This is a section of a LIFE magazine article titled "Missouri vs. Smith, Girl Student at One and a Coed at Other Lead Different Lives." It focuses on the life of University of Missouri student Jane Stone. It also includes photographs of her curling her hair, spending time with her boyfriend, and working in class.
Essay written by Virginia Woolf on the topic of illness and its (lack of) coverage in literature, referring specifically to influenza throughout as an example of "illness." Woolf discusses, among others, themes like the mind as opposed to the body, the (in)capabilities of the English language, illness's connection to "incomprehensibility," and the role of the poet in society. The essay essentially argues that, though it doesn't seem to do so at the moment ("the moment" in this case being the early 20th century), illness should exist "among the prime themes of literature."
This except from a medical book from the mid 19th century explores the idea of insanity as a uniquely feminine problem. Jarvis explores the idea that the female body is prone to insanity much more than their male counterparts. Rhetoric such as this medical book provided grounds for courts and doctors to see women as inherently insane without any evidence, leading to misdiagnoses and forced hospitalizations.
Short story by Katherine Anne Porter set during the 1918 influenza pandemic. Miranda, the protagonist, falls ill, and her emotions and sensations related to her illness are explored in the text. In the end, she recovers, but her lover Adam, who persumably caught the flu while caring for her, does not. The story is said to have been inspired by Porter's own experience catching the flu in 1918.
This is a section of a LIFE magazine article titled "Missouri vs. Smith, Girl Student at One and a Coed at Other Lead Different Lives." It focuses on the college schedule and opinions of Smith College student Janet Trowbridge. It includes a photograph of her sitting front row and taking notes in a government class.
Lydia B Denny was kidnapped and forcebily commited to an asylum by her husband from whom she was attempting to divorce on grounds of physical abuse. Her personal statement, followed by letters she wrote while committed, illustrate the ways in which members of the larger society, including those in the medical and legal systems, became agents of abuse against women in the 19th century. Although other websites have tagged this manuscript with terms like "battered woman" or "Reuban Swan Denny" (her husband), I find these terms take away from the power Lydia found to resist not only the social pressures of an abusive marriage but also the oppresive legal system that attempted to label her insane.
This is a scanned newspaper clipping addressed to President Nason and included in the archived folder of President's Office's materials on the "Co-ed Dorm Issue".
Bly investigated an asylum in the 19th century by feigning insanity. The included excepts display Bly's attempt and ultimate success in being declared insane by the courts. Most of the book explores what the asylum was like; however, this particular section enlightens what female insanity "looked like" in the 19th century, even to other women. Although Bly's work was inevitably a positive force for institutionalized women, she also plays into stereotypes of the "insane woman," which inadvertently legitimizes the harmful stereotypes that led to these systems of abuse.
Self-portrait by Frida Kahlo depicting the artist's spine as a broken column. The rest of her body is constrained by an orthopedic corset and covered in nails, and there are tears painted on the artist's face.
