CINXE.COM

<!DOCTYPE html> <html lang="en-GB" prefix="og: https://ogp.me/ns#"> <head> <meta charset="UTF-8"> <style>img:is([sizes="auto" i], [sizes^="auto," i]) { contain-intrinsic-size: 3000px 1500px }</style> <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1">  <title>Representations of girls in History of Disabilities</title> <meta name="description" content="Representations of girls in the History of Disabilities Gale digital archive, focusing on provisions for disabled girls in early twentieth-century Britain."/> <meta name="robots" content="index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-video-preview:-1, max-image-preview:large"/> <link rel="canonical" href="https://review.gale.com/2024/12/03/girls-in-the-history-of-disabilities/" /> <meta property="og:locale" content="en_GB" /> <meta property="og:type" content="article" /> <meta property="og:title" content="Representations of girls in History of Disabilities" /> <meta property="og:description" content="Representations of girls in the History of Disabilities Gale digital archive, focusing on provisions for disabled girls in early twentieth-century Britain." /> <meta property="og:url" content="https://review.gale.com/2024/12/03/girls-in-the-history-of-disabilities/" /> <meta property="article:tag" content="British Studies" /> <meta property="article:tag" content="Childhood" /> <meta property="article:tag" content="Disability" /> <meta property="article:tag" content="Gale Ambassadors" /> <meta property="article:tag" content="History of Disabilities Archive" /> <meta property="article:tag" content="Lucy McCormick" /> <meta property="article:tag" content="manuscripts" /> <meta property="article:tag" content="Social history" /> <meta property="article:tag" content="Student" /> <meta property="article:tag" content="twentieth-century history" /> <meta property="article:tag" content="University of Birmingham" /> <meta property="article:tag" content="Women’s Studies" /> <meta property="article:section" content="Digital Humanities" /> <meta property="og:updated_time" content="2024-12-03T11:42:50+00:00" /> <meta property="og:image" content="https://review.gale.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/Header-image.jpeg" /> <meta property="og:image:secure_url" content="https://review.gale.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/Header-image.jpeg" /> <meta property="og:image:width" content="1785" /> <meta property="og:image:height" content="1109" /> <meta property="og:image:alt" content="Disabilities" /> <meta property="og:image:type" content="image/jpeg" /> <meta property="article:published_time" content="2024-12-03T07:00:00+00:00" /> <meta property="article:modified_time" content="2024-12-03T11:42:50+00:00" /> <meta name="twitter:card" content="summary_large_image" /> <meta name="twitter:title" content="Representations of girls in History of Disabilities" /> <meta name="twitter:description" content="Representations of girls in the History of Disabilities Gale digital archive, focusing on provisions for disabled girls in early twentieth-century Britain." /> <meta name="twitter:site" content="@GaleEMEA" /> <meta name="twitter:creator" content="@GaleEMEA" /> <meta name="twitter:image" content="https://review.gale.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/Header-image.jpeg" /> <meta name="twitter:label1" content="Written by" /> <meta name="twitter:data1" content="Gale Ambassadors" /> <meta name="twitter:label2" content="Time to read" /> <meta name="twitter:data2" content="6 minutes" /> <script type="application/ld+json" class="rank-math-schema">{"@context":"https://schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https://review.gale.com/#organization","name":"The Gale Review","url":"https://review.gale.com","sameAs":["https://twitter.com/GaleEMEA","https://www.linkedin.com/company/16228981/admin/"],"logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https://review.gale.com/#logo","url":"https://review.gale.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/Gale_Logo_rgb_white_large-499x146-1-150x146.png","contentUrl":"https://review.gale.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/Gale_Logo_rgb_white_large-499x146-1-150x146.png","inLanguage":"en-GB"}},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https://review.gale.com/#website","url":"https://review.gale.com","publisher":{"@id":"https://review.gale.com/#organization"},"inLanguage":"en-GB"},{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https://review.gale.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/Header-image.jpeg","url":"https://review.gale.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/Header-image.jpeg","width":"1785","height":"1109","inLanguage":"en-GB"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://review.gale.com/2024/12/03/girls-in-the-history-of-disabilities/#webpage","url":"https://review.gale.com/2024/12/03/girls-in-the-history-of-disabilities/","name":"Representations of girls in History of Disabilities","datePublished":"2024-12-03T07:00:00+00:00","dateModified":"2024-12-03T11:42:50+00:00","isPartOf":{"@id":"https://review.gale.com/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https://review.gale.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/Header-image.jpeg"},"inLanguage":"en-GB"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https://review.gale.com/author/galeambassador/","name":"Gale Ambassadors","url":"https://review.gale.com/author/galeambassador/","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/398f6419e9733e3e4ad970ed4cdb3b24?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/398f6419e9733e3e4ad970ed4cdb3b24?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Gale Ambassadors","inLanguage":"en-GB"},"sameAs":["https://www.gale.com/intl"],"worksFor":{"@id":"https://review.gale.com/#organization"}},{"@type":"BlogPosting","headline":"Representations of girls in History of Disabilities","keywords":"Disabilities","datePublished":"2024-12-03T07:00:00+00:00","dateModified":"2024-12-03T11:42:50+00:00","author":{"@id":"https://review.gale.com/author/galeambassador/","name":"Gale Ambassadors"},"publisher":{"@id":"https://review.gale.com/#organization"},"description":"Representations of girls in the History of Disabilities Gale digital archive, focusing on provisions for disabled girls in early twentieth-century Britain.","name":"Representations of girls in History of Disabilities","@id":"https://review.gale.com/2024/12/03/girls-in-the-history-of-disabilities/#richSnippet","isPartOf":{"@id":"https://review.gale.com/2024/12/03/girls-in-the-history-of-disabilities/#webpage"},"image":{"@id":"https://review.gale.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/Header-image.jpeg"},"inLanguage":"en-GB","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https://review.gale.com/2024/12/03/girls-in-the-history-of-disabilities/#webpage"}}]}</script>  <link rel='dns-prefetch' href='//cdn.usefathom.com' /> <link rel='dns-prefetch' href='//www.googletagmanager.com' /> <link rel="alternate" type="application/rss+xml" title="The Gale Review » Feed" href="https://review.gale.com/feed/" /> <link rel="alternate" type="application/rss+xml" title="The Gale Review » Comments Feed" href="https://review.gale.com/comments/feed/" /> <script> window._wpemojiSettings = {"baseUrl":"https:\/\/s.w.org\/images\/core\/emoji\/15.0.3\/72x72\/","ext":".png","svgUrl":"https:\/\/s.w.org\/images\/core\/emoji\/15.0.3\/svg\/","svgExt":".svg","source":{"concatemoji":"https:\/\/review.gale.com\/wp-includes\/js\/wp-emoji-release.min.js?ver=6.7.1"}}; /*! This file is auto-generated */ !function(i,n){var o,s,e;function c(e){try{var t={supportTests:e,timestamp:(new Date).valueOf()};sessionStorage.setItem(o,JSON.stringify(t))}catch(e){}}function p(e,t,n){e.clearRect(0,0,e.canvas.width,e.canvas.height),e.fillText(t,0,0);var t=new Uint32Array(e.getImageData(0,0,e.canvas.width,e.canvas.height).data),r=(e.clearRect(0,0,e.canvas.width,e.canvas.height),e.fillText(n,0,0),new Uint32Array(e.getImageData(0,0,e.canvas.width,e.canvas.height).data));return t.every(function(e,t){return e===r[t]})}function u(e,t,n){switch(t){case"flag":return n(e,"\ud83c\udff3\ufe0f\u200d\u26a7\ufe0f","\ud83c\udff3\ufe0f\u200b\u26a7\ufe0f")?!1:!n(e,"\ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\uddf3","\ud83c\uddfa\u200b\ud83c\uddf3")&&!n(e,"\ud83c\udff4\udb40\udc67\udb40\udc62\udb40\udc65\udb40\udc6e\udb40\udc67\udb40\udc7f","\ud83c\udff4\u200b\udb40\udc67\u200b\udb40\udc62\u200b\udb40\udc65\u200b\udb40\udc6e\u200b\udb40\udc67\u200b\udb40\udc7f");case"emoji":return!n(e,"\ud83d\udc26\u200d\u2b1b","\ud83d\udc26\u200b\u2b1b")}return!1}function f(e,t,n){var r="undefined"!=typeof WorkerGlobalScope&&self instanceof WorkerGlobalScope?new OffscreenCanvas(300,150):i.createElement("canvas"),a=r.getContext("2d",{willReadFrequently:!0}),o=(a.textBaseline="top",a.font="600 32px Arial",{});return e.forEach(function(e){o[e]=t(a,e,n)}),o}function t(e){var t=i.createElement("script");t.src=e,t.defer=!0,i.head.appendChild(t)}"undefined"!=typeof Promise&&(o="wpEmojiSettingsSupports",s=["flag","emoji"],n.supports={everything:!0,everythingExceptFlag:!0},e=new Promise(function(e){i.addEventListener("DOMContentLoaded",e,{once:!0})}),new Promise(function(t){var n=function(){try{var e=JSON.parse(sessionStorage.getItem(o));if("object"==typeof e&&"number"==typeof e.timestamp&&(new Date).valueOf()<e.timestamp+604800&&"object"==typeof e.supportTests)return e.supportTests}catch(e){}return null}();if(!n){if("undefined"!=typeof Worker&&"undefined"!=typeof OffscreenCanvas&&"undefined"!=typeof URL&&URL.createObjectURL&&"undefined"!