women's health history

Thanks to a digitization project completed by Special Collections at the Boston Public Library, the very first versions of “Our Bodies, Ourselves” are now available on Digital Commonwealth, a free, open-access site.

Abortions occur whether they are legal or not, but the right to abortion has been both supported and contested over time. This essay traces key state and federal laws and Supreme Court rulings and their effects throughout U.S. history.

In 1971, when abortion was illegal in all but a few states, a group of women came together to make a documentary film. The film they made was the first from the perspective of women who had had or sought an abortion.

This blog post, from the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, celebrates the unsung work of African American birth workers, including doulas and midwives.

This podcast episode from Sexing History explores the history of advocacy of Black doulas, midwives, and other birth attendants.

This timeline, developed by Black midwife Shafia Monroe, provides a brief overview of the long history of Black midwives, from the Biblical Shiphrah and Puah in approximately 1500 BCE.

The complex racist (and misogynist) history of vulvar and vaginal douches, sprays, and washes, as well as racial disparities in their use today

Artist Michelle Browder honors Anarcha, Betsey, Lucy and other unnamed enslaved women who suffered as the unwilling subjects of gynecological experiments.

Article on the history of the hysterectomy as a means of both oppression and liberation.

This episode of the Maintenance Phase podcast explores the medical history of vibrators.

A history of birth control in the U.S., from condoms made from fish bladders thousands of years ago to court decisions that limit and expand who has access.

Illustrator Hazel Mead created A Brief History of Periods to teach about menstruation throughout history.