In colonial Philadelphia, women delivered medical care to their families, friends and neighbors for complaints ranging from burns and bruises to melancholy and bloody urine. Guided by the belief that plants and animals had potent healing powers, women created complex medicinal remedies using the herbs and vegetables grown in their gardens, as well as natural ingredients harvested from fields and meadows.

In her talk, Hannah Anderson explores ideas about the body, health and sickness in early Philadelphia, and the significance of female healers and their amazing medical concoctions.