: For Students, Faculty, and Staff 
HSL Monthly Book Displays
Explore the actively growing and vibrant collections at the Health Sciences Library by visiting our monthly book display. This display sits on top of our reference shelf and features many of our newest acquisitions while following a theme. The display has been going on since June 2023, and has included monthly themes like “History of Medicine,” “Cardiology,” “Spooky Skeletons (orthopedics),” and “Reproductive Justice.” Enjoy this feature of this month’s book display!
March 2025: Women’s History Month
Sex matters : how male-centric medicine endangers women’s health and what we can do about it
Sex Matters exposes that all medical models — in research and practice — are male-centric and shows how the biological, biochemical, psychological, and neurological differences between men and women affect issues such as preventative care, emergency care, drug prescriptions, and pain management. This book also looks at how race, class, and gender identity are disproportionately affected by this.
In search of Mary Seacole : the making of a black cultural icon and humanitarian
In Search of Mary Seacole explores the remarkable achievements and unique status of Mary Seacole as an icon of the 19th century, but also corrects some of the myths that have grown around her life and career. Having been raised in Jamaica and worked in Panama, Mary Seacole came to England in the 1850s and volunteered to help out during the Crimean War. Popularly known as ‘Mother Seacole’, she was the most famous Black celebrity of her generation – an extraordinary achievement in Victorian Britain.
The author draws back the curtain on the collective medical history of women to reintroduce us to our whole bodies: how they work, the actual doctors and patients whose perspectives and experiences laid the foundation for today’s medical thought, and the many oversights that remain unaddressed. She examines the eleven organ systems to share unique and untold stories, drawing upon medical texts and journals, interviews with expert physicians, and her own observations from treating thousands of women.
For forty years in the mid-nineteenth century, “Madame Restell,” the nom de guerre of the most successful female physician in America, sold birth control medication, attended women during their pregnancies, delivered their children, and performed abortions in a series of clinics run out of her home in New York City. The Trials of Madame Restell is the biography of one of the most famous abortionists of the nineteenth century – and a story that has unmistakable parallels to the current war on reproductive rights.
Vagina love : an owner’s manual
When Lili Sohn was diagnosed with breast cancer at age 29, she was confronted with just how little she knew about her own anatomy. In Vagina Love, she embarks on a quest for information, busting myths and telling the truth. Sohn’s vibrant illustrations and snarky humor along with concrete scientific backing form an easily accessible and comprehensive guide to female reproductive anatomy from periods to masturbation, from orgasms to contraceptives.
Transgender and gender diverse health care : the Fenway guide
This book covers topics such as the history and background of transgender and gender-diverse health care, gender identity, primary, preventive, and specialty care, and community-building, advocacy, and partnership
Exposed : the hidden history of the pelvic exam
In Exposed, historian Wendy Kline uncovers the pelvic exam’s fascinating – and often disturbing – history. From gynecological research on enslaved women’s bodies to nonconsensual practice on anesthetized patients, the pelvic exam as we know it today carries the burden of its sordid past. Its story is one of pain and pleasure, life-saving discoveries and heartbreaking encounters, questionable procedures and triumphant breakthroughs. Kline traces key moments and movements in gynecological history, from the surgeons of the nineteenth century to the OB/GYNs of today.
Gender affirming therapy : a guide to what transgender and non-binary clients can teach us
In Gender Affirming Therapy, the authors tell anecdotes and reflections about the role that gender plays in our society, sharing client’s experiences within the psychotherapeutic room, and include interviews with community members where ‘in their own words’ they talk about what it is like to date as a trans person, to undergo surgery, and even to detransition.
Invisible labor : the untold story of the cesarean section
An incisive yet personal look at the science and history of the most common surgery performed in America – the cesarean section – and an exposé on the disturbing state of maternal medical care. Somerstein weaves personal narrative and investigative journalism with medical, social, and cultural history to reveal the operation’s surprising evolution, from its early practice on enslaved women to its excessive promotion by modern medical practitioners. She uncovers the current-day failures of the medical system, showing how pregnant women’s agency is regularly disregarded by providers who, motivated by fear of litigation or a hospital’s commitment to efficiency, make far-reaching and deeply personal decisions on behalf of their patients.
A history of women in medicine : cunning women, physicians, witches
This book reveals the untold story of forgotten female physicians, their lives, practices and subsequent demonisation as witches. Spearing draws on current archeological evidence, literature, folklore, case studies and original religious documentation to bring to life these forgotten female healers.
