Medicine, Science, and Making Race in Civil War America

Leslie A. Schwalm is Emeritus professor of history at the University of Iowa. Her previous books include Emancipation's Diaspora: Race and Reconstruction in the Upper Midwest.
For more information about Leslie A. Schwalm, visit the Author Page.

“An important contribution to both the history of medicine and science and to critical studies of race and racism.”–Journal of Ethnic and Racial Studies

"This deeply researched, engaging, and sensitively written book will surely appeal to anyone interested in the history of slavery, the Civil War, medicine, biopolitics and the state, and collecting and exhibiting. Schwalm draws from an impressive array of sources, including diaries, medical print culture, autopsy reports, social surveys, court-martial records, pension applications, as well as a number of visual sources, to craft a compelling narrative.”–North Carolina Historical Review

“Leslie A. Schwalm has written an important book that explores the ways white Northerners used medicine, anatomy, and race to ensure the subordination of black Americans following the Civil War.”—H-Sci-Med-Tech

“An imaginatively researched, provocatively argued, and exceedingly readable book.”—Journal of American History

"This powerfully written book exposes the construction of institutional racism that saturated medicine and health care before, during, and after the Civil War. Content rich and compellingly argued, Schwalm's book challenges students of the war era to confront the subterranean depths of racial apartheid that continue to imperil the national health today."—Jane E. Schultz, Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis

"Schwalm persuasively shows how deeply entrenched racism in Northern medical institutions led to profound inequalities in the treatment of African Americans in both military and civilian settings. This intellectually provocative and prodigiously researched book deserves a wide audience."—Vanessa Northington Gamble, The George Washington University