Alice Bunker Stockham: Homeopath, Women's Health Pioneer & Banned Author

5901 USA North Drive,Mobile AL 36608

13 April, 2023

Description

Alice Bunker Stockham, a homeopath and OB/GYN, was the fifth woman to earn a medical degree in the United States. At a time when women's health was poorly understood by the male-dominated medical establishment, Stockham privately printed a comprehensive health manual, Tokology, and distributed it door-to-door in the poor neighborhoods of Chicago to women forced into sex work. Her publications were later banned for violating the Comstock Law against the circulation of "obscene" or "indecent" material. Emily Andrews will present on Stockham's fascinating life and career, examining her importance to the early feminist movement and to public health. Andrews is a master's student in the University of South Alabama Department of History and the Administrative Assistant at Mobile Medical Museum. This is the first event in the Museum's 2023 lecture series and is held in conjunction with the current exhibition "Public Health, Common Good," on display through August 2023. The lecture is co-presented by the Department of History and the Gender Studies Program at the University of South Alabama. Attendance is free but the Museum requests that you make a donation of any amount to support our cultural and educational programming.