Bert Hansen | CUNY - Baruch College (original) (raw)
Papers by Bert Hansen
Radical History Review, 1979
In two important ways this book represents a major advance in the historiography of homosexuality... more In two important ways this book represents a major advance in the historiography of homosexuality. First, it is a work of high quality, meeting professional standards of historical writing. Unlike so many earlier books about homosexuals, Coming Out offers no gossip ...
American Journal of Public Health, 2002
Journal of Medical Biography, 2016
Biographers have largely ignored Louis Pasteur's many and varied connections with art and art... more Biographers have largely ignored Louis Pasteur's many and varied connections with art and artists. This article is the second in a series of the authors' studies of Pasteur's friendships with artists. This research project has uncovered data that enlarge the great medical chemist's biography, throwing new light on a variety of topics including his work habits, his social life, his artistic sensibilities, his efforts to lobby on behalf of his artist friends, his relationships to their patrons and to his own patrons, and his use of works of art to foster his reputation as a leader in French medical science. In a prior article, the authors examined his unique working relationship with the Finnish painter Albert Edelfelt and the creation of the famous portrait of Pasteur in his laboratory in the mid-1880s. The present study documents his especially warm friendship with three French artists who came from Pasteur's home region, the Jura, or from neighboring Alsace. A f...
MD advisor : a journal for New Jersey medical community, 2012
Bulletin of the History of Medicine, 2004
When comic books rose to mass popularity in the early 1940s, one segment of the industry speciali... more When comic books rose to mass popularity in the early 1940s, one segment of the industry specialized in "true adventures," with stories about real people from the past and the present-in contrast to competing books that offered fantasy, science fiction, superheroes, detectives and crime, funny people, or funny animals. This study examines the figures from both medical history and twentieth-century medicine who were portrayed as heroes and role models in these comic books: first, to call attention to this very popular, if unknown, genre of medical history, and second, to illustrate how medical history was used at that time to popularize scientific and medical ideas, to celebrate the achievements of medical research, to encourage medical science as a career choice, and to show medicine as a humane and noble enterprise. The study explains how these medical history stories were situated in American popular culture more generally, and how the graphic power of comic books successfully conveyed both values and information while also telling a good story. Attention to this colorful genre of popular medical history enriches our picture of the mid-twentiethcentury public's enthusiasm for medical progress.
American Journal of Public Health, 2002
American Journal of Public Health, 1997
The decades just before and after the founding of the American Public Health Association in 1872 ... more The decades just before and after the founding of the American Public Health Association in 1872 saw an efflorescence of political cartooning and caricature in national-circulation weeklies. Part of the political and social critique that cartoonists and their editors provided the public focused on needs or opportunities for preventing illness and accidents. This paper presents a small selection of editorial cartoons that agitated in support of public health activities over 4 decades. The goals are to illustrate several concerns that rose to national prominence in that era, to examine the kinds of imagery that newspapers and magazine editors offered their readers, and to observe how frequently the public was encouraged to see politicians and commercial interests as responsible for preventable health problems. This discussion focuses exclusively on propagandistic images, leaving aside the reportorial depictions of events in the news and the neutral illustrations of methods and machine...
Annals of Science, 2021
ABSTRACT The French chemist Louis Pasteur (1822–1895) chose to be actively engaged in the fine ar... more ABSTRACT The French chemist Louis Pasteur (1822–1895) chose to be actively engaged in the fine arts throughout his life—yet scholarship has ignored or dismissed these pursuits. This empirical study documents his unknown, but deep involvement with art and artists from age thirteen until his death. This was no casual pastime. Art animated Pasteur. It was also at times useful to him for making political statements, cultivating status, and supporting loyal friends. This account identifies nearly twenty significant friendships with painters and sculptors and uncovers over thirty other artists with whom his associations deserve examination. The narrative suggests points at which art was especially germane to his scientific career and possible junctures that merit further research. Evidence from his artistic friendships also corrects the common picture of Pasteur as a dour workaholic who never laughed or smiled.
