Join us in the Ozark Club at The History Museum at 1pm on November 12 for a presentation and book signing by author Jennifer Hill. Birthing the West documents the history of childbirth in Montana, the Dakotas, and Wyoming from the 1860 through the 1930s. It pulls from a number of rich sources, including Lizzie Maclean's diary and profiles the midwifery work of women in the Great Falls and Cascade County area. The book makes the claim that mothers and midwives provided an informal network of reproductive caregiving in a time when health care was hard to come by. In order to create settler communities, immigrants to the area had to feel "at home," and childbirth was an important part of that process. Birthing the West expands our notion of the American West beyond cattle drives, fur trading, and mining, and allows readers to see the complexity of Euro-American settlement... and the importance of women, children, and even state institutions like health departments in creating the Montana we know today.

About the author: 
With a passion for making the everyday realities of past peoples come alive, Jennifer Hill holds a PhD in American Studies. Her research and writing focus on childbirth, contraception, abortion, venereal disease, and healthcare in the American West – an area with a compelling reproductive history. Based on the belief that history is a powerful tool for understanding current controversies, Hill focuses on interpreting our shared human past in ways that inform contemporary reproductive issues.

Currently an Associate Teaching Professor at MSU, Jennifer works as an interdisciplinary scholar in the field of American Studies. When she is not researching, writing, or teaching, she can be found trail running, gardening, kayaking, or eating.