=typeof Blob)try{var e="postMessage("+f.toString()+"("+[JSON.stringify(s),u.toString(),p.toString()].join(",")+"));",r=new Blob([e],{type:"text/javascript"}),a=new Worker(URL.createObjectURL(r),{name:"wpTestEmojiSupports"});return void(a.onmessage=function(e){c(n=e.data),a.terminate(),t(n)})}catch(e){}c(n=f(s,u,p))}t(n)}).then(function(e){for(var t in e)n.supports[t]=e[t],n.supports.everything=n.supports.everything&&n.supports[t],"flag"!==t&&(n.supports.everythingExceptFlag=n.supports.everythingExceptFlag&&n.supports[t]);n.supports.everythingExceptFlag=n.supports.everythingExceptFlag&&!n.supports.flag,n.DOMReady=!1,n.readyCallback=function(){n.DOMReady=!0}}).then(function(){return e}).then(function(){var e;n.supports.everything||(n.readyCallback(),(e=n.source||{}).concatemoji?t(e.concatemoji):e.wpemoji&&e.twemoji&&(t(e.twemoji),t(e.wpemoji)))}))}((window,document),window._wpemojiSettings); </script> <style id='wp-emoji-styles-inline-css'> img.wp-smiley, img.emoji { display: inline !important; border: none !important; box-shadow: none !important; height: 1em !important; width: 1em !important; margin: 0 0.07em !important; vertical-align: -0.1em !important; background: none !important; padding: 0 !important; } </style> <link rel='stylesheet' id='wp-block-library-css' href='https://review.gale.com/wp-includes/css/dist/block-library/style.min.css?ver=6.7.1' media='all' /> <style id='rank-math-toc-block-style-inline-css'> .wp-block-rank-math-toc-block nav ol{counter-reset:item}.wp-block-rank-math-toc-block nav ol li{display:block}.wp-block-rank-math-toc-block nav ol li:before{content:counters(item, ".") ". ";counter-increment:item} </style> <style id='rank-math-rich-snippet-style-inline-css'> /*! * Plugin: Rank Math * URL: https://rankmath.com/wordpress/plugin/seo-suite/ * Name: rank-math-review-snippet.css */@-webkit-keyframes spin{0%{-webkit-transform:rotate(0deg)}100%{-webkit-transform:rotate(-360deg)}}@keyframes spin{0%{-webkit-transform:rotate(0deg)}100%{-webkit-transform:rotate(-360deg)}}@keyframes bounce{from{-webkit-transform:translateY(0px);transform:translateY(0px)}to{-webkit-transform:translateY(-5px);transform:translateY(-5px)}}@-webkit-keyframes bounce{from{-webkit-transform:translateY(0px);transform:translateY(0px)}to{-webkit-transform:translateY(-5px);transform:translateY(-5px)}}@-webkit-keyframes loading{0%{background-size:20% 50% ,20% 50% ,20% 50%}20%{background-size:20% 20% ,20% 50% ,20% 50%}40%{background-size:20% 100%,20% 20% ,20% 50%}60%{background-size:20% 50% ,20% 100%,20% 20%}80%{background-size:20% 50% ,20% 50% ,20% 100%}100%{background-size:20% 50% ,20% 50% ,20% 50%}}@keyframes loading{0%{background-size:20% 50% ,20% 50% ,20% 50%}20%{background-size:20% 20% ,20% 50% ,20% 50%}40%{background-size:20% 100%,20% 20% ,20% 50%}60%{background-size:20% 50% ,20% 100%,20% 20%}80%{background-size:20% 50% ,20% 50% ,20% 100%}100%{background-size:20% 50% ,20% 50% ,20% 50%}}:root{--rankmath-wp-adminbar-height: 0}#rank-math-rich-snippet-wrapper{overflow:hidden}#rank-math-rich-snippet-wrapper h5.rank-math-title{display:block;font-size:18px;line-height:1.4}#rank-math-rich-snippet-wrapper .rank-math-review-image{float:right;max-width:40%;margin-left:15px}#rank-math-rich-snippet-wrapper .rank-math-review-data{margin-bottom:15px}#rank-math-rich-snippet-wrapper .rank-math-total-wrapper{width:100%;padding:0 0 20px 0;float:left;clear:both;position:relative;-webkit-box-sizing:border-box;box-sizing:border-box}#rank-math-rich-snippet-wrapper .rank-math-total-wrapper .rank-math-total{border:0;display:block;margin:0;width:auto;float:left;text-align:left;padding:0;font-size:24px;line-height:1;font-weight:700;-webkit-box-sizing:border-box;box-sizing:border-box;overflow:hidden}#rank-math-rich-snippet-wrapper .rank-math-total-wrapper .rank-math-review-star{float:left;margin-left:15px;margin-top:5px;position:relative;z-index:99;line-height:1}#rank-math-rich-snippet-wrapper .rank-math-total-wrapper .rank-math-review-star .rank-math-review-result-wrapper{display:inline-block;white-space:nowrap;position:relative;color:#e7e7e7}#rank-math-rich-snippet-wrapper .rank-math-total-wrapper .rank-math-review-star .rank-math-review-result-wrapper .rank-math-review-result{position:absolute;top:0;left:0;overflow:hidden;white-space:nowrap;color:#ffbe01}#rank-math-rich-snippet-wrapper .rank-math-total-wrapper .rank-math-review-star .rank-math-review-result-wrapper i{font-size:18px;-webkit-text-stroke-width:1px;font-style:normal;padding:0 2px;line-height:inherit}#rank-math-rich-snippet-wrapper .rank-math-total-wrapper .rank-math-review-star .rank-math-review-result-wrapper i:before{content:"\2605"}body.rtl #rank-math-rich-snippet-wrapper .rank-math-review-image{float:left;margin-left:0;margin-right:15px}body.rtl #rank-math-rich-snippet-wrapper .rank-math-total-wrapper .rank-math-total{float:right}body.rtl #rank-math-rich-snippet-wrapper .rank-math-total-wrapper .rank-math-review-star{float:right;margin-left:0;margin-right:15px}body.rtl #rank-math-rich-snippet-wrapper .rank-math-total-wrapper .rank-math-review-star .rank-math-review-result{left:auto;right:0}@media screen and (max-width: 480px){#rank-math-rich-snippet-wrapper .rank-math-review-image{display:block;max-width:100%;width:100%;text-align:center;margin-right:0}#rank-math-rich-snippet-wrapper .rank-math-review-data{clear:both}}.clear{clear:both} </style> <style id='classic-theme-styles-inline-css'> /*! This file is auto-generated */ .wp-block-button__link{color:#fff;background-color:#32373c;border-radius:9999px;box-shadow:none;text-decoration:none;padding:calc(.667em + 2px) calc(1.333em + 2px);font-size:1.125em}.wp-block-file__button{background:#32373c;color:#fff;text-decoration:none} </style> <style id='global-styles-inline-css'> :root{--wp--preset--aspect-ratio--square: 1;--wp--preset--aspect-ratio--4-3: 4/3;--wp--preset--aspect-ratio--3-4: 3/4;--wp--preset--aspect-ratio--3-2: 3/2;--wp--preset--aspect-ratio--2-3: 2/3;--wp--preset--aspect-ratio--16-9: 16/9;--wp--preset--aspect-ratio--9-16: 9/16;--wp--preset--color--black: #000000;--wp--preset--color--cyan-bluish-gray: #abb8c3;--wp--preset--color--white: #ffffff;--wp--preset--color--pale-pink: #f78da7;--wp--preset--color--vivid-red: #cf2e2e;--wp--preset--color--luminous-vivid-orange: #ff6900;--wp--preset--color--luminous-vivid-amber: #fcb900;--wp--preset--color--light-green-cyan: #7bdcb5;--wp--preset--color--vivid-green-cyan: #00d084;--wp--preset--color--pale-cyan-blue: #8ed1fc;--wp--preset--color--vivid-cyan-blue: #0693e3;--wp--preset--color--vivid-purple: #9b51e0;--wp--preset--color--contrast: var(--contrast);--wp--preset--color--contrast-2: var(--contrast-2);--wp--preset--color--contrast-3: var(--contrast-3);--wp--preset--color--base: var(--base);--wp--preset--color--base-2: var(--base-2);--wp--preset--color--base-3: var(--base-3);--wp--preset--color--accent: var(--accent);--wp--preset--gradient--vivid-cyan-blue-to-vivid-purple: linear-gradient(135deg,rgba(6,147,227,1) 0%,rgb(155,81,224) 100%);--wp--preset--gradient--light-green-cyan-to-vivid-green-cyan: linear-gradient(135deg,rgb(122,220,180) 0%,rgb(0,208,130) 100%);--wp--preset--gradient--luminous-vivid-amber-to-luminous-vivid-orange: linear-gradient(135deg,rgba(252,185,0,1) 0%,rgba(255,105,0,1) 100%);--wp--preset--gradient--luminous-vivid-orange-to-vivid-red: linear-gradient(135deg,rgba(255,105,0,1) 0%,rgb(207,46,46) 100%);--wp--preset--gradient--very-light-gray-to-cyan-bluish-gray: linear-gradient(135deg,rgb(238,238,238) 0%,rgb(169,184,195) 100%);--wp--preset--gradient--cool-to-warm-spectrum: linear-gradient(135deg,rgb(74,234,220) 0%,rgb(151,120,209) 20%,rgb(207,42,186) 40%,rgb(238,44,130) 60%,rgb(251,105,98) 80%,rgb(254,248,76) 100%);--wp--preset--gradient--blush-light-purple: linear-gradient(135deg,rgb(255,206,236) 0%,rgb(152,150,240) 100%);--wp--preset--gradient--blush-bordeaux: linear-gradient(135deg,rgb(254,205,165) 0%,rgb(254,45,45) 50%,rgb(107,0,62) 100%);--wp--preset--gradient--luminous-dusk: linear-gradient(135deg,rgb(255,203,112) 0%,rgb(199,81,192) 50%,rgb(65,88,208) 100%);--wp--preset--gradient--pale-ocean: linear-gradient(135deg,rgb(255,245,203) 0%,rgb(182,227,212) 50%,rgb(51,167,181) 100%);--wp--preset--gradient--electric-grass: linear-gradient(135deg,rgb(202,248,128) 0%,rgb(113,206,126) 100%);--wp--preset--gradient--midnight: linear-gradient(135deg,rgb(2,3,129) 0%,rgb(40,116,252) 100%);--wp--preset--font-size--small: 13px;--wp--preset--font-size--medium: 20px;--wp--preset--font-size--large: 36px;--wp--preset--font-size--x-large: 42px;--wp--preset--spacing--20: 0.44rem;--wp--preset--spacing--30: 0.67rem;--wp--preset--spacing--40: 1rem;--wp--preset--spacing--50: 1.5rem;--wp--preset--spacing--60: 2.25rem;--wp--preset--spacing--70: 3.38rem;--wp--preset--spacing--80: 5.06rem;--wp--preset--shadow--natural: 6px 6px 9px rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.2);--wp--preset--shadow--deep: 12px 12px 50px rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.4);--wp--preset--shadow--sharp: 6px 6px 0px rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.2);--wp--preset--shadow--outlined: 6px 6px 0px -3px rgba(255, 255, 255, 1), 6px 6px rgba(0, 0, 0, 1);--wp--preset--shadow--crisp: 6px 6px 0px rgba(0, 0, 0, 1);}:where(.is-layout-flex){gap: 0.5em;}:where(.is-layout-grid){gap: 0.5em;}body .is-layout-flex{display: flex;}.is-layout-flex{flex-wrap: wrap;align-items: center;}.is-layout-flex > :is(*, div){margin: 0;}body .is-layout-grid{display: grid;}.is-layout-grid > :is(*, div){margin: 0;}:where(.wp-block-columns.is-layout-flex){gap: 2em;}:where(.wp-block-columns.is-layout-grid){gap: 