Mary Fissell
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maryfissell.bsky.social
Mary Fissell
@maryfissell.bsky.social
1.2K followers 580 following 240 posts
Historian of medicine, gender, sex. Part time metalsmith. Book on the long history of abortion out now! US: https://bit.ly/4iwTsoL
UK: bit.ly/4aCNEqu Substack: https://maryfissell.substack.com/
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maryfissell.bsky.social
Honored to have given a George Washington Corner lecture at the Rochester Academy of Medicine -- what a setting!
Female professor at a lectern in an ornate wood panelled library
November 22, 2025 at 12:32 AM
maryfissell.bsky.social
New post on A is for Abortion Substack! Today we go to drugstores, not blacksmiths, but we are not so very different from medieval and early-modern people, testing urine to ascertain pregnancy. Local experts included blacksmiths, female healers, and doctors.
Stitched letter U from a sampler
November 19, 2025 at 7:54 PM
Reposted by Mary Fissell
slobogin.bsky.social
It's Corner Society week! Join us in person or online to hear @maryfissell.bsky.social give a talk titled "Savin, Sex, and Scandal: Rethinking Abortion in Early Modern Anglo-America."

She'll also be giving grand rounds this Thursday!
George Washington Corner Society for the History of Medicine Wednesday, November 19 5:30 p.m. Lecture 6:30 - 7:15 p.m. Social Gathering Rochester Academy of Medicine 1441 East Avenue, Rochester, NY Savin, Sex and Scandal: Rethinking Abortion in Early Modern Anglo-America Abortion only rarely went to court in early-modern England or the American colonies. Before 1803, there was no English criminal statute prohibiting it. Yet the 2022 Dobbs decision declared that abortion had always been perceived as wrong in England and early America. This talk explores a few unusually-detailed legal cases as well as medical sources to explore how seventeenth-century people understood ending a pregnancy. Co-sponsored by the Rochester Institute of Technology's College of Liberal Arts Mary E. Fissell is the Inaugural J. Mario Molina Professor of the History of Medicine at Johns Hopkins University, with additional appointments in History and in History of Science and Technology. She is president of the American Association of the History of Medicine and edited the Bulletin of the History of Medicine for 15 years. Her fellowships include the NLM, Folger Shakespeare Library, and Princeton’s Davis Center. Her books include Vernacular Bodies (Oxford, 2004) and Pushback (Seal, 2025), a history of abortion from antiquity to antibiotics. THE DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH HUMANITIES AND BIOETHICS GRAND ROUNDS Bluejays and Footballs: Vernacular Abortion Knowledge in 1950s Baltimore Mary Fissell, PhD Johns Hopkins University Thursday, November 20, 2025 12:00 - 1:00 PM Large SMD Auditorium 2-6424 & ZOOM This presentation explores the wide range of abortion options in 1940s and 50s Baltimore, including self-managed abortions (before they were called that!) and those provided by MDs and by informally-trained providers. I argue that a 1940s crackdown had the effect of making abortion more dangerous but not reducing its incidence.
November 17, 2025 at 5:37 PM
maryfissell.bsky.social
New post on #FindTheMidwife today. Sasha Turner talks with us about a 17th century enslaved Barbadian midwife. www.findthemidwife.com/sasha-turner. Thanks Dr. Turner!
17th century map of Barbados with images of animals
November 12, 2025 at 1:28 PM
Reposted by Mary Fissell
histmedjhu.bsky.social
Visiting Scholar Dr. Kudus Adebayo will present “When the Caregiver is the Sick Person: Hospital-Based Informal Caregiving and Health Systems in Nigeria" on Nov. 17th at 6pm in Gilman 50 and via zoom webinar.

For more info and to register, visit hopkinshistoryofmedicine.org/dr-kudus-ade...
November 11, 2025 at 11:34 PM
maryfissell.bsky.social
Taking bets on Mike Johnson's new excuse for not swearing in Grijalva:
a) it's raining out
b) I can't seem to find a Bible
c) who?

It's not working, Mike, we still remember WHY you are avoiding this.
November 10, 2025 at 1:51 PM
maryfissell.bsky.social
Delighted to hear that Pushback is on the shelf @ www.staygoldbooks.com! If you are in Pittsburgh, be sure to catch this lovely indy bookshop in Regent Square. Not in Pgh? bit.ly/4iwTsoL
Cover of Pushback on a bookshelf
November 8, 2025 at 5:04 PM
maryfissell.bsky.social
New post on A is for Abortion! It's about a 15th c French woman who provided reproductive health care (including abortion care) to her community.
Embroidered letter T from a sampler
November 6, 2025 at 1:13 AM
maryfissell.bsky.social
Beautiful day to have given a talk @ annual @apha.org annual conference! Thanks so much Spirit of 1848 Caucus for inviting me.
Banner for APHA annual conference against blue sky
November 4, 2025 at 1:44 PM
Reposted by Mary Fissell
disabilitystor1.bsky.social
The comments to this article are also interesting
country. But I felt a dread I struggled to express until a colleague articulated the problem in stark terms: “Our students are about to turn subcognitive,” she said. That was it. At stake are not just specialized academic skills or refined habits of mind, but also the most basic form of cognitive fluency. To leave our students to their own devices — which is to say, to the devices of A.I. companies — is to deprive them of indispensable opportunities to develop their linguistic mastery, and with it their most elementary powers of thought. This
October 31, 2025 at 2:09 PM
Reposted by Mary Fissell
kawulf.bsky.social
This cheerful little fella wishing you a funtastic All Hallows Eve.