Handbook of Popular Culture and Biomedicine, 2018
By attending to the graphic artistry that brought to life the medical history narratives in Ameri... more By attending to the graphic artistry that brought to life the medical history narratives in American comic books of the 1940s, this study adds a new dimension to the scholarly understanding of these books and of the Spanish-language medical and scientific biography comics published in Mexico from the mid-1950s to the mid-1970s. Prior studies have established the substantial presence of medical stories in comic book publications and argued that the history of medicine was present in popular culture of the era to an unprecedented and unnoticed extent. This chapter illustrates the exceptionally strong artwork used in some of the early examples in the genre. The essay examines style, esthetics, and the engagement of readers. Such an approach can highlight just what made specific drawing styles successful in conveying a story’s content. Furthermore, certain features of this graphic work are shown to be indebted to innovations in contemporary photojournalism. Additionally, one can observe a decline in the quality of the art over time when the genre replaced the unique strengths of comic book graphics and shifted to a traditional mode of illustration.
American Journal of Public Health, 2019
Canadian Bulletin of Medical History, 2019
To illuminate popular notions of medical progress during the inter-war era, this article examines... more To illuminate popular notions of medical progress during the inter-war era, this article examines four large mural projects depicting medical history. Aside from portraits of individual medical heroes, such as Pasteur and Lister, artists also created imagery strongly contrasting traditional and modern medicine in general. This analysis features the works of four stylistically distinct artists (Bernard Zakheim, Charles Alston, William C. Palmer, and Victor Arnautoff), whose 1930s murals may be viewed today in San Francisco, New York City (Harlem and Queens), and Palo Alto, California. These murals are significant works of art in themselves, and they form an unusual group of special interest to historians because they took on an uncommon subject for the fine arts – the history of medicine – rather than what had long been the far more common portrayal of medicine by artists, namely contemporary medical scenes from their own era.
Journal of the History of Medicine and Allied Sciences, 2017
ABSTRACT:Two groups of black-and-white photographs are found in medical rare book rooms and the c... more ABSTRACT:Two groups of black-and-white photographs are found in medical rare book rooms and the collections of historically minded physicians. They were created by artists Hiller and Sarra to bring medical history to life for members of the health professions and, to some extent, for a wider public. These were not didactic illustrations for a textbook, but elegant scenes of great figures from Antiquity to the nineteenth century, evocation not documentation even though they were based on research. As pieces of fine art, cherished in portfolios or framed on the wall, the quality prints were intended to stimulate curiosity about the achievements of the figures portrayed. While familiar to some archivists and librarians, these photographs have received almost no attention in the scholarship of medical history. Only one short article examined them in 1983. In recent years these photographers have been given new consideration by scholars of advertising and photography. Using those works and primary sources, this article expands both men's biographies, and it explores their working methods, their artistry, and their achievements. An appreciation of these photographs enlarges our understanding of the place of medical history in American culture during the first half of the twentieth century.
Journal of Glaciology, 1970
Much of the history of British geological thought in the second quarter of the nineteenth century... more Much of the history of British geological thought in the second quarter of the nineteenth century centered on problems which are now explained by reference to the events of the Ice Age. This paper reviews the data and theories then current among British geologists as the background of the British response to Louis Agassiz’s “modern” theory of a glacial epoch. Today, as we read Agassiz’s amazing speculation, our own sympathy for the striking accuracy of his ideas masks from us the difficulty they faced in gaining acceptance. By first examining the context into which the glacial theory was introduced, we can then appreciate the novelty of Agassiz's efforts and understand the long delay in their achieving prominence. The present examination suggests that this delay was due to the unfortunate merger of Agassiz’s new ideas with the older drift theory of Charles Lyell.
