Myths & Miracles of Victorian Medicine
Proper Victorian lady Miss Myrtle Mills (fictional) will reveal its primitive nature as well as life-saving advances.
This performance commemorates the opening of the New York Infirmary for Women and Children. Dr. Elizabeth Blackwell, her sister Dr. Emily Blackwell, and Dr. Maria Zackrewska opened the facility on May 12, 1857. It was the first hospital in the country to be run and staffed entirely by women, for women.
Learn about trailblazer Dr. Elizabeth Blackwell, hygiene practices, patented “medicines”, kitchen- cupboard "remedies" (and remedies); dentistry, and pregnancy protocols. (Mothers, take your ailing child to a local factory and tell them, “Breathe deeply, Dear. The gases will make you feel better”!
Find out about the origins of industry-altering discoveries such as the x-ray and aspirin.
Explore practices that defy today’s medical sense and discoveries that helped form the foundation of 21st-century medicine.
Janet Parnes, of Historical Portrayals by Lady J, will be portraying Miss Mills.
Register at https://tinyurl.com/BillLibVictMed or by calling the Library at 978-671-0948.
This program is supported in part by a grant from the Billerica Cultural Council, a local agency which is supported by the Mass Cultural Council, a state agency.
Event Links
Website: https://go.evvnt.com/2389891-0
