FEATURE ABSTRACTS
This 1869 botanical illustration
depicts the White Lady’s Slipper
(Cypripedium candidum). (Photo Courtesy of Wikimedia
Commons)
Alabama's Antebellum Herbal
Transactions of the Medical Association of the State of Alabama, 1851-1855
by L. J. Davenport
Though the Civil War was undoubtedly the country’s dominant nineteenth-century conflict, communities within the country had their own internal battles as people sought to establish themselves and their credibility, all while chronicling the bounty of the young nation. Members of one such group, doctors trained at medical schools, struggled to assert their expertise in light of the rise of Thomsonians—practitioners with inconsistent training and commitment to plant-based remedies. To establish their own credentials in this realm, the members of the Medical Association of the State of Alabama spent several years chronicling the state’s plant life, explaining how each specimen offered remedies and treatments for common ailments. L. J. Davenport, Alabama Heritage’s resident naturalist, explores these men and the volumes they produced, offering a fascinating glimpse of medical practice and general health of the young state.
About the Author
Larry Davenport, a native of Seattle, Washington, holds a PhD in biology from the University of Alabama. He has taught at Samford University in Birmingham, Alabama, since 1985, where he currently serves as Paul N. Propst Professor of Natural Sciences. In 2007, he was named Alabama Professor of the Year by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching. Davenport is considered to be an expert on Alabama’s plant life; aquatic plants; wetlands; and rare, threatened and endangered species, inc
Transactions of the Medical Association of the State of Alabama, 1851-1855
by L. J. Davenport
Though the Civil War was undoubtedly the country’s dominant nineteenth-century conflict, communities within the country had their own internal battles as people sought to establish themselves and their credibility, all while chronicling the bounty of the young nation. Members of one such group, doctors trained at medical schools, struggled to assert their expertise in light of the rise of Thomsonians—practitioners with inconsistent training and commitment to plant-based remedies. To establish their own credentials in this realm, the members of the Medical Association of the State of Alabama spent several years chronicling the state’s plant life, explaining how each specimen offered remedies and treatments for common ailments. L. J. Davenport, Alabama Heritage’s resident naturalist, explores these men and the volumes they produced, offering a fascinating glimpse of medical practice and general health of the young state.
About the Author
Larry Davenport, a native of Seattle, Washington, holds a PhD in biology from the University of Alabama. He has taught at Samford University in Birmingham, Alabama, since 1985, where he currently serves as Paul N. Propst Professor of Natural Sciences. In 2007, he was named Alabama Professor of the Year by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching. Davenport is considered to be an expert on Alabama’s plant life; aquatic plants; wetlands; and rare, threatened and endangered species, inc