American Archives Month Program: Remembering When Medicine Went Wrong: Bioethics, Public Memory, and the Willowbrook State School

John Lynch, Professor, School of Communication, Film, and Media Studies; University of Cincinnati
Wednesday, October 16 at 2:30pm
Register for this Zoom event
https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZUvcu2hqz8tHty6KCmiPzELCh2pPy…

A CC CLUE Event

What and how we remember the history of medicine is consequential for us today, but remembering the worst events in medicine can create guilt, anger, and trauma. Remembering when medicine went wrong calls people to account for the injustices inflicted on vulnerable communities across the twentieth century in the name of medicine, but officials often have a vested interest in minimizing recollection of that past. Lynch examines monuments and archived exhibits to Willowbrook at CSI’s campus and the push and pull between state actors and community activists about how to memorialize the worst excesses of the Willowbrook State School. In doing so, he highlights the challenges to never forgetting the ableism that made Willowbrook a reality.

This event is held in observance of American Archives Month, which is observed nationally during October to celebrate and promote the rich documentary heritage of our nation and the importance of archival and historical records to our lives.