Tetanus has probably been around for most of human history, or even longer. But it’s preventable today thanks to vaccines.

Research:

• "Emil von Behring." Notable Scientists from 1900 to the Present, edited by Brigham Narins, Gale, 2008. Gale In Context: Science, link.gale.com/apps/doc/K1619001490/GPS?u=mlin_n_melpub&sid=bookmark-GPS&xid=464250e5. Accessed 17 Apr. 2025.
• Breasted, J.H., translator. “OIP 3. The Edwin Smith Surgical Papyrus, Volume 1: Hieroglyphic Transliteration, Translation, and Commentary.” Oxford University Press. 1930.
• Chalian, William. “An Essay on the History of Lockjaw.” Bulletin of the History of Medicine, FEBRUARY, 1940, Vol. 8, No. 2. Via JSTOR. https://www.jstor.org/stable/44446242
• Emil von Behring: The founder of serum therapy. NobelPrize.org. Nobel Prize Outreach 2025. Thu. 17 Apr 2025. https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/medicine/1901/behring/article/
• Galassi, Francesco Maria et al. “Tetanus: historical and palaeopathological aspects considering its current health impact.” Journal of preventive medicine and hygiene vol. 65,4 E580-E585. 31 Jan. 2025, doi:10.15167/2421-4248/jpmh2024.65.4.3376
• George, Elizabeth K. “Tetanus (Clostridium tetani Infection).” StatPearls. January 2025. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK482484/
• Hippocrates. “VI. Diseases, Internal Affections.” Harvard University Press. 1988.
• Jean-Marc Cavaillon, Historical links between toxinology and immunology, Pathogens and Disease, Volume 76, Issue 3, April 2018, fty019, https://doi.org/10.1093/femspd/fty019
• Jones CE, Yusuf N, Ahmed B, Kassogue M, Wasley A, Kanu FA. Progress Toward Achieving and Sustaining Maternal and Neonatal Tetanus Elimination — Worldwide, 2000–2022. MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep 2024;73:614–621. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.15585/mmwr.mm7328a1
• Kaufmann, Stefan H E. “Remembering Emil von Behring: from Tetanus Treatment to Antibody Cooperation with Phagocytes.” mBio vol. 8,1 e00117-17. 28 Feb. 2017, doi:10.1128/mBio.00117-17
• Kreston, Rebecca. “Tetanus, the Grinning Death.” Discover. 9/29/2015. https://www.discovermagazine.com/health/tetanus-the-grinning-death
• Milto, Lori De, and Leslie Mertz, PhD. "Tetanus." The Gale Encyclopedia of Public Health, edited by Brigham Narins, 2nd ed., vol. 2, Gale, 2020, pp. 1074-1076. Gale In Context: Environmental Studies, link.gale.com/apps/doc/CX7947900274/GPS?u=mlin_n_melpub&sid=bookmark-GPS&xid=a44bc544. Accessed 14 Apr. 2025.
• Milto, Lori De, and Leslie Mertz, PhD. "Tetanus." The Gale Encyclopedia of Public Health, edited by Brigham Narins, 2nd ed., vol. 2, Gale, 2020, pp. 1074-1076. Gale In Context: Environmental Studies, link.gale.com/apps/doc/CX7947900274/GPS?u=mlin_n_melpub&sid=bookmark-GPS&xid=a44bc544. Accessed 15 Apr. 2025.
• National Institutes of Health. “Tetanus.” https://history.nih.gov/display/history/Tetanus
• Ni, Maoshing. “The Yellow Emperor's Classic of Medicine: A New Translation of the Neijing Suwen with Commentary.” Shambhala. 1995.
• Smithsonian. “The Antibody Initiative: Battling Tetanus.” https://www.si.edu/spotlight/antibody-initiative/battling-tetanus
• Sundwall, John. “Man and Microbes.” Illustrated lecture given under the auspices of the Kansas Academy of Science, Topeka, January 12, 1917. https://archive.org/details/jstor-3624335/
• The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 1901. NobelPrize.org. Nobel Prize Outreach 2025. Thu. 17 Apr 2025. https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/medicine/1901/summary/
• Tiwari, Tejpratap S.P. et al. “Chapter 21: Tetanus.” CDC Pink Book. https://www.cdc.gov/pinkbook/hcp/table-of-contents/chapter-21-tetanus.html
• Von Behring, Emil and Kitasato Shibasaburo. “The Mechanism of Immunity in Animals to Diphtheria and Tetanus.” Immunology. 1890. http://raolab.org/upfile/file/20200612164743_201234_56288.pdf
• War Office Committee for the Study of Tetanus. “Memorandum on Tetanus.” Fourth Edition. 1919. https://archive.org/details/b32171201/
• World Health Organization. “Tetanus.” 7/12/2024. https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/tetanus

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This 2020 episode covers Cecilia Payne-Gaposchkin, an accomplished astronomer. She grew up in a society that didn’t really prioritize education for girls, and she was determined and creative about getting around that.