Journal of medical biography, Jan 29, 2015
Biographers have largely ignored Louis Pasteur's many and varied connections with art and art... more Biographers have largely ignored Louis Pasteur's many and varied connections with art and artists. This article is the third in a series of the authors' studies of Pasteur's friendships with artists. This research project has uncovered data that enlarge the great medical chemist's biography, throwing new light on a variety of topics including his work habits, his social life, his artistic sensibilities, his efforts to lobby on behalf of his artist friends, his relationships to their patrons and to his own patrons, and his use of works of art to foster his reputation as a leader in French medical science. In their first article, the authors examined his unique working relationship with the Finnish painter Albert Edelfelt and the creation of the famous portrait of Pasteur in his laboratory in the mid-1880s. A second study documented his especially warm friendship with three French artists who came from Pasteur's home region, the Jura, or from neighbouring Alsace. T...
Bulletin of the History of Medicine, 2015
Obstetrical & Gynecological Survey, 1986
American Scientist, 1986
... of these two be of greater force and efficacy, Natureor Art, whereto I answer and say that al... more ... of these two be of greater force and efficacy, Natureor Art, whereto I answer and say that al though Nature be mighty and mar ... fourteenth centu ry, Dorigen, a faithful wife awaiting her husband's return, challenges an unwanted suitor to remove every rock from the coast of Brittany. ...
Bulletin of the History of Medicine, 1999
American Journal of Public Health, 2002
This study explores the careers of 5 physicians active in public health and medicine during the f... more This study explores the careers of 5 physicians active in public health and medicine during the first half of the 20th century to illustrate interactions between private and professional life. An examination of these individuals, who might today be variously designated as gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, or queer, suggests how historical understanding can be enriched by a greater willingness to investigate intimacy and sexual life as potentially relevant to career and achievements. Further, the narratives support a plea for all historians to provide readers with a more frank acknowledgment of the possible relevance of personal life to intellectual work, even in the sciences. Additionally, this historical exploration of ways that careers and achievements may have been affected by a person's homosexuality (even when the person did not publicly embrace a gay identity) opens up a new area of research through biographical sketches based on historical sources combined with general...
Radical History Review, 1979
In two important ways this book represents a major advance in the historiography of homosexuality... more In two important ways this book represents a major advance in the historiography of homosexuality. First, it is a work of high quality, meeting professional standards of historical writing. Unlike so many earlier books about homosexuals, Coming Out offers no gossip ...
American Journal of Public Health, 2002
Journal of Medical Biography, 2016
Biographers have largely ignored Louis Pasteur's many and varied connections with art and art... more Biographers have largely ignored Louis Pasteur's many and varied connections with art and artists. This article is the second in a series of the authors' studies of Pasteur's friendships with artists. This research project has uncovered data that enlarge the great medical chemist's biography, throwing new light on a variety of topics including his work habits, his social life, his artistic sensibilities, his efforts to lobby on behalf of his artist friends, his relationships to their patrons and to his own patrons, and his use of works of art to foster his reputation as a leader in French medical science. In a prior article, the authors examined his unique working relationship with the Finnish painter Albert Edelfelt and the creation of the famous portrait of Pasteur in his laboratory in the mid-1880s. The present study documents his especially warm friendship with three French artists who came from Pasteur's home region, the Jura, or from neighboring Alsace. A f...
MD advisor : a journal for New Jersey medical community, 2012
Bulletin of the History of Medicine, 2004
When comic books rose to mass popularity in the early 1940s, one segment of the industry speciali... more When comic books rose to mass popularity in the early 1940s, one segment of the industry specialized in "true adventures," with stories about real people from the past and the present-in contrast to competing books that offered fantasy, science fiction, superheroes, detectives and crime, funny people, or funny animals. This study examines the figures from both medical history and twentieth-century medicine who were portrayed as heroes and role models in these comic books: first, to call attention to this very popular, if unknown, genre of medical history, and second, to illustrate how medical history was used at that time to popularize scientific and medical ideas, to celebrate the achievements of medical research, to encourage medical science as a career choice, and to show medicine as a humane and noble enterprise. The study explains how these medical history stories were situated in American popular culture more generally, and how the graphic power of comic books successfully conveyed both values and information while also telling a good story. Attention to this colorful genre of popular medical history enriches our picture of the mid-twentiethcentury public's enthusiasm for medical progress.
