John Collins Warren and the Roots of Medical Racial Science with Christopher Willoughby
In this episode of Historians & Their Histories, Prof. Christopher Willoughby discusses his research on racial science and medicine in antebellum America, tracing how northern medical schools, including Harvard Medical School, taught and institutionalized theories of biological racial difference. At the MHS, he has been working with the papers of John Collins Warren, examining how this notable Harvard surgeon assembled a skull collection drawn largely from enslaved people and Indigenous communities.
Prof. Willoughby is a recipient of the Elizabeth Woodman Wright Fellowship from the MHS.
To learn more about MHS fellowships and how to apply, please visit this page.
Episode Special Guest:
Christopher D. E. Willoughby is an Assistant Professor and Director of the African American and African Diaspora Program in the Department of Interdisciplinary, Gender & Ethnic Studies at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. He is author of the book, Masters of Health: Racial Science and Slavery in U.S. Medical Schools (University of North Carolina Press, 2022).
This episode uses materials from:
Colocate by Podington Bear (Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 Unported)
