KRISTINA R. GADDY
  • Books
    • Well of Souls
    • Flowers in the Gutter
  • Writing
  • Open Stacks Blog
  • About
    • Support My Writing
  • Contact

Come in, the stacks are open.

Pestdoktor

3/25/2020

0 Comments

 
Picture
Print of the linocut pest doctor.
     In an attempt to distract myself from devastating news about the federal mismanagement of the current covid-19 pandemic, I decided to make a linocut of a plague doctor. As if emerging from a nightmare as a cross between a crow and the grim reaper, the doctors wore long cloaks, a hood with a long beak, and eye protection. I searched for images to use for inspiration and a simple engraving print caught my eye. As I went to research more about the image, I realized it wasn’t just any plague doctor outfit, this was supposed to be an image of a real doctor, Ijsbrand van Diemerbroeck, who not only treated plague patients, but wrote a book of case studies in hopes of educating other doctors about symptoms and treatments. 
Picture
Portrait of Van Diemerbroeck from Museum Het Valkhof in Nijmegen, the Netherlands.
     Just as we saw the novel coronavirus expanding from Asia, across Europe, and finally to North America, Europeans in 1347 began hearing about an incurable disease spreading across the continent. When it finally arrived in 1348, it killed thousands of people and became known as the Great Pestilence. For three hundred years, plagues and pestilences came and went in Europe every twenty to thirty years, devastating the population each time. No one understood germ theory, no one knew what caused the disease, and no one knew how to treat it. Their only real hope was containing the disease, which included quarantine and isolation for patients and having dedicated plague doctors. 

Read More
0 Comments

Bad Science, Bad Parent

3/23/2018

0 Comments

 
What would happen if you raised your baby and a baby chimp together, as brother and sister, in the name of science? 
     Don't worry, you don't have to try. In 1930, scientist Dr. Winthrop Niles Kellogg did just that. Read more about the crazy (bad) experiment in my article on OZY. 
     If you want to check out the full report on the experiment, Kellogg's book is available via HathiTrust, and there are some good newspaper articles from when the research was made public in 1932. 
0 Comments
    Picture

    Come in, the stacks are open. 

    Away from prying eyes, damaging light, and pilfering hands, the most special collections are kept in closed stacks.  You need an appointment to view the objects, letters, and books that open a door to the past. 

    Here, pieces of material culture are examined in the light. The stacks are open. ​Read the stories behind objects and ephemera found in private collections, archives, and museums. 

    Archives

    October 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    July 2022
    June 2020
    March 2020
    January 2020
    August 2019
    July 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    December 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    February 2015
    December 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    February 2014
    December 2013

    Categories

    All
    16th Century
    17th Century
    18th Century
    19th Century
    20th Century
    21st Century
    African American History
    African History
    Alcohol
    Alcohol History
    America
    Animal
    Appalachian
    Art
    Bad Science
    Baltimore
    Banjo
    Banjo Collector's Gathering
    Banjo History
    Banya Obbligato
    Banya Prei
    Books
    Canada
    Cancer
    Cat
    Celebrations
    Chesapeake Bay
    Chicago
    Christmas
    Circus History
    Civil War
    Clown
    Cold War
    Colonial History
    Communism
    Conjoined Twins
    Cook Books
    Crab
    Creole-bania
    Culinary History
    Devil
    Drumming
    Dutch History
    Easter
    England
    Eugenics
    Exhibits
    Fiddle
    Film
    Food
    Food History
    France
    "Freak Show" History
    German American
    German History
    Goucher College
    Halloween
    Hockey
    Hollywood
    Hospital
    Human Development
    James Ford Bell Library
    Jewish History
    Lincoln
    Lost Baltimore
    Lost History
    Lying In
    Lying-In
    Magazine Covers
    Map
    Maritime History
    Maroons
    Maryland
    Maternity
    Medical History
    Medical Procedures
    Medicine
    Metropolitan Museum
    Midwifery
    Minstrelsy
    Monsters
    Museum
    Music
    Native American History
    New Jersey
    New Orleans
    Newspapers
    New York City
    Obstetrics
    Ozy
    Patent
    Photography
    Plain Weave
    Political History
    Politics
    President
    Print
    Psychology
    Public Transportation
    Science
    Sheet Music
    Skansen
    Skeleton
    South American History
    Sports
    Stedman
    Streetcar
    Suffragettes
    Suriname
    Sweden
    Swedish History
    Theater
    The Knick
    Third Reich
    Traditional Music
    Traditions
    Transportation History
    Tri-racial Isolate
    Typeface
    Typography
    U.S.
    USA
    U.S. History
    Valentine
    Vegetarian
    Vegetarianism
    Victorian
    Violin
    Virginia
    Vodou
    Weaving
    West Africa
    West Virginia
    Winti
    Wisconsin
    Witch
    Witches
    Women
    Women's History
    World History
    World War II

    Picture

    RSS Feed

Proudly powered by Weebly
  • Books
    • Well of Souls
    • Flowers in the Gutter
  • Writing
  • Open Stacks Blog
  • About
    • Support My Writing
  • Contact