A Look Ahead: Disability History

Coming up in October

Disability & the American Past

Join us and speakers from around the country for a multi-perspective examination of disability in the American past. Through panel conversations, presentations, and discussion, we will introduce the field of disability history; investigate some major research areas in the field such as activism, material culture, medical history, technology, citizenship; and provide a forum to examine new, emerging scholarship. Learn more and register for these programs at www.masshist.org/events.

Thursday, 7 October | 5:30 PM | Panel Discussion An Introduction to Disability History Beth Linker, University of Pennsylvania; Kim E. Nielson, University of Toledo; Rabia Belt, Stanford Law School; moderated by Naomi Rogers, Yale School of Medicine

Our panelists will present a brief overview of the field of disability history and examine the foundational and emerging scholarship through a moderated, roundtable discussion with our panelists.

Tuesday, 12 October | 5:15 PM | Seminar “This milestone in their development as property”: Black Developmental Normalcy & White Developmental Disorder in Early Child Medicine, 1820–1865, US Kelsey Henry, Yale University; commenter TBA

This paper investigates “developmental asynchrony,” the mismatch be-tween a sexually overdeveloped body and an underdeveloped mind, as a sign of racial degeneration fueled by sexual disorder in early child medicine. This is part of the History of Women, Gender & Sexuality Seminar series.

Saturday, 16 October | 1:00 PM | Seminar Her Socialist Smile: a Film Screening John Gianvito, Emerson College; Carolyn Forché, Georgetown University; and moderator Megan Marshall

In his new film, John Gianvito meditates on a particular moment in early 20th-century history: when Helen Keller began speaking out on behalf of progressive causes. The film screening will be followed by a panel discussion and a reception. This is part of the New England Biography series.

Monday, 18 October | 5:30 PM | Panel Discussion Disability in Early America Sari Altschuler, Northeastern University; Nicole Belolan, Rutgers University; Laurel Daen, University of Notre Dame; and moderator Kanisorn Wongsrichanalai, MHS

Our panel will explore how disability functioned in early America from personal, political, and cultural perspectives.

Tuesday, 19 October | 5:15 PM | Seminar Her Yet Unwritten History: Black Women & the Education of Students of Color with Disabilities in the New South Jennifer Barclay, University of Buffalo; comment TBA

This essay will consider the critical work of Black women educators who represent just a handful of the many Black women who recognized the overlapping effects of racism and ableism in the lives of disabled students of color. This is part of the African American History Serminar series.

Thursday, 28 October | 5:15 PM | Seminar “The Virus of Slavery and Injustice: Analogy & Disabled Life in African American Writings, 1856–1892 Vivian Delchamps, University of California, Los Angeles; Comment: Sari Altschuler, Northeastern University

The essay reads literature as a generative site for asserting ableism’s centrality to the legacy of racial violence, and explores the value of using diagnostic-like narrative methods to target systemic sources of mass debilitation. This is part of the Dina G. Malgeri Modern American Society & Culture Seminar series.

Stay tuned for more information about Disability Activism, a panel discussion planned for November.

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