Thursday, November 19, 2023 – ONE INFAMOUS WOMAN AND A FINAL RESTING PLACE

By admin

Two important stories that relate to our island:

Madame Restelle was supposedly imprisoned on Blackwell’s Island for performing abortions.

Hart Island has been the burial place of the unclaimed in New York for centuries. The island is finally being opened to the public.  Please see the Hart Island website to reserve a place on an upcoming tour.
 

PROGRAM TONIGHT FROM CUNY GRADUATE CENTER

Upcoming Free Book Talks

The Trials of Madame Restelle: Nineteenth-Century America’s Most Infamous Female Physician and the Campaign to Make Abortion a Crime

Thursday, November 16th
6:30–8 PM

In this new biography, Nicholas L. Syrett tells the story of one of the most infamous abortionists of the nineteenth century, a tale with unmistakable parallels to the current war over reproductive rights. “Madame Restell,” the nom de guerre of the most successful female physician in America, sold birth control, delivered children, and performed abortions for decades in a series of clinics run out of her home in New York City. But it was the abortions that made her infamous, “Restellism” becoming a term detractors used to indict her.

Abortion was then largely unregulated in most of the United States, including New York. But a sense of disquiet arose about single women flocking to the city for work and greater sexual freedom, amid changing views of motherhood, with fewer children born to white, married, middle-class women. Restell came to stand for everything threatening the status quo. From 1829 onward, restrictions on abortion began to put her in legal jeopardy. For much of this period she prevailed—until she didn’t. The Trials of Madame Restell: Nineteenth-Century America’s Most Infamous Female Physician and the Campaign to Make Abortion a Crime paints an unforgettable picture of the mid-nineteenth-century New York and brings Restell to the attention of a whole new generation of women in the current fight over reproductive choice.

Mary Ziegler, Professor of Law at UC Davis and the author of numerous books on the modern day struggle, joins in conversation

REGISTRATION LINK IS BELOW

NYC Parks Launches Public Access to Hart Island 

Today, NYC Parks announced the start of free public tours of Hart Island, the City’s public cemetery, in an effort to increase access to the island, reduce historical stigmas surrounding its past, and educate the public about its role as an important piece of City infrastructure.

Free public history tours led by the Urban Park Rangers will be held twice a month starting November 21. Registration for first tour is open now through November 16.

Beginning on November 21, 2023, NYC Parks’ Urban Park Rangers will offer free walking tours of the island twice per month. Registration is required through an online form and participants will be selected by lottery. All public history tours are done on foot and last approximately 2.5 hours, with ferry transportation provided to and from Hart Island.

Additional public tours will be held on the following dates:

December 5, 2023
December 19, 2023
January 16, 2024
January 30, 2024
February 13, 2024
February 27, 2024
March 12, 2024
March 26, 2024
April 9, 2024
April 23, 2024
May 14, 2024
May 28, 2024

The tours will encompass the history of the Island including how it became a municipal cemetery, wildlife and natural aspects, the burial process, and island advocacy.

THURSDAY  PHOTO OF THE DAY

SEND YOUR RESPONSE TO:
ROOSEVELTISLANDHISTORY@GMAIL.COM

WEDNESDAY PHOTO OF THE DAY

SIGN ON ALL LAMPOSTS IN CENTRAL PARK THAT DENOTE YOUR LOCATION BY A CODE SYSTEM

CREDITS

HART ISLAND PROJECT 
CUNY GRADUATE CENTER

JUDITH BERDY

MAYA LEVANON-PHOTOS TIK TOK & INSTAGRAM

All image are copyrighted (c) Roosevelt Island Historical Society unless otherwise indicated

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THIS PUBLICATION FUNDED BY DISCRETIONARY FUNDS FROM CITY COUNCIL MEMBER JULIE MENIN & ROOSEVELT ISLAND OPERATING CORPORATION PUBLIC PURPOSE FUNDS.

Copyright © 2022 Roosevelt Island Historical Society, All rights reserved.Our mailing address is:
rooseveltislandhistory@gmail.com