Patients' Voices in Early 19th Century Virginia

Scope and content:

This online exhibit offers a look into The Papers of James Carmichael and Son, a collection held at the UVA Albert and Shirley Small Special Collections Library, and tells a story of the early nineteenth-century inhabitants of Fredericksburg, Virginia and its surrounding rural areas.

The exhibit is organized into two content areas: the Story and the Collection. Each of these areas, as well as the Home and About sections, are represented in the tabs near the top of every page. See the site map for more detail.

The Story section sets the atmosphere for the exhibit. One can get a sense of what the practice of medicine was like for James and Edward Carmichael in the early nineteenth century by reading the essays describing the Pharmacy, the Tools of the Trade, and the Health Care of Slaves.

The Collection section houses the images of the original Carmichael letters, which are meticulously transcribed and categorized to provide access not only to the words, but to the medical conditions, treatments, and philosophies of almost two centuries past. Particularly compelling is the use of Medical Subject Headings (MeSH) to categorize the letters along with a very detailed methodology and definition of MeSH terms. Other items of interest include the daybook kept by Doctor Carmichael from 1816-1817, newspaper clippings, court records & summaries, period maps, and Virginia WPA Historical Inventory Project records. Additionally, there is an exhaustive Who's Who list of names that appeared in the letters as well as a thorough list of Places Mentioned.

Access and use