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Holly talks about the dynamics of Altina Schinasi's family. Tracy shares a dispute over nursing uniform procedures on the Boston Floating Hospital that played out in a trade journal.

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The Boston Floating Hospital was a children’s hospital that operated on a boat in Boston Harbor in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

Research:

• Berkeley Temple. “Threescore years and ten, 1827-1897: Pine Street Church ; Berkeley Street Church ; Berkley Temple.” Boston : Press of Samuel Usher, 1897. https://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/008416560
• Boston Floating Hospital. “A brief history of the Boston Floating Hospital.” 1906. https://archive.org/details/101725502.nlm.nih.gov/
• Boston Floating Hospital. “Historical sketch of the origin and development of the Boston Floating Hospital.” 1903. https://archive.org/details/101727275.nlm.nih.gov
• Egan, Sarah A. “A Reply from the Boston Floating Hospital.” The American Journal of Nursing, Vol. 11, No. 6 (Mar., 1911). Via JSTOR. https://www.jstor.org/stable/3405022
• Friends of the Boston Harborwalk. “Precious Cargo On Board.” https://boshw.us/sign/precious-cargo-on-board/?lang=english
• Gilson, Grace. “Babies on a boat: When a floating hospital helped cure Boston’s children.” Boston Globe. 1/20/2022. https://www.bostonglobe.com/2022/01/20/metro/hospital-sea-that-once-cured-bostons-children/
• Golden, Janet. “From Wet Nurse Directory to Milk Bank: Delivery of Human Milk in Boston, 1909-1927.” Bulletin of the History of Medicine. Vol. 62, No. 4. Winter 1988. Via JSTOR. https://www.jstor.org/stable/44443092
• Halberstadt, Josephine. “The Boston Floating Hospital, Season of 1906.” The American Journal of Nursing , Feb., 1907, Vol. 7, No. 5 (Feb., 1907). Via JSTOR. https://www.jstor.org/stable/3403608
• Hall, Mary I. “The Boston Floating Hospital.” The American Journal of Nursing, Vol. 11, No. 4 (Jan., 1911). Via JSTOR. https://www.jstor.org/stable/3404922
• Hastings, Robert W. “The Boston Floating Hospital.” The American Journal of Nursing, Vol. 3, No. 7 (Apr., 1903).” Via JSTOR. https://www.jstor.org/stable/3401681
• Hastings, Robert W. “The Boston Floating Hospital.” The American Journal of Nursing, Vol. 6, No. 7 (Apr., 1906). Via JSTOR. https://www.jstor.org/stable/3402905
• Jimison, Robert. “Who’s the mystery child in this 103-year-old Floating Hospital photo?” CNN. 2/14/2017. https://www.cnn.com/2017/02/14/health/floating-hospital-1914-mystery-photo-history/index.html
• Keeling, Arlene. “Nursing On Board the Boston Floating Hospital.” Windows in Time. Center for Nursing Historical Inquiry. October 2015.
• Kulig, John. “12 Things You Didn't Know About The History Of Boston's Floating Hospital For Children.” WBUR. 10/3/2014. https://www.wbur.org/radioboston/2014/10/01/boston-floating-kulig
• NavSource Online: Identification Numbered Vessel Photo Archive. Boston Floating Hospital (ID 2366) https://www.navsource.org/archives/12/172366.htm
• “A History of the Boston Floating Hospital.” Vol. 19. No. 4. 1957. https://doi.org/10.1542/peds.19.4.629
• Perry, Charlotte Mandeville. “Our Floating Hospitals.” The American Journal of Nursing, Nov., 1900, Vol. 1, No. 2 (Nov., 1900). Via JSTOR. http://www.jstor.com/stable/3402614
• Prinz, Lucie with Jacoba Van Schaik. “The Boston Floating Hospital: How a Boston Harbor Barge Changed the Course of Pediatric Medicine.” Tufts Medical Center. 2014.
• Tufts Archival Research Center. “Boston Floating Hospital.” https://archives.tufts.edu/agents/corporate_entities/9474?&page=13
• Tufts CHSP. “End of an Era: The Closing of Tufts Children’s Hospital, Putting Inpatient Pediatric Care in Context.” 4/8/2022. https://sites.tufts.edu/chsp/2022/04/08/end-of-an-era-the-closing-of-tufts-childrens-hospital-putting-inpatient-pediatric-care-in-context/

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Altina Schinasi is known as the inventor of cat-eye glasses, but she was also an artist, a documentarian, and an activist. And she was very frank about her own faults and bad decisions.

