“Women in eighteenth-century Hallowell had no political life, but they did have a community life. The base of that community life was a gender division of labor that gave them responsibility for particular tasks, products, and forms of trade.”–Laurel Thatcher Ulrich, A Midwife’s Tale
Martha Ballard was a midwife and healer who kept a meticulous diary from 1785-1812. During that 27 year period, she attended over 800 births. Her diary is a record not only of her medical cases, but of her life and the community of Hallowell, Maine. Through Ballard’s diary, Laurel Thatcher Ulrich illuminates life in post-Revolutionary War, rural New England. Ballard’s diary is of great historical significance since women and their roles in society at that time were rarely written about. It is surprising in its account of the violence, crime, and premarital sex found during this time period.
Laurel Thatcher Ulrich is an accomplished historian and her excellence in research and writing this book earned her the Pulitzer Prize in 1991. Anyone interested in early American history will be well served by reading this book.
Content Advisory: Child/pregnancy loss, sexual assault, murder