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Be Part of the Discussion of ‘The Yellow Wall-Paper’

A  “brown-bag”  lunch discussion of the short story, “The Yellow Wall-Paper” will take place on Wednesday, December 2  from noon to 1:00 at the Main Library in Room 2032.  Mary Trachsel, PhD, Associate Professor & Department Chair, U of I Rhetoric Department will lead the discussion.   No reservations are necessary.

The discussion is presented as part of a special National Library of Medicine exhibition, The Literature of prescription; Charlotte Perkins Gilman and the ‘Yellow Wall-Paper’,” which examines a nineteenth-century writer’s challenge to the medical profession and the relationship between science and society.  Artist and writer Charlotte Perkins Gilman, who was discouraged from pursuing a career to preserve her health, rejected the ideas in a terrifying short story titled, “The Yellow Wall-Paper.”  The famous tales served as an indictment of the medical profession and the social conventions restricting women’s professional and creative opportunities. 

The exhibit is on display at the Hardin Library for the Health Sciences from November 30th through January 9th.

Copies of the short story have been placed on reserve at the Main Library and the Hardin Library for the Health Sciences.    You can also read the story online, here.

For additional information, please contact Ed Holtum (edwin-holtum@uiowa.edu); 335-9154, Hardin Library or Kären Mason (Karen-mason@uiowa.edu),335-5068,  Iowa Women’s Archive.