2em;}:where(.wp-block-post-template.is-layout-flex){gap: 1.25em;}:where(.wp-block-post-template.is-layout-grid){gap: 1.25em;}.has-black-color{color: var(--wp--preset--color--black) !important;}.has-cyan-bluish-gray-color{color: var(--wp--preset--color--cyan-bluish-gray) !important;}.has-white-color{color: var(--wp--preset--color--white) !important;}.has-pale-pink-color{color: var(--wp--preset--color--pale-pink) !important;}.has-vivid-red-color{color: var(--wp--preset--color--vivid-red) !important;}.has-luminous-vivid-orange-color{color: var(--wp--preset--color--luminous-vivid-orange) !important;}.has-luminous-vivid-amber-color{color: var(--wp--preset--color--luminous-vivid-amber) !important;}.has-light-green-cyan-color{color: var(--wp--preset--color--light-green-cyan) !important;}.has-vivid-green-cyan-color{color: var(--wp--preset--color--vivid-green-cyan) !important;}.has-pale-cyan-blue-color{color: var(--wp--preset--color--pale-cyan-blue) !important;}.has-vivid-cyan-blue-color{color: var(--wp--preset--color--vivid-cyan-blue) !important;}.has-vivid-purple-color{color: var(--wp--preset--color--vivid-purple) !important;}.has-black-background-color{background-color: var(--wp--preset--color--black) !important;}.has-cyan-bluish-gray-background-color{background-color: var(--wp--preset--color--cyan-bluish-gray) !important;}.has-white-background-color{background-color: var(--wp--preset--color--white) !important;}.has-pale-pink-background-color{background-color: var(--wp--preset--color--pale-pink) !important;}.has-vivid-red-background-color{background-color: var(--wp--preset--color--vivid-red) !important;}.has-luminous-vivid-orange-background-color{background-color: var(--wp--preset--color--luminous-vivid-orange) !important;}.has-luminous-vivid-amber-background-color{background-color: var(--wp--preset--color--luminous-vivid-amber) !important;}.has-light-green-cyan-background-color{background-color: var(--wp--preset--color--light-green-cyan) !important;}.has-vivid-green-cyan-background-color{background-color: var(--wp--preset--color--vivid-green-cyan) !important;}.has-pale-cyan-blue-background-color{background-color: var(--wp--preset--color--pale-cyan-blue) !important;}.has-vivid-cyan-blue-background-color{background-color: var(--wp--preset--color--vivid-cyan-blue) !important;}.has-vivid-purple-background-color{background-color: var(--wp--preset--color--vivid-purple) !important;}.has-black-border-color{border-color: var(--wp--preset--color--black) !important;}.has-cyan-bluish-gray-border-color{border-color: var(--wp--preset--color--cyan-bluish-gray) !important;}.has-white-border-color{border-color: var(--wp--preset--color--white) !important;}.has-pale-pink-border-color{border-color: var(--wp--preset--color--pale-pink) !important;}.has-vivid-red-border-color{border-color: var(--wp--preset--color--vivid-red) !important;}.has-luminous-vivid-orange-border-color{border-color: var(--wp--preset--color--luminous-vivid-orange) !important;}.has-luminous-vivid-amber-border-color{border-color: var(--wp--preset--color--luminous-vivid-amber) !important;}.has-light-green-cyan-border-color{border-color: var(--wp--preset--color--light-green-cyan) !important;}.has-vivid-green-cyan-border-color{border-color: var(--wp--preset--color--vivid-green-cyan) !important;}.has-pale-cyan-blue-border-color{border-color: var(--wp--preset--color--pale-cyan-blue) !important;}.has-vivid-cyan-blue-border-color{border-color: var(--wp--preset--color--vivid-cyan-blue) !important;}.has-vivid-purple-border-color{border-color: var(--wp--preset--color--vivid-purple) !important;}.has-vivid-cyan-blue-to-vivid-purple-gradient-background{background: var(--wp--preset--gradient--vivid-cyan-blue-to-vivid-purple) !important;}.has-light-green-cyan-to-vivid-green-cyan-gradient-background{background: var(--wp--preset--gradient--light-green-cyan-to-vivid-green-cyan) !important;}.has-luminous-vivid-amber-to-luminous-vivid-orange-gradient-background{background: var(--wp--preset--gradient--luminous-vivid-amber-to-luminous-vivid-orange) !important;}.has-luminous-vivid-orange-to-vivid-red-gradient-background{background: var(--wp--preset--gradient--luminous-vivid-orange-to-vivid-red) !important;}.has-very-light-gray-to-cyan-bluish-gray-gradient-background{background: var(--wp--preset--gradient--very-light-gray-to-cyan-bluish-gray) !important;}.has-cool-to-warm-spectrum-gradient-background{background: var(--wp--preset--gradient--cool-to-warm-spectrum) !important;}.has-blush-light-purple-gradient-background{background: var(--wp--preset--gradient--blush-light-purple) !important;}.has-blush-bordeaux-gradient-background{background: var(--wp--preset--gradient--blush-bordeaux) !important;}.has-luminous-dusk-gradient-background{background: var(--wp--preset--gradient--luminous-dusk) !important;}.has-pale-ocean-gradient-background{background: var(--wp--preset--gradient--pale-ocean) !important;}.has-electric-grass-gradient-background{background: var(--wp--preset--gradient--electric-grass) !important;}.has-midnight-gradient-background{background: var(--wp--preset--gradient--midnight) !important;}.has-small-font-size{font-size: var(--wp--preset--font-size--small) !important;}.has-medium-font-size{font-size: var(--wp--preset--font-size--medium) !important;}.has-large-font-size{font-size: var(--wp--preset--font-size--large) !important;}.has-x-large-font-size{font-size: var(--wp--preset--font-size--x-large) !important;} :where(.wp-block-post-template.is-layout-flex){gap: 1.25em;}:where(.wp-block-post-template.is-layout-grid){gap: 1.25em;} :where(.wp-block-columns.is-layout-flex){gap: 2em;}:where(.wp-block-columns.is-layout-grid){gap: 2em;} :root :where(.wp-block-pullquote){font-size: 1.5em;line-height: 1.6;} </style> <link rel='stylesheet' id='email-subscribers-css' href='https://review.gale.com/wp-content/plugins/email-subscribers/lite/public/css/email-subscribers-public.css?ver=5.7.49' media='all' /> <link rel='stylesheet' id='generate-style-css' href='https://review.gale.com/wp-content/themes/generatepress/assets/css/all.min.css?ver=3.5.1' media='all' /> <style id='generate-style-inline-css'> @media (max-width:768px){.main-navigation .menu-toggle,.main-navigation .mobile-bar-items,.sidebar-nav-mobile:not(#sticky-placeholder){display:block;}.main-navigation ul,.gen-sidebar-nav{display:none;}[class*="nav-float-"] .site-header .inside-header > *{float:none;clear:both;}} .dynamic-author-image-rounded{border-radius:100%;}.dynamic-featured-image, .dynamic-author-image{vertical-align:middle;}.one-container.blog .dynamic-content-template:not(:last-child), .one-container.archive .dynamic-content-template:not(:last-child){padding-bottom:0px;}.dynamic-entry-excerpt > p:last-child{margin-bottom:0px;} </style> <link rel='stylesheet' id='generate-font-icons-css' href='https://review.gale.com/wp-content/themes/generatepress/assets/css/components/font-icons.min.css?ver=3.5.1' media='all' /> <link rel='stylesheet' id='generatepress-dynamic-css' href='https://review.gale.com/wp-content/uploads/generatepress/style.min.css?ver=1725550864' media='all' /> <link rel='stylesheet' id='generate-child-css' href='https://review.gale.com/wp-content/themes/generatepress_child/style.css?ver=1719184632' media='all' /> <style id='kadence-blocks-global-variables-inline-css'> :root {--global-kb-font-size-sm:clamp(0.8rem, 0.73rem + 0.217vw, 0.9rem);--global-kb-font-size-md:clamp(1.1rem, 0.995rem + 0.326vw, 1.25rem);--global-kb-font-size-lg:clamp(1.75rem, 1.576rem + 0.543vw, 2rem);--global-kb-font-size-xl:clamp(2.25rem, 1.728rem + 1.63vw, 3rem);--global-kb-font-size-xxl:clamp(2.5rem, 1.456rem + 3.26vw, 4rem);--global-kb-font-size-xxxl:clamp(2.75rem, 0.489rem + 7.065vw, 6rem);}:root {--global-palette1: #3182CE;--global-palette2: #2B6CB0;--global-palette3: #1A202C;--global-palette4: #2D3748;--global-palette5: #4A5568;--global-palette6: #718096;--global-palette7: #EDF2F7;--global-palette8: #F7FAFC;--global-palette9: #ffffff;} </style> <script src="https://review.gale.com/wp-includes/js/jquery/jquery.min.js?ver=3.7.1" id="jquery-core-js"></script> <script src="https://review.gale.com/wp-includes/js/jquery/jquery-migrate.min.js?ver=3.4.1" id="jquery-migrate-js"></script> <script src="https://cdn.usefathom.com/script.js" id="fathom-snippet-js" defer data-wp-strategy="defer" data-site="SEKDYAJA" data-no-minify></script> <link rel="https://api.w.org/" href="https://review.gale.com/wp-json/" /><link rel="alternate" title="JSON" type="application/json" href="https://review.gale.com/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/15675" /><link rel="EditURI" type="application/rsd+xml" title="RSD" href="https://review.gale.com/xmlrpc.php?rsd" /> <link rel='shortlink' href='https://review.gale.com/?p=15675' /> <link rel="alternate" title="oEmbed (JSON)" type="application/json+oembed" href="https://review.gale.com/wp-json/oembed/1.0/embed?url=https%3A%2F%2Freview.gale.com%2F2024%2F12%2F03%2Fgirls-in-the-history-of-disabilities%2F" /> <link rel="alternate" title="oEmbed (XML)" type="text/xml+oembed" href="https://review.gale.com/wp-json/oembed/1.0/embed?url=https%3A%2F%2Freview.gale.com%2F2024%2F12%2F03%2Fgirls-in-the-history-of-disabilities%2F&format=xml" /> <meta name="generator" content="Site Kit by Google 1.145.0" />  <script> ( function( w, d, s, l, i ) { w[l] = w[l] || []; w[l].push( {'gtm.start': new Date().getTime(), event: 'gtm.js'} ); var f = d.getElementsByTagName( s )[0], j = d.createElement( s ), dl = l != 'dataLayer' ? '&l=' + l : ''; j.async = true; j.src = 'https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id=' + i + dl; f.parentNode.insertBefore( j, f ); } )( window, document, 'script', 'dataLayer', 'GTM-MCRG9V' ); </script>  <link rel="icon" href="https://review.gale.