The Mothers of Gynecology:  Slavery & the Birth of American Gynecology​

Deirdre Cooper Owens (Queens College, CUNY)  will explain how the institution of American slavery was directly linked to the creation of reproductive medicine in the U.S. She will provide context for how and why physicians denied enslaved women their full humanity, yet valued them as "medical superbodies" highly suited for experimentation. In engaging with 19th-century ideas about so-called racial difference, she will shed light on the contemporary legacy of race and medicine.