History and World Cultures AUM

06/02/2026

NEW PUBLICATION: Delivering Knowledge: Jewish Midwives and Hidden Healing in Early Modern Europe

Author: Jordan R. Katz (University of Massachusetts, Amherst)

Publisher: Stanford University Press (April/May 2026)

Series: Stanford Studies in Jewish History and Culture

This book offers a new perspective on the history of early modern Jewish communities by centering the experiences of Jewish midwives. In the wake of the Thirty Years' War, as cities and towns across northern and central Europe placed new emphasis on the regulation of healthcare and childbirth, Jewish midwives stood at the crossroads of tremendous changes in both Jewish communities and the surrounding Christian municipalities. Drawing on previously untapped archival sources, Jordan Katz reveals that Jewish midwives were integral to the expansion of medical bureaucracies, crossing boundaries between genders, between religious communities, and across classes through their work caring for pregnant women and newborn babies.

Grounded in rich historical evidence, the book shows how a focus on Jewish midwives illuminates the complex relationships between Jewish communities and local municipalities, showcasing a level of engagement between Jews and Christian civic authorities that has gone unstudied. Through the lens of midwives, this book opens up new understandings of Jewish communal history, the history of women's healing practices, Jewish-Christian relations, and cultures of record in the early modern period.

Find the Monograph at Stanford University Press: https://www.sup.org/books/jewish-studies/delivering-knowledge

06/01/2026

05/31/2026

Dr. Michael Burger will be giving a public talk at the Pelham Public Library this Saturday (June 6) on "The Constitution of the United States: A Medieval Document?" at noon. It's sponsored by the Alabama Humanities Foundation.

05/31/2026

Another lesser known story…

in 1921, the two-day Tulsa Race Massacre began.

A white mob attacked the predominantly Black Greenwood neighborhood of Tulsa, Oklahoma, destroying homes, businesses and entire city blocks of what was known as “Black Wall Street.”

As many as 300 people were killed, thousands were left homeless, and generations of Black wealth and opportunity were erased.

The Tulsa Race Massacre remains one of the deadliest acts of racial violence in U.S. history and a reminder of the lasting impact of white supremacist violence.

05/31/2026

So many stories out there that we don’t know much about… historians are always looking for the untold stories.

In 1953, a 23-year-old Black woman named Louise went into labor in Alabama. Her husband called an ambulance. The ambulance driver said:"We don't transport coloreds."

Louise's husband drove her. She gave birth in the
back seat. She almost died.
Louise said: "No Black mother gives birth in a back
seat because of me."

She started a volunteer ambulance service. She
recruited Black drivers. She bought a used hearse
and painted it white.

Her service ran for 30 years. They transported 500 pregnant Black women to hospitals. No one gave birth in a back seat.

In 1985, the ambulance company that rejected her
went out of business. Louise bought their
ambulances at auction.

She said: "Their ambulances carry Black mothers
now. That is not revenge. That is a ride."
Louise died in 1995. Her hearse-ambulance is in a
museum.

Based on real stories of Black volunteer ambulance
services during segregation.

05/28/2026

Did You Know?
Montgomery’s Jewish community dates back to the late 1700s, with early settlers and the 1840s Kahl Montgomery congregation laying the foundation for what would become Temple Beth Or Montgomery — a lasting center of Jewish life in our city.

We honor the generations of Jewish residents who have shaped Montgomery’s history, culture and community. From the city’s earliest days to today, their contributions continue to enrich the fabric of our city. Though the month is ending, our commitment to recognition, inclusion and partnership remains strong—this month and every month. Happy Jewish American Heritage Month!

05/27/2026

AASLH is pleased to announce the 19 history professionals selected as Fellows for the 2026 History Leadership Institute Seminar. For more than six decades, the History Leadership Institute has helped strengthen the leadership capacity of the history field by bringing together practitioners from muse...

05/27/2026

NEW PUBLICATION: The Literary Agency of Medieval Women: Kunigund Niklasin and the Library of St. Catherine’s in Nuremberg

Author: Sara S. Poor (Princeton University)

Publisher: Oxford University Press (April 2026)

Series: Oxford Studies in Medieval Literature and Culture

This book is about the active contributions of women to a late medieval culture of the book. It explores the unique record of literary agency that has survived from the Dominican convent of St. Catherine in Nuremberg through the writing work of the prolific nun, Kunigund Niklasin (d. 1457), scribe and compiler of at least 31 books by the 1450s, and the librarian for her convent’s large library (close to six hundred German-language manuscripts). Appointed to the office of librarian sometime after the convent underwent “observant reform” in 1428 (which advocated a return to strict observance to the monastic rule), Niklasin created two inventories of the convent’s books, one of privately owned books, the other of the convent library. The latter was part of a manual designed to facilitate table reading, the reading (aloud) that took place during daily meals.

Initial chapters explore the agency of submission and the role of the nuns’ consent in the reforming of the convent. Subsequent chapters showcase the multiple writerly acts that the creation of the table reading manual entailed; Niklasin’s management of illustration in several books that she herself produced; and Niklasin’s creative editing and reshaping of a book on St. Catherine, the patron saint of the convent. The trajectory of the book thus moves from what constitutes agency in a reform (orthodox) setting to the manifestation of this agency in written form, advocating for a broader notion of authorship and offering an unparalleled window into the active intellectual lives of late medieval women.

Find the Monograph at Oxford Academic: https://academic.oup.com/book/62574