Fire and Freedom: Food and Enslavement in Early America

History of Medicine Lecture What stories can meals tell us about people and places? Meals can tell us how power is exchanged between and among different peoples, races, genders, and classes. In the Chesapeake region, during the early colonial era, European settlers survived by relying upon indentured servants, Native Americans, and African slave labor for life-saving knowledge of farming and food acquisition. Without this knowledge, Europeans suffered poor nutrition, in addition to widespread illness caused by the lack of medical care. Despite their perilous position, the colonists used human resources, the natural environment, and maritime trade to gain economic prosperity. But it is through the labor of slaves that we can learn about the ways that meals transcend taste and sustenance. Dr. Williams-Forson ’ s lecture will examine how these factors interacted, affecting all sides, a subject further highlighted by a new special display in the History of Medicine Division entitled: Fire and Freedom: Food and Enslavement in Early America, a project developed with research assistance provided by staff at The Washington Library at George Washington ’ s Mount Vernon.For more information go tohttps://www.nlm.nih.gov/hmd/happening/lectures/lectures_2016.htmlAir date: 11/3/2016 2:00:00 PM
Source: Videocast - All Events - Category: Journals (General) Tags: Upcoming Events Source Type: video