Dr. Peter McCandless (Black Medicine/White Bodies)

Dr. Peter McCandless, professor emeritus College of Charleston, will present his research into 19th century yellow fever epidemics, the institution and practice of slavery, the social structure of the 19th century Charleston and its influence upon the healthcare strategies employed by white doctors and black folk healers. Black Medicine/White Bodies: An investigation of Charleston’s Yellow Fever Epidemics 1854-1871 focuses on the role of traditional African folk healers to South Carolina’s history by illustrating the contrasting approaches to healthcare and treatment of disease by African folk healers and mainstream Western medical practitioners during the yellow fever epidemics that plagued Charleston during the mid-19th century.