(From an account of Cooke's voyage, 1712. @jcblibrary.bsky.social ofc)
a bat, with a lightly deranged expression, very tall ears.
October 31, 2025 at 10:24 AM
maryfissell.bsky.social
It's a really special joy to get a book in the mail by a former student that started life as a thesis! www.upress.virginia.edu/title/10133/ Paul Child shows us eloquently how Jonathan Swift's life was shaped by ill-health and his attempts to combat it. Congrats, Paul!
October 30, 2025 at 12:57 PM
maryfissell.bsky.social
New posting on #FindTheMidwife! Noelene Jeffers and @d-squared.bsky.social in conversation about the long history of racism and gynecology: www.findthemidwife.com/deirdre-coop...
October 29, 2025 at 3:34 PM
maryfissell.bsky.social
Honored to be a featured author at #SFP2025 ! Thanks everyone for the welcoming & insightful conversations -- and for buying my book! bit.ly/4iwTsoL
Conference table with copies of Pushback
October 26, 2025 at 9:27 PM
maryfissell.bsky.social
Had a wonderful time giving a talk @ubgenderinstitute.bsky.social, lots of great conversations, and they gave me some swag! Thx!
Mug and tote bag from U Buffalo gender Institute
October 23, 2025 at 1:45 PM
Reposted by Mary Fissell
gitaralleigh.bsky.social
Today’s #poemsontheunderground
@poemsonthetube.bsky.social
Epitaph on a tyrant by WH Auden
October 23, 2025 at 8:55 AM
maryfissell.bsky.social
New post today: Silphium, the ancient abortifacient plant that went extinct from overuse... or did it?
Stitched letter S from a sampler
October 22, 2025 at 6:50 PM
maryfissell.bsky.social
Very apposite post by @sacrobosco.bsky.social! Blaming mothers goes way back... Trump, Tylenol, and 2000 Years of Bad Advice nursingclio.org/2025/10/16/t...
Trump, Tylenol, and 2000 Years of Bad Advice
On Monday, September 22, President Trump, flanked by Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., stated that pregnant women should not take Tylenol because fetal exposure to acetaminophen causes autism…
nursingclio.org
October 20, 2025 at 3:57 PM
Reposted by Mary Fissell
royalsocietypublishing.org
Are you a researcher in the field of history of science, technology and medicine? The #NotesAndRecord essay award is now open for entries until 28 February 2026. Visit our website find out more: buff.ly/dedMm93 #HistSci #HistSTM
September 18, 2025 at 10:00 AM
maryfissell.bsky.social
Honored to present my work on abortion in 1940s and 50s Baltimore to GYN/OB Grand Rounds at Hopkins this morning! Thanks for inviting me. And yeah, that ergot was made in Baltimore. More Baltimore stories: bit.ly/4iwTsoL
Old glass bottle for ergot made in Baltimore
October 16, 2025 at 4:32 PM
maryfissell.bsky.social
New post today on #FindTheMidwife. Midwives under pressure with @sallypezaro.bsky.social and myself! What happened when midwives were pushed by town fathers to interrogate their clients? How did they balance their obligations? www.findthemidwife.com/midwives-und...
October 16, 2025 at 12:26 AM
Reposted by Mary Fissell
sshmedicine.bsky.social
The 2026 SSHM Conference will be @universityofleeds.bsky.social. The theme will be In/Out and we are inviting papers that consider experiences of being in and/or out of health or health care in any period or geographical location. #HistMed #HistSTM
sshm.org/sshm-2026/
SSHM 2026: In/Out
Location: University of Leeds Dates: 30 June to 3 July 2026 Submission Deadline: 5.00pm (GMT) 11th January 2026 Conference Co-Convenors: Dr Alexia Moncrieff & Dr Katherine Rawling Conference Co…
sshm.org
October 13, 2025 at 12:15 PM
maryfissell.bsky.social
If you are in Baltimore this evening... great program!
Image of stone Christ on a cross, poster for concert @ Emmanual Episcopal Church in Bmore Oct 8
October 8, 2025 at 7:21 PM
maryfissell.bsky.social
Feeling like a quick medieval ghostly tale? Today's Substack post has got you covered.
October 8, 2025 at 4:55 PM
maryfissell.bsky.social
Hey bookshop.org has FREE Shipping today! catch my book at at a discount AND free shipping: bookshop.org/p/books/push...
October 8, 2025 at 4:54 PM