BackStory

Migrant cotton picker and her baby, Buckeye, AZ, 1940 (National Archives)

To mark the rebirth of BackStory as a weekly program, the History Guys set out to explore the earliest stages of life in America. They begin with a few of the basic assumptions we have about birth in America today, and spend the hour exploring how those assumptions came into being. How is it that hospital doctors moved in on what had been midwife’s exclusive territory? Why did Puritans think their newborns were damned from the outset? When did courts start ruling that fetuses had legal rights? Why have generations of Americans resisted the notion of birthright citizenship?

Guests Include:

• Laura Wattenberg: Founder, BabyNameWizard.com
  
• Peggy Bendroth: Congregational Christian Historical Society
• Laurel Thatcher Ulrich: Professor of History, Harvard University (A Midwife’s Tale)
• Jessica Waters, Professor of Law, American University

Show Segments

Listen to individual segments of the show.

Further Exploration

A wealth of additional resources on the history of birth and babies.

Consult the transcript of this episode.

Even Further…

• See the online discussion that helped shape this show.
• See a listing of music used in this episode.
• See a list of the works consulted for the show.