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Former NEA Chair to Speak at Commencement   Talk Can Be Really Cheap   Beyond Fun and Games: International Conference to be Held at Smith   Smith Claims a Second Rhodes Scholar   ............................

Scholars Gather to Discuss Midwifery The future of midwifery was examined at Smith in March during the conference "Of Women Born: The Rebirth of Midwifery in 20th-Century America." It explored issues of midwifery within anthropological, feminist and political contexts and was hosted by the Sophia Smith Collection (SSC), which is housed in the Alumnae Gymnasium. The event marked the opening for research use of SSC's holdings of Midwives Alliance of North America (MANA) records. Among conference participants were Valerie Lee, professor of English and women's studies at Ohio State University and author of Granny Midwives and Black Women Writers: Double-Dutched Readings; Charlotte Borst, professor of history at St. Louis University and author of Catching Babies: The Professionalization of Childbirth, 1870­1920; Penfield Chester, midwife, teacher and author of Sisters on a Journey: Portraits of American Midwives; and Carol Leonard, midwife, co-founder and past president of MANA and co-author of Women's Wheel of Life: Thirteen Archetypes of Woman at Her Fullest Power. The conference was intended to appeal to a broad audience within and beyond the college community, including students and scholars of history, American studies, women's studies, anthropology and sociology as well as students preparing for careers in the health sciences. The conference coincided with the opening of an exhibit of material from the MANA collection.

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