The History of Science Society Presents the

Margaret W. Rossiter History of Women in Science Prize to

Peter Kastor and Conevery Bolton Valencius

For Immediate Release:

       San Diego, CA; November 20, 2012——The History of Science Society (HSS) has awarded the Margaret W. Rossiter History of Women in Science Prize to Peter Kastor and Conevery Bolton Valencius for their article “Sacagawea’s Cold: Pregnancy and the Written Record of the Lewis and Clark Expedition” (Bulletin of the History of Medicine Vol. 82, Summer 2008: 276-310). The Rossiter Prize recognizes an outstanding article (or, in odd-numbered years, book) on the history of women in science.

       In their article, Kastor and Valencius provide a closely contextualized interpretation of the account given in the journals of the Lewis and Clark expedition of the illness suffered by Sacagawea in June 1805. The authors show that although her illness was described as a “cold”, in all likelihood she was pregnant and miscarried.  They argue that previous scholarly discussions of this event have taken the written evidence at face value and attended little to writing conventions of the period, especially those governing male writing about women’s bodies and reproductive issues.  By closely examining descriptions of Sacagawea’s illness in light of modern medical theory, they offer an innovative analysis of the personal history of a remarkable woman while exploring complicated interactions of print culture, medical knowledge, and social and cultural mores.

       Chair of the Rossiter Prize Committee, Elizabeth Williams, remarks, "This fascinating article earns the Margaret W. Rossiter History of Women in Science Prize for its exemplary scholarship and interpretive boldness. Outstanding as medical history, it is researched, argued, and written in such a way as to speak to a larger historical audience on a topic of wide interest.”

       Peter Kastor is Professor of History and American Culture Studies at Washington University in St. Louis and has held teaching positions there since 2002. He received a Ph.D. in history from the University of Virginia (1999).  Kastor is the recipient of numerous honors including the Kemper and Leila Williams Book Prize from the Louisiana Historical Society; the Archibald Hanna, Jr., Fellowship from the Beinecke Library at Yale; and in 2013 he will be a Digital Innovation Fellow sponsored by the American Council of Learned Societies. The editor or co-editor of four edited volumes, Kastor is also the author of two books: William Clark's World: Describing America in an Age of Unknowns (Yale University Press, 2011) and The Nation's Crucible: The Louisiana Purchase and the Creation of America (Yale University Press, 2004).

       Conevery Bolton Valencius is Assistant Professor of History at the University of Massachusetts, Boston. Having earned a Ph.D. at Harvard University in 1998, she joined the
faculty of the the History Department and the Program in American Culture Studies at Washington University in St. Louis. Valencius was a Senior Fellow (2004-5) and Visiting Fellow (2005-6) at the Dibner Institute for the History of Science and Technology and the recipient of several honors including a research fellowship from the National Endowment for the Humanities (2007) and the George Perkins Marsh Prize for the best book in environmental history (2003) for The Health of the Country: How American Settlers Understood Themselves and Their Land (Basic Books, 2002). Her forthcoming book is The Lost History of the New Madrid Earthquakes (University of Chicago Press).  

       The History of Science Society is the world's largest society dedicated to understanding science, technology, medicine, and their interactions with society in historical context. Over 3,000 individual and institutional members across the world support the Society's mission to foster interest in the history of science and its social and cultural relations.

       The Rossiter Prize is named for Margaret W. Rossiter, who has uniquely advanced research on the history of women in science.

Prizes were formally presented during the HSS’s annual meeting at the Sheraton San Diego Hotel and Marina.

Contact:

Robert J. Malone, Executive Director
History of Science Society
(574) 631-1194
FAX (574) 631-1533
jay@hssonline.org