Marrow of Tragedy: The Health Crisis of the American Civil War

Lunch provided at NOON.Talk begins at 12:10 pmThe Civil War, all told, killed more than a million people. Professor Humphreys will explore the causes of this mortality, exposing the importance of disease, race, and the color of uniform in determining the outcome.  Margaret Humphreys is the Josiah Charles Trent Professor in the History of Medicine at Duke University, with appointments in the History Department and the School of Medicine. A specialist in the history of science and medicine, Professor Humphreys has focused her research and publications primarily on infectious disease in the US and the American south, as well as the history of medicine during the American Civil War. Her fourth book, Marrow of Tragedy: The Health Crisis of the American Civil War (Johns Hopkins University Press, 2013), explores the impact of disease and medical care on troops in the War of the Rebellion. In addition to her own research, she was editor in chief of the Journal of the History of Medicine and Allied Sciences from 1999 to 2012. She currently teaches the global history of medicine, public health, and biology at Duke University.