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/cropped-Gale_NewLogo_BlueGradients-Copy-1-32x32.png" sizes="32x32" /> <link rel="icon" href="https://review.gale.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/cropped-Gale_NewLogo_BlueGradients-Copy-1-192x192.png" sizes="192x192" /> <link rel="apple-touch-icon" href="https://review.gale.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/cropped-Gale_NewLogo_BlueGradients-Copy-1-180x180.png" /> <meta name="msapplication-TileImage" content="https://review.gale.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/cropped-Gale_NewLogo_BlueGradients-Copy-1-270x270.png" /> <style id="wp-custom-css"> .site-branding-container { display: grid; grid-template-columns: 1fr 2fr 1fr; } .site-branding { text-align: center !important; } @media (max-width: 1200px) { .site-branding-container { grid-template-columns: 1fr; } .site-logo { text-align: center; margin-bottom: 10px; } } figcaption { font-size: 75%; opacity: .8; } #author-box { min-height: 10px; background-color: #F0F0F1; padding: 20px; } #author-box img { float: left; margin-right: 20px; margin-bottom: 10px; max-width: 150px; max-height: 150px; } #author-box p:nth-child(1) { font-weight: bold; } .kb-row-layout-wrap.kb-row-layout-id14771_1644c6-06.alignnone.has-base-background-color.kt-row-has-bg.wp-block-kadence-rowlayout { display: none; } </style> </head> <body class="post-template-default single single-post postid-15675 single-format-standard wp-custom-logo wp-embed-responsive right-sidebar nav-below-header separate-containers fluid-header active-footer-widgets-0 nav-search-enabled nav-aligned-left header-aligned-center dropdown-hover featured-image-active" itemtype="https://schema.org/Blog" itemscope>  <noscript> <iframe src="https://www.googletagmanager.com/ns.html?id=GTM-MCRG9V" height="0" width="0" style="display:none;visibility:hidden"></iframe> </noscript>  <a class="screen-reader-text skip-link" href="#content" title="Skip to content">Skip to content</a> <header class="site-header" id="masthead" aria-label="Site" itemtype="https://schema.org/WPHeader" itemscope> <div class="inside-header grid-container grid-parent"> <div class="site-branding-container"><div class="site-logo"> <a href="https://review.gale.com/" rel="home"> <img class="header-image is-logo-image" alt="The Gale Review" src="https://review.gale.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/Gale_Logo_rgb_white_large-499x146-1.png" /> </a> </div><div class="site-branding"> <p class="main-title" itemprop="headline"> <a href="https://review.gale.com/" rel="home">The Gale Review</a> </p> <p class="site-description" itemprop="description">A blog from Gale International</p> </div></div> </div> </header> <nav class="main-navigation sub-menu-right" id="site-navigation" aria-label="Primary" itemtype="https://schema.org/SiteNavigationElement" itemscope> <div class="inside-navigation grid-container grid-parent"> <form method="get" class="search-form navigation-search" action="https://review.gale.com/"> <input type="search" class="search-field" value="" name="s" title="Search" /> </form> <div class="mobile-bar-items"> <span class="search-item"> <a aria-label="Open Search Bar" href="#"> </a> </span> </div> <button class="menu-toggle" aria-controls="primary-menu" aria-expanded="false"> <span class="mobile-menu">Menu</span> </button> <div id="primary-menu" class="main-nav"><ul id="menu-menu-1" class=" menu sf-menu"><li id="menu-item-10465" class="menu-item menu-item-type-post_type menu-item-object-page menu-item-home menu-item-10465"><a href="https://review.gale.com/">Welcome to The Gale Review</a></li> <li id="menu-item-12338" class="menu-item menu-item-type-taxonomy menu-item-object-category current-post-ancestor current-menu-parent current-post-parent menu-item-12338"><a href="https://review.gale.com/category/key-categories/digital-humanities/">Digital Humanities</a></li> <li id="menu-item-12339" class="menu-item menu-item-type-taxonomy menu-item-object-category menu-item-12339"><a href="https://review.gale.com/category/key-categories/for-students/">For Students</a></li> <li id="menu-item-12340" class="menu-item menu-item-type-taxonomy menu-item-object-category menu-item-12340"><a href="https://review.gale.com/category/key-categories/for-lecturers/">For Academics</a></li> <li id="menu-item-7869" class="menu-item menu-item-type-post_type menu-item-object-page menu-item-7869"><a href="https://review.gale.com/subscribe-to-the-gale-review/">Subscribe to The Gale Review</a></li> <li id="menu-item-10477" class="menu-item menu-item-type-post_type menu-item-object-page current_page_parent menu-item-10477"><a href="https://review.gale.com/all-blog-posts/">All Blog Posts</a></li> <li class="search-item menu-item-align-right"><a aria-label="Open Search Bar" href="#"></a></li></ul></div> </div> </nav> <div class="site grid-container container hfeed grid-parent" id="page"> <div class="site-content" id="content"> <div class="content-area grid-parent mobile-grid-100 grid-75 tablet-grid-75" id="primary"> <main class="site-main" id="main"> <article id="post-15675" class="post-15675 post type-post status-publish format-standard has-post-thumbnail hentry category-digital-humanities category-gale-ambassadors category-society-and-politics tag-british-studies tag-childhood tag-disability tag-gale-ambassadors tag-history-of-disabilities-archive tag-lucy-mccormick tag-manuscripts tag-social-history tag-student tag-twentieth-century-history tag-university-of-birmingham tag-womens-studies-2" itemtype="https://schema.org/CreativeWork" itemscope> <div class="inside-article"> <div class="featured-image page-header-image-single grid-container grid-parent"> <img width="1785" height="1109" src="https://review.gale.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/Header-image.jpeg" class="attachment-full size-full wp-post-image" alt="" itemprop="image" decoding="async" fetchpriority="high" srcset="https://review.gale.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/Header-image.jpeg 1785w, https://review.gale.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/Header-image-300x186.jpeg 300w, https://review.gale.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/Header-image-1024x636.jpeg 1024w, https://review.gale.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/Header-image-768x477.jpeg 768w, https://review.gale.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/Header-image-1536x954.jpeg 1536w" sizes="(max-width: 1785px) 100vw, 1785px" /> </div> <header class="entry-header"> <h1 class="entry-title" itemprop="headline">Representations of Girls in <i>History of Disabilities: Disabilities in Society, Seventeenth to Twentieth Century</i></h1> <div class="entry-meta"> <span class="posted-on"><time class="updated" datetime="2024-12-03T11:42:50+00:00" itemprop="dateModified">December 3, 2024</time><time class="entry-date published" datetime="2024-12-03T07:00:00+00:00" itemprop="datePublished">December 3, 2024</time></span> <span class="byline">by <span class="author vcard" itemprop="author" itemtype="https://schema.org/Person" itemscope><a class="url fn n" href="https://review.gale.com/author/galeambassador/" title="View all posts by Gale Ambassadors" rel="author" itemprop="url"><span class="author-name" itemprop="name">Gale Ambassadors</span></a></span></span> </div> </header> <div class="entry-content" itemprop="text"> <p><strong>│By Lucy McCormick, Gale Ambassador at the University of Birmingham│</strong></p> <p>Earlier this year, Gale launched <a href="https://www.gale.com/intl/c/history-of-disabilities-disabilities-in-society-seventeenth-to-twentieth-century" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow"><em>History</em> <em>of Disabilities: Disabilities in Society, Seventeenth to Twentieth Century</em></a> – a rich digital archive of monographs, manuscripts, and ephemera, sourced from the New York Academy of Medicine. This offers countless avenues for exciting historical research. To provide an example, this blog will focus on homes for disabled girls in early twentieth-century Britain, aiming to demonstrate the value of Gale’s sources to help us learn about attitudes towards disability in the past.</p> <h4 class="wp-block-heading"><strong>Content Advisory</strong></h4> <div id="author-box"> Some sources in this archive use language to describe disability which may be offensive, some of which the editors of the archive have compiled into a <a href="https://go.gale.com/ps/helpCenter?userGroupName=webdemo&nspage=true&prodId=HODI&docId=IJOQXJ719043881&title=Language%20and%20Terminology&sid=bookmark-HODI&asid=228cb458" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank"> glossary</a>. Some of this language was once deemed appropriate within the medical establishment or society at large but is no longer acceptable, and other examples were intended to be discriminatory and derogatory. </p> <p>It is always important to be conscientious of the potency of the language we use in relation to marginalised groups – and historical research offers a powerful opportunity to challenge such language.</p></div> <div style="height:30px" aria-hidden="true" class="wp-block-spacer"></div> <h4 class="wp-block-heading"><strong>Context</strong></h4> <p>Throughout the nineteenth century, the medical establishment, government, and society conceived punitive ways to confine disabled people. For instance, the 1834 Poor Law Act sent disabled people to workhouses in which they endured brutal working and living conditions. With the emergence of the welfare state, increasing attention from social reformers, and philanthropic efforts, provisions and attitudes towards disability looked different in the early twentieth century. Some aspects of this were forward-thinking, others discriminatory.