Dr Shelby Zimmerman

Wooden headstones from the 1890s and early 1900s

Headstones marked Unknown

Beautiful White Pass Mountain in Skagway, Alaska

When on holiday in Alaska, I visited the Gold Rush #Cemetery in #Skagway. The cemetery opened in 1898 and is the resting place of prospectors and those who settled in Skagway. The headstones are a mix of original and restored monuments. I am intrigued about the history of the unknown headstones

Thanks Georgina!

In the 1870s, the Holborn guardians built the Holborn Union Infirmary in Archway/Highgate, N London solely as a hospital distinct from the main workhouse site. Across the street at Whittington Hospital, is an 1848 Smallpox & Vaccination Hospital #workhouse #histmed #londonhistory #islington

These are such important stories to share

Dr Shelby Zimmerman (left) and Ciarán Murray (right) standing in front of a Trinity Long Room Hub banner. Both are smiling and wearing clip-on microphones, before their recorded conversation for the Trinity Talks: Dublin’s Hidden Histories series.

🎧 Tune in to @nearfm.ie tomorrow (May 29th) at 6pm to hear @shelbyzimme.bsky.social exploring the reality of death, dying, and medical care in Dublin city’s largest poorhouse.

Supported by Coimisiún na Meán with the Television licence fee.

🔗 nearfm.ie/trinity-talk...

#TrinityTalks

The episode will broadcast Thursday May 29th at 6pm on Near FM 90.3 or online nearfm.ie/livestream/ A podcast will also be made available. Thanks for your interest :)

Thank you @tlrhub.bsky.social and NearFMfor inviting me to speak on medical relief and death in the post-Famine Dublin #workhouses. It was a great conversation & I enjoyed hearing about the audience’s family history. The recording will be released on 29 May #irishhistory #histmed

Honoured to have contributed to this volume on death and institutions. My chapter examines how the priorities of post-Famine Irish workhouse administration shaped institutional mortality Thanks to @cendeathsociety.bsky.social @brisunipress.bsky.social

bristoluniversitypress.co.uk/death-and-in...

Kidney dish similar to the ones used by workhouse nurses made of felt

White sheets with labels showing the types of cases and patients the workhouse nurses tended to

A district nurse’s medical bag from the 1920s. Workhouse nurses had similar tools and medicines at their disposal

Excellent exhibition, ‘Making the Rounds’ at @rcnlibraries.bsky.social in London.This exhibit explores the experience and stories of workhouse nurses in Norfolk. As artefacts tend to not survive from workhouse infirmaries, artist Connie Flynn used textiles to share these stories #workhouse #histmed

Episodes - The Death Studies Podcast What’s the episode about? In this episode, get an overview of the 2025 Edited Collection Death and Institutions: Processes, Places and the Past   What is the Book About? Institutions play a crucial role in shaping experiences of end-of-life care, dying, death, body disposal and bereavement. However, there has been little holistic or multidisciplinary research…

Next week, the edited collection ‘Death and Institutions,’ which I contributed a chapter to will be published. Check out @deathstudiespod.bsky.social for an overview of the book, chapter summaries & editors’ interview @cendeathsociety.bsky.social
thedeathstudiespodcast.com/episodes/ #workhouse

Calls for council to mark 'forgotten' burial ground The three-acre site near the City Hospital contains more than 10,000 bodies dating back to the Irish famine.

BBC News - Call for council to mark city's hidden burial ground
www.bbc.com/news/article...

Thanks, Alex! I’m looking forward to returning

Looking forward to returning to Dublin to speak at the UCD Centre for the History of Medicine in Ireland’s seminar series on 6 Feb. My paper will discuss the institutional options for end of life in late 19th and early 20th century Dublin. #histmed #irishhistory #workhouse @tlrhub.bsky.social

A trade card featuring two skeletons holding hands, at the top is the skeleton of an animal. And in the middle is script advertising the services.

Trade Card of Nathaniel Longbottom, “Supplier of Skeletons in St. Thomas's Street, Southwark,” late 18th century. Longbottom would likely have had interactions with bodysnatchers (or “resurrectionists”) to help him procure skeletons for his shop.

Photo: Wellcome Collection

@drdan.bsky.social looks at 18th century cartoons and medicine/death

Congrats Olwen!

Hi Kat. I am available

The IHA Medical & Health Humanities Working Group have compiled an impressive Research Snapshot from across the island of Ireland. This report, launched on 27 Nov at the @ria.ie, includes an overview of research in this area from 138 colleagues in Ireland.
www.irishhumanities.com/assets/Uploa...

Advert on the London tube above the Circle and Hammersmith and City tube map. The advert has a white background with green leaves and says ‘The Mother and Baby Institutions Payment Scheme is now open for applications. The Payment Scheme provides financial payments and health supports to people who spent time in Mother and Baby and County Home Institutions in Ireland. Visit gov.ie/paymentscheme, or call our helpline at +353 1 522.9992.’

Spotted on London’s tube today. In the 1950s and 60s, there was a mass influx of Irish immigrants in England. It is great that the Irish government is reaching out to London residents who were confined in Irish mother and baby homes. Hopefully this is one step towards justice for these women

She is so cute!

Congrats Ciaran! Hope all is well in Dublin

The front cover of a new book, 'Power and Powerlessness in Union Ireland: Life in a Palliative State' by Ciaran O'Neill, and published by Oxford University Press.

My book Power and Powerlessness in Union Ireland: Life in a Palliative State (OUP, 2024) was just published online. It is ludicrously expensive, so let me explain the basic premise of the book. If interested, please encourage your local/univ library to buy a copy. academic.oup.com/book/58980
🧵

I saw it on the District Line the other day

Vaccines save lives!

Writing Chronic Illness Just in Time Recorded October 26th, 2023. A lecture by Professor Kimberly Campanello (University of Leeds) as part of the Medical and Health Humanities Seminar Series. Professor Kimberly Campanello (University of

Here’s the link to her @tlrhub.bsky.social medical humanities podcast- soundcloud.com/tlrhub/writi.... It was a fascinating seminar

@lizbaz.bsky.social do you have any suggestions? Also, Kimberly Campanello’s poetry examines her experience with early onset Parkinson’s

A cute Christmas elf plushie has red and yellow dots on her face and limbs to represent smallpox. She is sitting next to books on anatomy and dissection

Smallpox Elf is learning about anatomy & dissection at the @oldoptheatre.bsky.social. Test your diagnosis skills on the museum’s ’Disease Elves’ trail. Although smallpox had less than 25% mortality rate, vaccination reduced the risk of serious infections. It is the only globally eradicated disease

I volunteer at the @oldoptheatre.bsky.social and it’s incredible! I love this museum

Absolutely worth a visit!

Exploring the Mind with Psychonauts: In Conversation with Mike Jay Join us for an intriguing evening with author Mike Jay, who will discuss his latest book, Psychonauts: Drugs and the Modern Mind.

On 28 November, the Anaesthesia Heritage Centre will launch Mike Jay’s ‘Psychonauts: Drugs and the Modern Mind.’ The book discusses early scientists who experimented with mind-altering substances. Would interest historians of medicine, drug history, psych.

#histmed #drughistory #psychiatry #london