes. This article offers a longitudinal case study of five decades of measles news coverage by the Los Angeles Times and the San Francisco Chronicle, which represented two of the largest news markets in California when the measles vaccine was released, in 1963, and during the 2015 outbreak. Measles reporting during this period displays patterns pointing to an active role for journalists in shaping public understanding of health and medical matters, especially as they recede from public memory, through the employment of available and circulating political and cultural frames. Moreover, journalistic frames in this period of reporting incorporated presentist descriptions of the disease, which imposed present values on the medical past, and which were constructed of decontextualized historical references that supported prevailing contemporary notions of the disease. Framing and the tendency toward presentism, in the context of shifting public health discourse, had the effect of communicating an increasingly severe sounding disease over time, and of shifting blame for that disease’s spread from nature to government to individuals. Journalistic framing and causal stories have much power to shape public understanding of medical matters as they recede from public memory."
Stanley B. Burns M.D. Historic Medical Photography Collection Acquired by Yale
Lit Med Magazine, 2021.
"The Stanley B. Burns M.D. Historic Medical Photography Collection was recently acquired by the Harvey Cushing/John Hay Whitney Medical Historical Library at Yale University. Dr. Burns, a faculty member in the Division of Medical Humanities at NYU Langone Health, began collecting photographs that document the evolution of medicine in 1975, and has amassed more than a million images. Yale’s acquisition includes more than 15,000 of these images, as well as Dr. Burns’ papers, containing over 50 years of his work in the medical humanities and medical history. Here, Dr. Burns is interviewed by David Oshinsky, PhD, director of the Division of Medical Humanities at NYU Langone Health and professor of history at NYU."
A surgeon and a gentleman: the life of James Barry
Tishma, Mariel, Hektoen International, Volume 12, Issue 3 – Summer (2020).
"In November of 1809, a ship set sail from London towards Edinburgh. Aboard was a young man with roughly cut red hair traveling with his aunt. On arrival, he would enroll in medical school at the University of Edinburgh, and graduate MD three years later. In his later successful career as a military surgeon he would advocate for public health, and perform one of the first Cesarean sections in which both mother and baby survived. His name was James Miranda Steuart Barry. But another story dominates the legacy of this skilled surgeon; Dr. James Barry was born Margaret Ann Bulkley. (This article will use male pronouns and the name Dr. James Barry throughout.) Dr. Barry’s decision to live and practice medicine as a man for over fifty years has come to define him, for better and for worse. One may ask, did James Barry live as a man to advance his career? Was he transgender? Or did he act outside of these boundaries entirely?"
