Female Remedies and Wicked Women: Reproductive Health in 19th-Century New York

How did New York women manage their reproductive health in the 19th century? They could seek out patent medicines promising “relief” for everything from crying children to pregnancy itself—but who knew what was inside these bottles? Abortion was outlawed in the middle of the century, but some women doctors and midwives dared to provide it, including Ann Trow Lohman (AKA Madame Restell), whom authorities labeled the “wickedest woman” in New York. What can this history teach us about the importance of equitable access to reproductive health today?

Join playwright Jessica Bashline, author of Wickedest Woman, and Dr. Anne Davis of Physicians for Reproductive Health, in conversation with curator Sarah Gordon of the Center for Women’s History for a discussion on reproductive health in New York City, past and present.

The special installation Female Remedies opens at the Center for Women’s History on November 2.











When: Fri., Nov. 16, 2018 at 6:30 pm
Where: New-York Historical Society
170 Central Park West
212-873-3400
Price: $15
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How did New York women manage their reproductive health in the 19th century? They could seek out patent medicines promising “relief” for everything from crying children to pregnancy itself—but who knew what was inside these bottles? Abortion was outlawed in the middle of the century, but some women doctors and midwives dared to provide it, including Ann Trow Lohman (AKA Madame Restell), whom authorities labeled the “wickedest woman” in New York. What can this history teach us about the importance of equitable access to reproductive health today?

Join playwright Jessica Bashline, author of Wickedest Woman, and Dr. Anne Davis of Physicians for Reproductive Health, in conversation with curator Sarah Gordon of the Center for Women’s History for a discussion on reproductive health in New York City, past and present.

The special installation Female Remedies opens at the Center for Women’s History on November 2.

Buy tickets/get more info now