Research:

• “Altina Schinasi 1924 (1907-1999).” Helen Temple Cook Library. Dana Hall School. https://library.danahall.org/archives/danapedia/alumnae/altina-schinasi-1924-1907-1999/
• “Altina Schinasi's 116th Birthday.” Google Doodle. https://doodles.google/doodle/altina-schinasis-116th-birthday/
• “Altina Schinasi, The Harlem Girl Who Knew Martin Luther King, Rosa Parks, Salvador Dali And Invented Cat-Eye Glasses.” Harlem World. June 21, 2023. https://www.harlemworldmagazine.com/altina-schinasi-the-harlem-girl-who-knew-martin-luther-king-rosa-parks-salvador-dali-and-invented-cat-eye-glasses/
• “Artist Altina Schinasi Miranda Dies at 92.” Ventura County Star. Aug. 17, 1999. https://www.newspapers.com/image/935509837/?match=1&terms=Altina%20Schinasi
• Bachz, Betty. “From Audrey Hepburn to Hailey Bieber: How cat-eye frames became a timeless look.” Vogue Scandinavia. Oct. 8, 2021. https://www.voguescandinavia.com/articles/history-of-the-cat-eye-sunglasses
• “Heiress Asks Divorce.” The Cleveland Press. June 21, 1933. https://www.newspapers.com/image/1164656661/?match=1&terms=Altina%20Schinasi
• “The League’s Legacy.” Art Students League of New York. https://www.artstudentsleague.org/timeline#timeline
• “Mengel Module Furniture - Morris B. Sanders.” Modernism 101. https://modernism101.com/products-page/industrial-design/mengel-module-furniture-promotionalsales-ephemera-for-morris-b-sanders-furniture-designed-in-1946-produced-by-the-mengel-furniture-company-of-louisville-ky/
• “Morris Schinasi.” The Daily Times. Sept. 13, 1928. https://www.newspapers.com/image/724032205/?match=1&terms=Morris%20Schinasi
• “Morris Schinasi Leaves $1,300,000 to Institutions.” The Daily Times. Sept. 28, 1928. https://www.newspapers.com/image/724032801/
• Ravo, Nick. “Altina Schinasi Miranda, 92, Designer of Harlequin Glasses.” The New York Times. Aug. 21, 1999. https://www.nytimes.com/1999/08/21/arts/altina-schinasi-miranda-92-designer-of-harlequin-glasses.html
• “Rose-Colored Glasses.” Pittsburgh Post Gazette. Sept. 12, 1939. https://www.newspapers.com/image/88914623/?match=1&terms=%22harlequin%20eyeglasses%20%22
• Sander, Peter. “Altina.” 2014.
• Schinasi Estate Put at $8,014,962.” The Springfield Morning Union. May 2, 1930. https://www.newspapers.com/image/1067224117/?match=1&terms=Altina%20Schinasi
• Peabody, Pam. “Visions: sculptor Altina interviewed by Pam Peabody.” American Women Making History and Culture. WFPW. 1978. https://archive.org/details/pacifica_radio_archives-WZ0295.01
• Zaltzman, Lior. “The Pioneering Sephardic Jewish Mother Invented the Cat-Eye Glasses.” Kveller. Aug. 4, 2023. https://www.kveller.com/this-pioneering-sephardic-jewish-mother-invented-the-cat-eye-glasses/

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This 2019 episode covers Baron Franz Nopcsa, who lived an adventurous, scholarly life, funded entirely by his family money. He identified dinosaurs, inserted himself into Albanian politics, and wrote volumes and volumes of books and papers.

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Holly waxes rhapsodic about fruit. Tracy talks about planning an episode about William Henry Dorsey but then finding she needed to include his father.

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Thomas J. Dorsey liberated himself from enslavement and became one of the most sought-after caterers in Philadelphia. His son William Henry Dorsey was born a free Black man before the Civil War, and became an artist, collector and scrapbooker.