American Journal of Public Health, 2002
American Journal of Public Health, 1997
The decades just before and after the founding of the American Public Health Association in 1872 ... more The decades just before and after the founding of the American Public Health Association in 1872 saw an efflorescence of political cartooning and caricature in national-circulation weeklies. Part of the political and social critique that cartoonists and their editors provided the public focused on needs or opportunities for preventing illness and accidents. This paper presents a small selection of editorial cartoons that agitated in support of public health activities over 4 decades. The goals are to illustrate several concerns that rose to national prominence in that era, to examine the kinds of imagery that newspapers and magazine editors offered their readers, and to observe how frequently the public was encouraged to see politicians and commercial interests as responsible for preventable health problems. This discussion focuses exclusively on propagandistic images, leaving aside the reportorial depictions of events in the news and the neutral illustrations of methods and machine...
Annals of Science, 2021
ABSTRACT The French chemist Louis Pasteur (1822–1895) chose to be actively engaged in the fine ar... more ABSTRACT The French chemist Louis Pasteur (1822–1895) chose to be actively engaged in the fine arts throughout his life—yet scholarship has ignored or dismissed these pursuits. This empirical study documents his unknown, but deep involvement with art and artists from age thirteen until his death. This was no casual pastime. Art animated Pasteur. It was also at times useful to him for making political statements, cultivating status, and supporting loyal friends. This account identifies nearly twenty significant friendships with painters and sculptors and uncovers over thirty other artists with whom his associations deserve examination. The narrative suggests points at which art was especially germane to his scientific career and possible junctures that merit further research. Evidence from his artistic friendships also corrects the common picture of Pasteur as a dour workaholic who never laughed or smiled.
Handbook of Popular Culture and Biomedicine, 2018
By attending to the graphic artistry that brought to life the medical history narratives in Ameri... more By attending to the graphic artistry that brought to life the medical history narratives in American comic books of the 1940s, this study adds a new dimension to the scholarly understanding of these books and of the Spanish-language medical and scientific biography comics published in Mexico from the mid-1950s to the mid-1970s. Prior studies have established the substantial presence of medical stories in comic book publications and argued that the history of medicine was present in popular culture of the era to an unprecedented and unnoticed extent. This chapter illustrates the exceptionally strong artwork used in some of the early examples in the genre. The essay examines style, esthetics, and the engagement of readers. Such an approach can highlight just what made specific drawing styles successful in conveying a story’s content. Furthermore, certain features of this graphic work are shown to be indebted to innovations in contemporary photojournalism. Additionally, one can observe a decline in the quality of the art over time when the genre replaced the unique strengths of comic book graphics and shifted to a traditional mode of illustration.
American Journal of Public Health, 2019
Canadian Bulletin of Medical History, 2019
To illuminate popular notions of medical progress during the inter-war era, this article examines... more To illuminate popular notions of medical progress during the inter-war era, this article examines four large mural projects depicting medical history. Aside from portraits of individual medical heroes, such as Pasteur and Lister, artists also created imagery strongly contrasting traditional and modern medicine in general. This analysis features the works of four stylistically distinct artists (Bernard Zakheim, Charles Alston, William C. Palmer, and Victor Arnautoff), whose 1930s murals may be viewed today in San Francisco, New York City (Harlem and Queens), and Palo Alto, California. These murals are significant works of art in themselves, and they form an unusual group of special interest to historians because they took on an uncommon subject for the fine arts – the history of medicine – rather than what had long been the far more common portrayal of medicine by artists, namely contemporary medical scenes from their own era.