</p> <p>Children’s experiences within this context are often difficult to trace, but we can look to reports from those new institutions to learn more.</p> <h4 class="wp-block-heading"><strong>St. Catherine’s Home for Crippled Girls</strong></h4> <p>Its <a href="https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/AAFWEV289001270/HODI?u=webdemo&sid=bookmark-HODI&xid=418a3976&pg=30" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">annual reports</a> reveal that St. Catherine’s was founded in Croydon in 1910 “to provide a home and employment for several crippled girls”. Describing its resident children as ‘inmates’ and ‘cripples’, St. Catherine’s employed the derogatory language of its nineteenth-century predecessors. These young women “contribute[d] towards their support by doing fine sewing, embroidery, drawn thread work, crotchet, initials, monograms, and fancy work of all kinds”. Had much changed since the workhouse?</p> <div class="wp-block-image"> <figure class="aligncenter size-large is-resized"><a href="https://review.gale.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/StCat.jpeg"><img decoding="async" width="774" height="1024" src="https://review.gale.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/StCat-774x1024.jpeg" alt="Document image of McMurtrie Volume N130 McM. 1909-1914. MS Douglas C. McMurtrie Cripples Collection." class="wp-image-15674" style="width:597px;height:auto" srcset="https://review.gale.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/StCat-774x1024.jpeg 774w, https://review.gale.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/StCat-227x300.jpeg 227w, https://review.gale.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/StCat-768x1017.jpeg 768w, https://review.gale.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/StCat-1160x1536.jpeg 1160w, https://review.gale.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/StCat.jpeg 1471w" sizes="(max-width: 774px) 100vw, 774px" /></a><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">McMurtrie Volume N130 McM. 1909-1914. MS Douglas C. McMurtrie Cripples Collection. New York Academy of Medicine. <em>History of Disabilities</em><br><a href="https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/AAFWEV289001270/HODI?u=webdemo&sid=bookmark-HODI&xid=418a3976&pg=30" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/AAFWEV289001270/HODI?u=webdemo&sid=bookmark-HODI&xid=418a3976&pg=30</a></figcaption></figure></div> <p>Perhaps we see the ethos of the nascent welfare state materialise. From the 1912 annual report, we learn more about the children: one of the nine residents was an amputee, and the home “provide[d] her with an artificial limb, so that she can now walk without crutches. Another girl with a paralysed leg has been supplied with a new splint and high boot”.</p> <p>Unlike its Victorian precedents, St. Catherine’s took pride in the support it gave to these children. St. Catherine’s trained young women in marketable skills, whilst also providing care and accommodation. The relics of disparaging nineteenth-century language clash with the benevolence of their actions; St. Catherine’s seems to emblematise the ambiguity and mutability of attitudes towards disability in early twentieth-century Britain.</p> <h4 class="wp-block-heading"><strong>The Watercress and Flower Girls’ Christian Mission</strong></h4> <p>The Watercress and Flower Girls’ Christian Mission offers another interesting example of those changing attitudes:</p> <p><em>“The State has undertaken the education of the children, the protection of the helpless child, and the clearing of the streets of the child hawker, and great and beneficial as the result has been to the Nation, there still however remains, neglected and suffering, untouched by the State, the crippled, maimed, and afflicted child, made so by disease, accident, or cruelty, found on crutches in the streets, or lying on the doorsteps in the slums, or, worse still, in the cellars or garrets”.</em> (<a href="https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/AMDOFR202227628/HODI?u=webdemo&sid=bookmark-HODI&xid=f77622bc&pg=179" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Forty-Third Annual Report</a> of the Watercress and Flower Girls’ Christian Mission, p.12.)</p> <p>Flower girls were a common sight on the streets of early twentieth-century London. Often orphans, young girls prepared bunches of flowers or watercress to sell to passersby. Philanthropist John Groom established what he called a ‘crippleage’ – an orphanage for these girls, many of whom were disabled. He trained them to craft artificial flowers (a fashion of the time) or to enter domestic service.</p> <p>The <a href="https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/AMDOFR202227628/HODI?u=webdemo&sid=bookmark-HODI&xid=f77622bc&pg=171" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Forty-Third Annual Report</a> informs us that the Mission was comprised of several branches, including an “orphanage home for little waif girls”, a “holiday home for blind and crippled girls”, and a “crippleage and sanatorium”. It boasted that the “flower-making branch now trains and employs nearly 300 maimed, blind, and crippled girls”.</p> <div class="wp-block-image"> <figure class="aligncenter size-large"><a href="https://review.gale.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/Flower-girls.jpeg"><img decoding="async" width="1024" height="625" src="https://review.gale.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/Flower-girls-1024x625.jpeg" alt="Image of Flower girls producing artificial flowers in one of Groom's workrooms." class="wp-image-15670" srcset="https://review.gale.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/Flower-girls-1024x625.jpeg 1024w, https://review.gale.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/Flower-girls-300x183.jpeg 300w, https://review.gale.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/Flower-girls-768x468.jpeg 768w, https://review.gale.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/Flower-girls-1536x937.jpeg 1536w, https://review.gale.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/Flower-girls-2048x1249.jpeg 2048w" sizes="(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /></a><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Flower girls producing artificial flowers in one of Groom’s workrooms. McMurtrie Volume K104 McM. 1908-1915. MS Douglas C. McMurtrie Cripples Collection. New York Academy of Medicine. <em>History of Disabilities</em> <a href="https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/AMDOFR202227628/HODI?u=webdemo&sid=bookmark-HODI&xid=f77622bc&pg=174" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/AMDOFR202227628/HODI?u=webdemo&sid=bookmark-HODI&xid=f77622bc&pg=174</a></figcaption></figure></div> <p>Much like St. Catherine’s, it is evident that benevolent intentions drove such efforts: Groom’s orphanage proudly declared that its “staff is devoted to its work, and the inmates show by their healthy and happy condition the advantages of these Homes to them”. However, it is difficult for the twenty-first-century reader to look past the disparaging language used to describe disabled children.</p> <div class="wp-block-image"> <figure class="aligncenter size-full"><a href="https://review.gale.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/St-Chads.jpg"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="686" height="454" src="https://review.gale.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/St-Chads.jpg" alt="Image of three girls at St. Chad's Home for Crippled Girls, Far Headingley, near Leeds." class="wp-image-15673" srcset="https://review.gale.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/St-Chads.jpg 686w, https://review.gale.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/St-Chads-300x199.jpg 300w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 686px) 100vw, 686px" /></a><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">St. Chad’s Home for Crippled Girls, Far Headingley, near Leeds. McMurtrie Volume C23 McM. 1911-1918. MS Douglas C. McMurtrie Cripples Collection. New York Academy of Medicine. <em>History of Disabilities</em>.<br><a href="https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/AFQVHR928055312/HODI?u=webdemo&sid=bookmark-HODI&xid=79f909ec&pg=301" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/AFQVHR928055312/HODI?u=webdemo&sid=bookmark-HODI&xid=79f909ec&pg=301</a></figcaption></figure></div> <p>These sources bring to light the complex issues which arise when researching the history of disability, serving as an important reminder of the necessity of grappling with the changing implications of language over time.</p> <h4 class="wp-block-heading"><strong>St. Agnes’ Home for Crippled Girls</strong></h4> <p>The <a href="https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/AFQVHR928055312/HODI?u=webdemo&sid=bookmark-HODI&xid=79f909ec&pg=290" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">1911 Annual Report of the Children’s Union</a> reviewed the operations of St. Agnes’ Home for Crippled Girls in Croydon. This source is especially valuable because it enlivens the stories of individual children. Following her residency at St. Agnes’, “Ethel H. has gone to live with her brother and is able to earn money by doing plain needlework and giving lessons in basket-making”. We also learn about Dora, who has become a dormitory maid, and Helen, a domestic servant.