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shelbyzimme.bsky.social
Social historian of medicine, institutions, poverty, and death | PhD from Trinity College Dublin | Based in London
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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

submitted 23 days ago • 1 comment

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

submitted 61 days ago • 11 comments

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...

submitted 92 days ago • 0 comments

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

submitted 94 days ago • 2 comments

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 🧵

submitted 95 days ago • 17 comments

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

submitted 99 days ago • 1 comment

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

submitted 105 days ago • 0 comments

I am a historian based in London and am available for freelance research work. If there are any documents you would like to consult in London archives but unable to visit, I am happy to photograph or transcribe them. Please contact me if you’re looking for a research assistant

submitted 132 days ago • 0 comments

Yesterday I saw ‘Small Things Like These’ in the cinema. This brilliant film examines the power the Church had over Ireland in the 1980s and how it encouraged citizens to be complacent regarding the Magdalene Laundries. It is important to remember the stories of women in these institutions.

submitted 109 days ago • 0 comments

Always fun going out into the community with the Old Operating Theatre Museum and using museum collections to share the history of medicine #histmed #london #museum

submitted 112 days ago • 1 comment

Last year, my dad passed away from brain cancer (glioblastoma). In his honour, I am participating in London's Halloween Walk to raise money for Brain Tumour Charity. Thank you for helping to support an excellent charity in finding a cure for brain tumours. t.co/tD1VGy0vFg

submitted 150 days ago • 0 comments

I am a historian based in London and am available for freelance research work. If there are any documents you would like to consult in London archives but unable to visit, I am happy to photograph or transcribe them. Please contact me if you’re looking for a research assistant

submitted 132 days ago • 0 comments

London folk! One week today I’ll be at Old Operating Theatre talking about the history of dissection - with a chance to explore this amazing museum after dark, with a drink!

submitted 133 days ago • 0 comments

The National Museum of Civil War Medicine provides a fascinating look into the role of medicine during the US civil war including developments in ambulances and embalming the dead. Definitely worth a visit if in Frederick, MD. #histmed #maryland #history

submitted 138 days ago • 0 comments

Last year, my dad passed away from brain cancer (glioblastoma). In his honour, I am participating in London's Halloween Walk to raise money for Brain Tumour Charity. Thank you for helping to support an excellent charity in finding a cure for brain tumours. t.co/tD1VGy0vFg

submitted 150 days ago • 0 comments

Brompton Cemetery is one of London’s Magnificent Seven garden cemeteries and is the resting place for Emmeline Pankhurst and John Snow. As a medical historian, it was great to see the grave of the doctor who determined cholera was waterborne in 1854 #histmed #london #cemetery #bromptoncemetery

submitted 187 days ago • 0 comments

Thank you RTÈ for publishing my piece on how Trinity College Dublin acquired the skeleton of a centenarian who died in the North Dublin Union workhouse in 1889 #medicalhistory #workhouse #ethics #provenance www.rte.ie/brainstorm/2...

submitted 333 days ago • 0 comments

Such an interesting find! These types of records tend not to survive for the Dublin workhouses. As there were no standard regulations for what happened to the corpse between death and burial, this coffin ticket offers valuable insight into this Welsh workhouse’s mortuary procedures

submitted 203 days ago • 0 comments

Congratulations to Dr Shelby Zimmerman, who received her PhD on Friday, with a thesis on 'The Medicalisation of Death in a Dublin City Workhouse, 1872-1920', supervised by Dr Georgina Laragy and Dr Ciaran O'Neill.

submitted 255 days ago • 0 comments

Thank you RTÈ for publishing my piece on how Trinity College Dublin acquired the skeleton of a centenarian who died in the North Dublin Union workhouse in 1889 #medicalhistory #workhouse #ethics #provenance www.rte.ie/brainstorm/2...

submitted 333 days ago • 0 comments

Join us on 21 March for the next Trinity Medical Humanities hybrid seminar. Dr Aisling Shalvey will discuss the role of women in biomedical experiments during National Socialism. Register: tcd.ie/trinitylongroo… #medicalhumanities #history #bioethics @ashshalvey.bsky.social @historytcd.bsky.social

submitted 351 days ago • 0 comments

Passed my viva!! Thank you so much to my examiners Carole Holohan and Laura Kelly and chair, Joseph Clarke, for an engaging discussion. Extremely fortunate for my supervisors Georgina Laragy and Ciaran O’Neill’s support and guidance over the past 4 years . @TLRHub @historytcd.bsky.social

submitted 443 days ago • 3 comments

The next @TLRHub hybrid Medical Humanities seminar will be on 30 Nov. Orla Fitzpatrick(@tcddublin) will speak about medical photography in an age before photo-mechanical reproduction. Join us for what will sure to be a fascinating event: ticketpass.org/event/ELEEWA/d…

submitted 478 days ago • 0 comments

Are you a Trinity College Dublin researcher or student working in #medicalhumanities? The Medical and Health Initiative is hosting a 1 day symposium on 'Exploring Medical and Health Humanities' in TCD on 7 March to showcase current research and brainstorm future development @historytcd.bsky.social

submitted 479 days ago • 0 comments

Interesting tour of the Irish Wake Museum in Waterford. The museum offers an overview of Irish dying and burial rituals from the Neolithic period to today. Highlights include mourning jewellery and ritualistic artefacts. The tour guide was an engaging storyteller. #ireland #irishhistory #death

submitted 484 days ago • 1 comment

Join us on Thursday 26 Oct from 1-2 for the first Trinity Medical and Health Humanities seminar series of the semester. In this hybrid event, Kimberly Campanello from Leeds Uni will read from her work about her experience with chronic illness. Registration info: www.tcd.ie/news_events/...

submitted 493 days ago • 0 comments

'Ireland has always done death a little differently'--Georgina Laragy interviewed in the Irish Times, discussing the event she has organised www.irishtimes.com/culture/2023...

submitted 525 days ago • 0 comments