History and Women Archives - The Other Madisons

Mammy Warriors | An Homage to Black Maids

Two black women wrapped in threadbare coats stood silently near the intersection. Framed by a wall concealing a private tennis club, they stared into the street, ignoring the chilly morning air and the dry leaves swirling about their ankles. One woman was probably in her 40s, the other, at least a generation older. I had just pulled up to a traffic light near a mass-transit stop in a well-to-do suburban neighborhood where I had […]

With Black Women’s Bodies | The Birth of Modern Gynecology

The “Father of Modern Gynecology” There is a statue in Columbia, South Carolina honoring Dr. James Marion Sims, a 19th century physician venerated as the father of modern gynecology and the first surgeon to treat both an empress (Empress Eugenie of France) and enslaved women. There are similar statues in Montgomery, Alabama and in Central Park, New York City. Medical schools throughout the country adorn their walls with his portrait. None of the inscriptions on […]

Griots and Griottes | Keepers of Unwritten History

In West Africa, its history written in its own languages is relatively new. African history was written in European languages during the colonial era, and in Arabic for centuries. But well since before that, in communities in the Sahel and Savanna regions, the griots (men) and griottes (women) have spoken, from memory, epic-long histories and genealogies that often take days to recite. African “Wordsmiths” For hundreds of years, possibly beginning before the birth of Christ, the griots and […]