</p> <p>Although this source does not offer first-hand accounts from those children, it does afford a rich insight into their lives; it does not homogenise these girls’ experiences, but instead affords importance to their individual stories.</p> <div class="wp-block-image"> <figure class="aligncenter size-large"><a href="https://review.gale.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/St-Agnes.jpeg"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="614" height="1024" src="https://review.gale.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/St-Agnes-614x1024.jpeg" alt="Image of former resident of St. Agnes' Home for Crippled Girls. " class="wp-image-15672" srcset="https://review.gale.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/St-Agnes-614x1024.jpeg 614w, https://review.gale.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/St-Agnes-180x300.jpeg 180w, https://review.gale.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/St-Agnes-768x1282.jpeg 768w, https://review.gale.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/St-Agnes-920x1536.jpeg 920w, https://review.gale.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/St-Agnes.jpeg 1150w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 614px) 100vw, 614px" /></a><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Former resident of St. Agnes’ Home for Crippled Girls. McMurtrie Volume C23 McM. 1911-1918. MS Douglas C. McMurtrie Cripples Collection. New York Academy of Medicine. <em>History of Disabilities</em>.<br><a href="https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/AFQVHR928055312/HODI?u=bham_uk&sid=bookmark-HODI&xid=41526ec8&pg=288" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/AFQVHR928055312/HODI?u=bham_uk&sid=bookmark-HODI&xid=41526ec8&pg=288</a></figcaption></figure></div> <h4 class="wp-block-heading"><strong>Conclusion</strong></h4> <p>If we are to challenge language and attitudes towards disability in the present, it is important to do so in historical contexts too. Studying sources like these enables us to understand where language and ideas came from.</p> <p>The girls discussed in this blog were marginalised in their own historical moment and have been afforded little attention in the historical record. This new Gale archive prompts us to contemplate their experiences and perspectives and realise the power of historical attention.</p> <hr class="wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity"/> <p>With thanks to Phil Virta, the editor overseeing <em>History of Disabilities</em>, for his guidance using this archive.</p> <p>If you enjoyed reading about the history of disability and women’s history, check out these posts:</p> <ul class="wp-block-list"> <li><a href="https://review.gale.com/2024/03/05/uncovering-a-history-of-disabilities-disabilities-in-society-seventeenth-to-twentieth-century/">Uncovering a History of Disabilities: Disabilities in Society, Seventeenth to Twentieth Century</a></li> <li><a href="https://review.gale.com/2022/03/08/tracing-the-young-womens-christian-association/">Tracing the Young Women’s Christian Association through <em>Women’s Studies Archive: Female Forerunners Worldwide</em></a></li> <li><a href="https://review.gale.com/2023/11/21/using-literary-sources-to-research-late-nineteenth-century-british-feminism/">Using Literary Sources to Research Late Nineteenth-Century British Feminism</a></li> </ul> <p>Cover image: Residents at John Groom’s so-called ‘crippleage’, an orphanage for girls who sold flowers on the streets of London around the turn of the twentieth century. McMurtrie Volume K104 McM. 1908-1915. MS Douglas C. McMurtrie Cripples Collection. New York Academy of Medicine. History of Disabilities <a href="https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/AMDOFR202227628/HODI?u=webdemo&sid=bookmark-HODI&xid=f77622bc&pg=176" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/AMDOFR202227628/HODI?u=webdemo&sid=bookmark-HODI&xid=f77622bc&pg=176</a></p> <hr class="wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity"/> </div> <link rel='stylesheet' id='kadence-blocks-image-css' href='https://review.gale.com/wp-content/plugins/kadence-blocks/dist/style-blocks-image.css?ver=3.4.8' media='all' /> <link rel='stylesheet' id='kadence-blocks-column-css' href='https://review.gale.com/wp-content/plugins/kadence-blocks/dist/style-blocks-column.css?ver=3.4.8' media='all' /> <style id='kadence-blocks-advancedheading-inline-css'> .wp-block-kadence-advancedheading mark{background:transparent;border-style:solid;border-width:0}.wp-block-kadence-advancedheading mark.kt-highlight{color:#f76a0c;}.kb-adv-heading-icon{display: inline-flex;justify-content: center;align-items: center;} .is-layout-constrained > .kb-advanced-heading-link {display: block;} </style> <link rel='stylesheet' id='kadence-blocks-rowlayout-css' href='https://review.gale.com/wp-content/plugins/kadence-blocks/dist/style-blocks-rowlayout.css?ver=3.4.8' media='all' /> <link rel='stylesheet' id='kadence-blocks-spacer-css' href='https://review.gale.com/wp-content/plugins/kadence-blocks/dist/style-blocks-spacer.css?ver=3.4.8' media='all' /> <style>.kb-row-layout-wrap.wp-block-kadence-rowlayout.kb-row-layout-id14682_3e0bc2-fa{margin-bottom:0px;margin-top:30px;}.kb-row-layout-id14682_3e0bc2-fa > .kt-row-column-wrap{align-content:start;}:where(.kb-row-layout-id14682_3e0bc2-fa > .kt-row-column-wrap) > .wp-block-kadence-column{justify-content:start;}.kb-row-layout-id14682_3e0bc2-fa > .kt-row-column-wrap{column-gap:var(--global-kb-gap-md, 2rem);row-gap:var(--global-kb-gap-none, 0rem );padding-top:25px;padding-bottom:24px;grid-template-columns:minmax(0, 1fr);}.kb-row-layout-id14682_3e0bc2-fa{border-top-left-radius:30px;border-top-right-radius:30px;border-bottom-right-radius:30px;border-bottom-left-radius:30px;overflow:clip;isolation:isolate;}.kb-row-layout-id14682_3e0bc2-fa > .kt-row-layout-overlay{border-top-left-radius:30px;border-top-right-radius:30px;border-bottom-right-radius:30px;border-bottom-left-radius:30px;}.kb-row-layout-id14682_3e0bc2-fa > .kt-row-layout-overlay{opacity:0.30;}@media all and (max-width: 1024px){.kb-row-layout-id14682_3e0bc2-fa > .kt-row-column-wrap{grid-template-columns:minmax(0, 1fr);}}@media all and (max-width: 767px){.kb-row-layout-id14682_3e0bc2-fa > .kt-row-column-wrap{grid-template-columns:minmax(0, 1fr);}}</style><div class="kb-row-layout-wrap kb-row-layout-id14682_3e0bc2-fa alignnone has-base-background-color kt-row-has-bg wp-block-kadence-rowlayout"><div class="kt-row-column-wrap kt-has-1-columns kt-row-layout-equal kt-tab-layout-inherit kt-mobile-layout-row kt-row-valign-top"> <style>.kadence-column14682_ae06be-79 > .kt-inside-inner-col,.kadence-column14682_ae06be-79 > .kt-inside-inner-col:before{border-top-left-radius:0px;border-top-right-radius:0px;border-bottom-right-radius:0px;border-bottom-left-radius:0px;}.kadence-column14682_ae06be-79 > .kt-inside-inner-col{column-gap:var(--global-kb-gap-sm, 1rem);}.kadence-column14682_ae06be-79 > .kt-inside-inner-col{flex-direction:column;}.kadence-column14682_ae06be-79 > .kt-inside-inner-col > .aligncenter{width:100%;}.kadence-column14682_ae06be-79 > .kt-inside-inner-col:before{opacity:0.3;}.kadence-column14682_ae06be-79{position:relative;}@media all and (max-width: 1024px){.kadence-column14682_ae06be-79 > .kt-inside-inner-col{flex-direction:column;}}@media all and (max-width: 767px){.kadence-column14682_ae06be-79 > .kt-inside-inner-col{flex-direction:column;}}</style> <div class="wp-block-kadence-column kadence-column14682_ae06be-79"><div class="kt-inside-inner-col"><style>.kadence-column14682_dea25d-5d > .kt-inside-inner-col,.kadence-column14682_dea25d-5d > .kt-inside-inner-col:before{border-top-left-radius:0px;border-top-right-radius:0px;border-bottom-right-radius:0px;border-bottom-left-radius:0px;}.kadence-column14682_dea25d-5d > .kt-inside-inner-col{column-gap:var(--global-kb-gap-sm, 1rem);}.kadence-column14682_dea25d-5d > .kt-inside-inner-col{flex-direction:column;}.kadence-column14682_dea25d-5d > .kt-inside-inner-col > .aligncenter{width:100%;}.kadence-column14682_dea25d-5d > .kt-inside-inner-col:before{opacity:0.3;}.kadence-column14682_dea25d-5d{position:relative;}@media all and (max-width: 1024px){.kadence-column14682_dea25d-5d > .kt-inside-inner-col{flex-direction:column;}}@media all and (max-width: 767px){.kadence-column14682_dea25d-5d > .kt-inside-inner-col{flex-direction:column;}}</style> <div class="wp-block-kadence-column kadence-column14682_dea25d-5d"><div class="kt-inside-inner-col"><style>.kb-row-layout-wrap.wp-block-kadence-rowlayout.kb-row-layout-id14682_693431-cd{margin-bottom:0px;}.kb-row-layout-id14682_693431-cd > .kt-row-column-wrap{align-content:start;}:where(.kb-row-layout-id14682_693431-cd > .kt-row-column-wrap) > .wp-block-kadence-column{justify-content:start;}.kb-row-layout-id14682_693431-cd > .kt-row-column-wrap{column-gap:var(--global-kb-gap-md, 2rem);row-gap:var(--global-kb-gap-md, 2rem);padding-top:var(--global-kb-spacing-sm, 1.5rem);padding-bottom:var(--global-kb-spacing-sm, 1.5rem);grid-template-columns:minmax(0, calc(25% - ((var(--global-kb-gap-md, 2rem) * 1 )/2)))minmax(0, calc(75% - ((var(--global-kb-gap-md, 2rem) * 1 )/2)));}.kb-row-layout-id14682_693431-cd > .kt-row-layout-overlay{opacity:0.30;}@media all and (max-width: 1024px){.kb-row-layout-id14682_693431-cd > .kt-row-column-wrap{grid-template-columns:minmax(0, 1fr) minmax(0, 2fr);}}@media all and (max-width: 767px){.kb-row-layout-id14682_693431-cd > .kt-row-column-wrap{grid-template-columns:minmax(0, 1fr);}}</style><div class="kb-row-layout-wrap kb-row-layout-id14682_693431-cd alignnone wp-block-kadence-rowlayout"><div class="kt-row-column-wrap kt-has-2-columns kt-row-layout-right-golden kt-tab-layout-inherit kt-mobile-layout-row kt-row-valign-top"> <style>.kadence-column14682_114221-f1 > .kt-inside-inner-col{display:flex;}.kadence-column14682_114221-f1 > .kt-inside-inner-col,.kadence-column14682_114221-f1 > .kt-inside-inner-col:before{border-top-left-radius:0px;border-top-right-radius:0px;border-bottom-right-radius:0px;border-bottom-left-radius:0px;}.kadence-column14682_114221-f1 > .kt-inside-inner-col{column-gap:var(--global-kb-gap-sm, 1rem);}.kadence-column14682_114221-f1 > .kt-inside-inner-col{flex-direction:column;justify-content:center;}.kadence-column14682_114221-f1 > .kt-inside-inner-col > .aligncenter{width:100%;}.kt-row-column-wrap > .kadence-column14682_114221-f1{align-self:center;}.kt-inner-column-height-full:not(.kt-has-1-columns) > .wp-block-kadence-column.kadence-column14682_114221-f1{align-self:auto;}.kt-inner-column-height-full:not(.kt-has-1-columns) > .wp-block-kadence-column.kadence-column14682_114221-f1 > .kt-inside-inner-col{flex-direction:column;justify-content:center;}.kadence-column14682_114221-f1 > .kt-inside-inner-col:before{opacity:0.3;}.kadence-column14682_114221-f1{text-align:center;}.kadence-column14682_114221-f1{position:relative;}@media all and (max-width: 1024px){.kt-row-column-wrap > .kadence-column14682_114221-f1{align-self:center;}}@media all and (max-width: 1024px){.kt-inner-column-height-full:not(.kt-has-1-columns) > .wp-block-kadence-column.kadence-column14682_114221-f1{align-self:auto;}}@media all and (max-width: 1024px){.kt-inner-column-height-full:not(.kt-has-1-columns) > .wp-block-kadence-column.kadence-column14682_114221-f1 > .kt-inside-inner-col{flex-direction:column;justify-content:center;}}@media all and (max-width: 1024px){.kadence-column14682_114221-f1 > .kt-inside-inner-col{flex-direction:column;}}@media all and (max-width: 767px){.kadence-column14682_114221-f1 > .kt-inside-inner-col{padding-bottom:0px;justify-content:inherit;flex-direction:row;flex-wrap:wrap;align-items:center;justify-content:center;}.kt-row-column-wrap > .kadence-column14682_114221-f1{align-self:center;}.kt-inner-column-height-full:not(.kt-has-1-columns) > .wp-block-kadence-column.kadence-column14682_114221-f1{align-self:auto;}.kt-inner-column-height-full:not(.kt-has-1-columns) > .wp-block-kadence-column.kadence-column14682_114221-f1 > .kt-inside-inner-col{align-items:center;}.kadence-column14682_114221-f1{text-align:center;}.kadence-column14682_114221-f1 > .kt-inside-inner-col > .aligncenter{width:auto;}.kadence-column14682_114221-f1 > .kt-inside-inner-col > *, .kadence-column14682_114221-f1 > .kt-inside-inner-col > figure.wp-block-image, .kadence-column14682_114221-f1 > .kt-inside-inner-col > figure.wp-block-kadence-image{margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;}.kadence-column14682_114221-f1 > .kt-inside-inner-col > .kb-image-is-ratio-size{flex-grow:1;}.kadence-column14682_114221-f1, .kt-inside-inner-col > .kadence-column14682_114221-f1:not(.specificity){margin-bottom:0px;}}</style> <div class="wp-block-kadence-column kadence-column14682_114221-f1 kb-section-dir-vertical kb-section-sm-dir-horizontal inner-column-1"><div class="kt-inside-inner-col"><style>.kb-image14682_c5c808-65 .kb-image-has-overlay:after{opacity:0.3;border-top-left-radius:2000px;border-top-right-radius:2000px;border-bottom-right-radius:2000px;border-bottom-left-radius:2000px;}.kb-image14682_c5c808-65 img.kb-img, .kb-image14682_c5c808-65 .kb-img img{border-top:7px solid var(--base-3);border-right:7px solid var(--base-3);border-bottom:7px solid var(--base-3);border-left:7px solid var(--base-3);border-top-left-radius:2000px;border-top-right-radius:2000px;border-bottom-right-radius:2000px;border-bottom-left-radius:2000px;}@media all and (max-width: 1024px){.kb-image14682_c5c808-65.kb-image-is-ratio-size, .kb-image14682_c5c808-65 .kb-image-is-ratio-size{max-width:300px;width:100%;}}@media all and (max-width: 1024px){.kb-image14682_c5c808-65{max-width:300px;}}@media all and (max-width: 1024px){.kb-image14682_c5c808-65 img.kb-img, .kb-image14682_c5c808-65 .kb-img img{border-top:7px solid var(--base-3);border-right:7px solid var(--base-3);border-bottom:7px solid var(--base-3);border-left:7px solid var(--base-3);}}@media all and (max-width: 767px){.kb-image14682_c5c808-65.kb-image-is-ratio-size, .kb-image14682_c5c808-65 .kb-image-is-ratio-size{max-width:150px;width:100%;}.kb-image14682_c5c808-65{max-width:150px;}.kb-image14682_c5c808-65 img.kb-img, .kb-image14682_c5c808-65 .kb-img img{border-top:7px solid var(--base-3);border-right:7px solid var(--base-3);border-bottom:7px solid var(--base-3);border-left:7px solid var(--base-3);}}</style> <figure class="wp-block-kadence-image kb-image14682_c5c808-65 size-full kb-image-is-ratio-size"><a href="https://review.gale.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/Author-image.jpg" class="kb-advanced-image-link"><div class="kb-is-ratio-image kb-image-ratio-square"></div></a></figure> </div></div> <style>.kadence-column14682_243e98-d7 > .kt-inside-inner-col,.kadence-column14682_243e98-d7 > .kt-inside-inner-col:before{border-top-left-radius:0px;border-top-right-radius:0px;border-bottom-right-radius:0px;border-bottom-left-radius:0px;}.kadence-column14682_243e98-d7 > .kt-inside-inner-col{column-gap:var(--global-kb-gap-sm, 1rem);}.kadence-column14682_243e98-d7 > .kt-inside-inner-col{flex-direction:column;}.kadence-column14682_243e98-d7 > .kt-inside-inner-col > .aligncenter{width:100%;}.kadence-column14682_243e98-d7 > .kt-inside-inner-col:before{opacity:0.3;}.kadence-column14682_243e98-d7{position:relative;}@media all and (max-width: 1024px){.kadence-column14682_243e98-d7 > .kt-inside-inner-col{flex-direction:column;}}@media all and (max-width: 767px){.kadence-column14682_243e98-d7 > .kt-inside-inner-col{flex-direction:column;}}</style> <div class="wp-block-kadence-column kadence-column14682_243e98-d7 inner-column-2"><div class="kt-inside-inner-col"><style>.wp-block-kadence-advancedheading.kt-adv-heading14682_a2d575-b2, .wp-block-kadence-advancedheading.kt-adv-heading14682_a2d575-b2[data-kb-block="kb-adv-heading14682_a2d575-b2"]{font-style:normal;}.wp-block-kadence-advancedheading.kt-adv-heading14682_a2d575-b2 mark.kt-highlight, .wp-block-kadence-advancedheading.kt-adv-heading14682_a2d575-b2[data-kb-block="kb-adv-heading14682_a2d575-b2"] mark.kt-highlight{font-style:normal;color:#f76a0c;-webkit-box-decoration-break:clone;box-decoration-break:clone;padding-top:0px;padding-right:0px;padding-bottom:0px;padding-left:0px;}@media all and (max-width: 767px){.wp-block-kadence-advancedheading.kt-adv-heading14682_a2d575-b2, .wp-block-kadence-advancedheading.kt-adv-heading14682_a2d575-b2[data-kb-block="kb-adv-heading14682_a2d575-b2"]{text-align:center!important;}}</style> <h2 class="kt-adv-heading14682_a2d575-b2 wp-block-kadence-advancedheading" data-kb-block="kb-adv-heading14682_a2d575-b2">About the Author</h2> <style>.wp-block-kadence-advancedheading.kt-adv-heading14682_d6ee53-a3, .wp-block-kadence-advancedheading.kt-adv-heading14682_d6ee53-a3[data-kb-block="kb-adv-heading14682_d6ee53-a3"]{font-style:normal;}.wp-block-kadence-advancedheading.kt-adv-heading14682_d6ee53-a3 mark.kt-highlight, .wp-block-kadence-advancedheading.kt-adv-heading14682_d6ee53-a3[data-kb-block="kb-adv-heading14682_d6ee53-a3"] mark.kt-highlight{font-style:normal;color:#f76a0c;-webkit-box-decoration-break:clone;box-decoration-break:clone;padding-top:0px;padding-right:0px;padding-bottom:0px;padding-left:0px;}</style> <p class="kt-adv-heading14682_d6ee53-a3 wp-block-kadence-advancedheading" data-kb-block="kb-adv-heading14682_d6ee53-a3"><a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/lucy-mccormick/"> Lucy </a>is PhD student in History at the University of Birmingham, studying the international suffrage movement in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century. This is her second year as the Gale Ambassador to UoB, and she loves engaging with students and encouraging them to strengthen their research with Gale’s archives. </p> </div></div> </div></div></div></div> </div></div> </div></div> <footer class="entry-meta" aria-label="Entry meta"> <span class="cat-links"><span class="screen-reader-text">Categories </span><a href="https://review.gale.com/category/key-categories/digital-humanities/" rel="category tag">Digital Humanities</a>, <a href="https://review.gale.com/category/news-and-teams/gale-ambassadors/" rel="category tag">Gale Ambassadors</a>, <a href="https://review.gale.com/category/topic-categories/society-and-politics/" rel="category tag">Society and Politics</a></span> <span class="tags-links"><span class="screen-reader-text">Tags </span><a href="https://review.gale.com/tag/british-studies/" rel="tag">British Studies</a>, <a href="https://review.gale.com/tag/childhood/" rel="tag">Childhood</a>, <a href="https://review.gale.com/tag/disability/" rel="tag">Disability</a>, <a href="https://review.gale.com/tag/gale-ambassadors/" rel="tag">Gale Ambassadors</a>, <a href="https://review.gale.com/tag/history-of-disabilities-archive/" rel="tag">History of Disabilities Archive</a>, <a href="https://review.gale.com/tag/lucy-mccormick/" rel="tag">Lucy McCormick</a>, <a href="https://review.gale.com/tag/manuscripts/" rel="tag">manuscripts</a>, <a href="https://review.gale.com/tag/social-history/" rel="tag">Social history</a>, <a href="https://review.gale.com/tag/student/" rel="tag">Student</a>, <a