3 Results for tag "Medicine"
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Out of Adversity: The Smallpox Census
As a historian, my favorite period is the 18th century. People sometimes ask if I wished I lived back then. The answer is, um, no. I love my air conditioning (especially in these Tidewater summers), my freezer, and my microwave — not to mention indoor plumbing. But I do love …
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Spanish Influenza in 1918
These words were penned by one of the first women who graduated from the College of William & Mary, 102 years ago. Martha Barksdale and her fellow female students arrived on campus at a moment of profound historical importance. The First World War was drawing to a close and an …
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Researching Spotlight: Finding Dr. PawPaw
My name is Emily Zimmerman and I’m a laboratory technician with Colonial Williamsburg’s Department of Archaeology. Part of my job has been to transcribe and interpret entries in the commonplace book, or CPB, of John Custis IV (1678-1749). In it, he recorded more than 180 medicinal remedies. Recently, I came …