Journal of the History of Medicine and Allied Sciences, 2017
ABSTRACT:Two groups of black-and-white photographs are found in medical rare book rooms and the c... more ABSTRACT:Two groups of black-and-white photographs are found in medical rare book rooms and the collections of historically minded physicians. They were created by artists Hiller and Sarra to bring medical history to life for members of the health professions and, to some extent, for a wider public. These were not didactic illustrations for a textbook, but elegant scenes of great figures from Antiquity to the nineteenth century, evocation not documentation even though they were based on research. As pieces of fine art, cherished in portfolios or framed on the wall, the quality prints were intended to stimulate curiosity about the achievements of the figures portrayed. While familiar to some archivists and librarians, these photographs have received almost no attention in the scholarship of medical history. Only one short article examined them in 1983. In recent years these photographers have been given new consideration by scholars of advertising and photography. Using those works and primary sources, this article expands both men's biographies, and it explores their working methods, their artistry, and their achievements. An appreciation of these photographs enlarges our understanding of the place of medical history in American culture during the first half of the twentieth century.
Journal of Glaciology, 1970
Much of the history of British geological thought in the second quarter of the nineteenth century... more Much of the history of British geological thought in the second quarter of the nineteenth century centered on problems which are now explained by reference to the events of the Ice Age. This paper reviews the data and theories then current among British geologists as the background of the British response to Louis Agassiz’s “modern” theory of a glacial epoch. Today, as we read Agassiz’s amazing speculation, our own sympathy for the striking accuracy of his ideas masks from us the difficulty they faced in gaining acceptance. By first examining the context into which the glacial theory was introduced, we can then appreciate the novelty of Agassiz's efforts and understand the long delay in their achieving prominence. The present examination suggests that this delay was due to the unfortunate merger of Agassiz’s new ideas with the older drift theory of Charles Lyell.
Journal of medical biography, Jan 29, 2015
Biographers have largely ignored Louis Pasteur's many and varied connections with art and art... more Biographers have largely ignored Louis Pasteur's many and varied connections with art and artists. This article is the third in a series of the authors' studies of Pasteur's friendships with artists. This research project has uncovered data that enlarge the great medical chemist's biography, throwing new light on a variety of topics including his work habits, his social life, his artistic sensibilities, his efforts to lobby on behalf of his artist friends, his relationships to their patrons and to his own patrons, and his use of works of art to foster his reputation as a leader in French medical science. In their first article, the authors examined his unique working relationship with the Finnish painter Albert Edelfelt and the creation of the famous portrait of Pasteur in his laboratory in the mid-1880s. A second study documented his especially warm friendship with three French artists who came from Pasteur's home region, the Jura, or from neighbouring Alsace. T...
Bulletin of the History of Medicine, 2015
Obstetrical & Gynecological Survey, 1986
American Scientist, 1986
... of these two be of greater force and efficacy, Natureor Art, whereto I answer and say that al... more ... of these two be of greater force and efficacy, Natureor Art, whereto I answer and say that al though Nature be mighty and mar ... fourteenth centu ry, Dorigen, a faithful wife awaiting her husband's return, challenges an unwanted suitor to remove every rock from the coast of Brittany. ...
Bulletin of the History of Medicine, 1999
American Journal of Public Health, 2002
This study explores the careers of 5 physicians active in public health and medicine during the f... more This study explores the careers of 5 physicians active in public health and medicine during the first half of the 20th century to illustrate interactions between private and professional life. An examination of these individuals, who might today be variously designated as gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, or queer, suggests how historical understanding can be enriched by a greater willingness to investigate intimacy and sexual life as potentially relevant to career and achievements. Further, the narratives support a plea for all historians to provide readers with a more frank acknowledgment of the possible relevance of personal life to intellectual work, even in the sciences. Additionally, this historical exploration of ways that careers and achievements may have been affected by a person's homosexuality (even when the person did not publicly embrace a gay identity) opens up a new area of research through biographical sketches based on historical sources combined with general...