Research:

• "Thomas J. Dorsey." Contemporary Black Biography, vol. 90, Gale, 2011. Gale In Context: U.S. History, link.gale.com/apps/doc/K1606005269/GPS?u=mlin_n_melpub&sid=bookmark-GPS&xid=0c6af117. Accessed 2 Apr. 2025.
• 1838 Black Metropolis. “What Resistance looked like in 1838.” https://www.1838blackmetropolis.com/post/what-resistance-looked-like-in-1838
• Aston Gonzalez (2019) William Dorsey and the construction of an African American history archive, Social Dynamics, 45:1, 138-155, DOI: 10.1080/02533952.2019.1589323
• Berlin, Ira. "UNIVERSITY PRESSES; Scrapbooks of a Black Heritage." The New York Times Book Review, 22 Sept. 1991. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A175323797/GPS?u=mlin_n_melpub&sid=bookmark-GPS&xid=cdf57532. Accessed 2 Apr. 2025.
• Cashin, Sheryll. “The Agitator's Daughter: A Memoir of Four Generations of One Extraordinary African-American Family.” Public Affairs. 2008.
• Conrad, Sharron Wilkins. “Nineteenth-Century Philadelphia Caterer Thomas J. Dorsey.” American Visions. August/September 2000.
• Cromwell, J.W.C. “An Art Gallery and Museum, Not In the Guide Book.” New National Era, Washington D.C. 10/1/1874. https://www.loc.gov/resource/sn84026753/1874-10-01/ed-1/?sp=2&st=text&r=0.437,-0.008,0.25,0.231,0
• Du Bois, W. E. B. “The Philadelphia Negro; A Social Study.” Philadelphia, Published for the University. 1899. https://archive.org/details/philadelphianegr00dubo/
• Franqui, Leah. “Cultural Histories: Philadelphia’s Black Culinary Trailblazers and the Birth of Catering.” Solo Real Estate. https://www.solorealty.com/blog/cultural-histories-philadelphias-black-culinary-trailblazers-and-the-birth-of-catering/
• Greenlee, Cynthia. “A Priceless Archive of Ordinary Life.” The Atlantic. 2/9/2021. https://www.theatlantic.com/culture/archive/2021/02/race-save-black-history-archives/617932/
• Howard, Sherry. “Connecting with a 19th-century Black history & art collector.” Auction Finds. https://myauctionfinds.com/2021/04/01/connecting-with-a-19th-century-black-history-art-collector/
• Lane, Roger. “Willam Dorsey’s Philadelphia and Ours.” Oxford University Press. 1991.
• “Seen and Heard in Many Places.” The Philadelphia Times. 10/19/1896.
• “Seen And Heard in Many Places.” The Philadelphia Times. 10/17/1896.
• Morehouse College. “Honoring a Forgotten Past: An Author’s Journey.” 2/15/2021. https://news.morehouse.edu/morehouse-faculty/honoring-a-forgotten-past-an-authors-journey
• Solomon, Tessa. “How Two African American Collectors Celebrated Black Artistry Amid the Civil War.” ArtNews. 4/7/2021. https://www.artnews.com/feature/who-are-william-henry-dorsey-edward-thomas-19th-century-collectors-1234587386/
• Still, William. “The underground rail road. A record of facts, authentic narratives, letters, &c., narrating the hardships, hair-breadth escapes, and death struggles of the slaves in their efforts for freedom, as related by themselves and others, or witnessed by the author; together with sketches of some of the largest stockholders, and most liberal aiders and advisers, of the road.” Philadelphia, Porter & Coates. 1872. https://archive.org/details/undergroundrailr00stil
• Strimer, Steve. "Dorsey, Basil." Oxford African American Studies Center. May 31, 2013. Oxford University Press. Date of access 2 Apr. 2025, https://oxfordaasc-com.proxy.bostonathenaeum.org/view/10.1093/acref/9780195301731.001.0001/acref-9780195301731-e-38488
• TerBush, James and Barbara Dreyfuss. “A Cape May Connection.” Cape May Magazine. Mid-summer 2021. https://www.capemaymag.com/feature/a-cape-may-connection/
• The Evening Telegraph. “Caterers and Restaurateurs.” 3/30/1867. https://www.newspapers.com/image/78649823/
• The Manuscript Society. “William Henry Dorsey: Preserving Black History.” 2/16/2021. https://manuscript.org/2021/02/william-henry-dorsey-preserviing-19th-century-life/
• The Philadelphia Inquirer. 2/23/1875. Page 5. https://www.newspapers.com/image/168293006/
• The Philadelphia Times. “William H. Dorsey’s African Museum.” 10/25/1896. https://www.newspapers.com/image/52857231/

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