href="https://review.gale.com/tag/twentieth-century-history/" rel="tag">twentieth-century history</a>, <a href="https://review.gale.com/tag/university-of-birmingham/" rel="tag">University of Birmingham</a>, <a href="https://review.gale.com/tag/womens-studies-2/" rel="tag">Women’s Studies</a></span> <nav id="nav-below" class="post-navigation" aria-label="Posts"> <div class="nav-previous"><span class="prev"><a href="https://review.gale.com/2024/11/26/sentiment-by-timeframe-visualisation/" rel="prev">Exploring Sentiment in Historical Texts With <i>Gale Digital Scholar Lab’s</i> New “Sentiment by Timeframe” Visualisation</a></span></div><div class="nav-next"><span class="next"><a href="https://review.gale.com/2024/12/10/an-exploration-of-womens-liberation/" rel="next">An Exploration of Women’s Liberation: Insights from <i>Gale Primary Sources</i></a></span></div> </nav> </footer> </div> </article> </main> </div> <div class="widget-area sidebar is-right-sidebar grid-25 tablet-grid-25 grid-parent" id="right-sidebar"> <div class="inside-right-sidebar"> <aside id="email-subscribers-form-8" class="widget inner-padding widget_email-subscribers-form"><h2 class="widget-title"> Subscribe: </h2><div class="emaillist" id="es_form_f1-n1"><form action="/2024/12/03/girls-in-the-history-of-disabilities/#es_form_f1-n1" method="post" class="es_subscription_form es_shortcode_form es_ajax_subscription_form" id="es_subscription_form_67bb26772bbdf" data-source="ig-es" data-form-id="1"><div class="es_caption">Never miss a post! (You will be sent an automated privacy policy to opt-in with before you receive any updates).</div><div class="es-field-wrap"><label><br /><input type="text" name="esfpx_name" class="ig_es_form_field_name" placeholder="Name" value="" /></label></div><div class="es-field-wrap"><label><input class="es_required_field es_txt_email ig_es_form_field_email" type="email" name="esfpx_email" value="" placeholder="Email" required="required" /></label></div><input type="hidden" name="esfpx_lists[]" value="da95056fc9f8" /><input type="hidden" name="esfpx_form_id" value="1" /><input type="hidden" name="es" value="subscribe" /> <input type="hidden" name="esfpx_es_form_identifier" value="f1-n1" /> <input type="hidden" name="esfpx_es_email_page" value="15675" /> <input type="hidden" name="esfpx_es_email_page_url" value="https://review.gale.com/2024/12/03/girls-in-the-history-of-disabilities/" /> <input type="hidden" name="esfpx_status" value="Unconfirmed" /> <input type="hidden" name="esfpx_es-subscribe" id="es-subscribe-67bb26772bbdf" value="d2c1489df6" /> <label style="position:absolute;top:-99999px;left:-99999px;z-index:-99;" aria-hidden="true"><span hidden>Please leave this field empty.</span><input type="email" name="esfpx_es_hp_email" class="es_required_field" tabindex="-1" autocomplete="-1" value="" /></label><input type="submit" name="submit" class="es_subscription_form_submit es_submit_button es_textbox_button" id="es_subscription_form_submit_67bb26772bbdf" value="Subscribe" /><span class="es_spinner_image" id="spinner-image"><img src="https://review.gale.com/wp-content/plugins/email-subscribers/lite/public/images/spinner.gif" alt="Loading" /></span></form><span class="es_subscription_message " id="es_subscription_message_67bb26772bbdf" role="alert" aria-live="assertive"></span></div></aside><aside id="block-21" class="widget inner-padding widget_block widget_categories"><ul class="wp-block-categories-list wp-block-categories"> <li class="cat-item cat-item-5199"><a href="https://review.gale.com/category/news-and-teams/">Gale News and Teams</a> <ul class='children'> <li class="cat-item cat-item-4248"><a href="https://review.gale.com/category/news-and-teams/gale-ambassadors/">Gale Ambassadors</a> </li> <li class="cat-item cat-item-4435"><a href="https://review.gale.com/category/news-and-teams/gale-news/">Gale News</a> </li> <li class="cat-item cat-item-1"><a href="https://review.gale.com/category/news-and-teams/editorial/">Gale Publishers</a> </li> </ul> </li> <li class="cat-item cat-item-5197"><a href="https://review.gale.com/category/key-categories/">Key Categories</a> <ul class='children'> <li class="cat-item cat-item-4305"><a href="https://review.gale.com/category/key-categories/digital-humanities/">Digital Humanities</a> </li> <li class="cat-item cat-item-4706"><a href="https://review.gale.com/category/key-categories/for-lecturers/">For Academics</a> </li> <li class="cat-item cat-item-5415"><a href="https://review.gale.com/category/key-categories/for-librarians/">For Librarians</a> </li> <li class="cat-item cat-item-4306"><a href="https://review.gale.com/category/key-categories/for-students/">For Students</a> </li> <li class="cat-item cat-item-15"><a href="https://review.gale.com/category/key-categories/thought/">Thought leaders</a> </li> </ul> </li> <li class="cat-item cat-item-5198"><a href="https://review.gale.com/category/topic-categories/">Topic Categories</a> <ul class='children'> <li class="cat-item cat-item-69"><a href="https://review.gale.com/category/topic-categories/date/">Anniversaries</a> </li> <li class="cat-item cat-item-4361"><a href="https://review.gale.com/category/topic-categories/arts-and-culture/">Arts and Culture</a> </li> <li class="cat-item cat-item-4331"><a href="https://review.gale.com/category/topic-categories/current-issues/">Current Issues</a> </li> <li class="cat-item cat-item-4676"><a href="https://review.gale.com/category/topic-categories/science-and-the-environment/">Science and the Environment</a> </li> <li class="cat-item cat-item-4419"><a href="https://review.gale.com/category/topic-categories/society-and-politics/">Society and Politics</a> </li> <li class="cat-item cat-item-4332"><a href="https://review.gale.com/category/topic-categories/sport/">Sport</a> </li> <li class="cat-item cat-item-13"><a href="https://review.gale.com/category/topic-categories/tech/">Technology</a> </li> </ul> </li> </ul></aside><aside id="block-22" class="widget inner-padding widget_block widget_tag_cloud"><p class="wp-block-tag-cloud"><a href="https://review.gale.com/tag/1800s/" class="tag-cloud-link tag-link-25 tag-link-position-1" style="font-size: 11.3521126761pt;" aria-label="1800s (36 items)">1800s</a> <a href="https://review.gale.com/tag/1900s/" class="tag-cloud-link tag-link-75 tag-link-position-2" style="font-size: 12.1408450704pt;" aria-label="1900s (40 items)">1900s</a> <a href="https://review.gale.com/tag/activism/" class="tag-cloud-link tag-link-3781 tag-link-position-3" style="font-size: 8.59154929577pt;" aria-label="activism (26 items)">activism</a> <a href="https://review.gale.com/tag/analysis-tools/" class="tag-cloud-link tag-link-5557 tag-link-position-4" style="font-size: 9.57746478873pt;" aria-label="Analysis Tools (29 items)">Analysis Tools</a> <a href="https://review.gale.com/tag/archives-of-sexuality-and-gender/" class="tag-cloud-link tag-link-1067 tag-link-position-5" style="font-size: 8.59154929577pt;" aria-label="Archives of Sexuality and Gender (26 items)">Archives of Sexuality and Gender</a> <a href="https://review.gale.com/tag/british-library-newspapers/" class="tag-cloud-link tag-link-429 tag-link-position-6" style="font-size: 14.7042253521pt;" aria-label="British Library Newspapers (54 items)">British Library Newspapers</a> <a href="https://review.gale.com/tag/china/" class="tag-cloud-link tag-link-257 tag-link-position-7" style="font-size: 9.77464788732pt;" aria-label="China (30 items)">China</a> <a href="https://review.gale.com/tag/civil-rights/" class="tag-cloud-link tag-link-2267 tag-link-position-8" style="font-size: 8.59154929577pt;" aria-label="Civil Rights (26 items)">Civil Rights</a> <a href="https://review.gale.com/tag/colonialism/" class="tag-cloud-link tag-link-1313 tag-link-position-9" style="font-size: 11.3521126761pt;" aria-label="Colonialism (36 items)">Colonialism</a> <a href="https://review.gale.com/tag/daily-mail-historical-archive/" class="tag-cloud-link tag-link-2493 tag-link-position-10" style="font-size: 10.5633802817pt;" aria-label="Daily Mail Historical Archive (33 items)">Daily Mail Historical Archive</a> <a href="https://review.gale.com/tag/dh-correspondent/" class="tag-cloud-link tag-link-5536 tag-link-position-11" style="font-size: 8.98591549296pt;" aria-label="DH Correspondent (27 items)">DH Correspondent</a> <a href="https://review.gale.com/tag/digital-humanities/" class="tag-cloud-link tag-link-233 tag-link-position-12" style="font-size: 16.0845070423pt;" aria-label="Digital Humanities (64 items)">Digital Humanities</a> <a href="https://review.gale.com/tag/digital-literacy/" class="tag-cloud-link tag-link-5523 tag-link-position-13" style="font-size: 12.7323943662pt;" aria-label="Digital Literacy (43 items)">Digital Literacy</a> <a href="https://review.gale.com/tag/eighteenth-century-history/" class="tag-cloud-link tag-link-5187 tag-link-position-14" style="font-size: 8.98591549296pt;" aria-label="eighteenth-century history (27 items)">eighteenth-century history</a> <a href="https://review.gale.com/tag/eighteenth-century-collections-online/" class="tag-cloud-link tag-link-819 tag-link-position-15" style="font-size: 11.3521126761pt;" aria-label="Eighteenth Century Collections Online (36 items)">Eighteenth Century Collections Online</a> <a href="https://review.gale.com/tag/feminism/" class="tag-cloud-link tag-link-683 tag-link-position-16" style="font-size: 8pt;" aria-label="feminism (24 items)">feminism</a> <a href="https://review.gale.com/tag/gale-ambassador/" class="tag-cloud-link tag-link-1245 tag-link-position-17" style="font-size: 8.59154929577pt;" aria-label="Gale Ambassador (26 items)">Gale Ambassador</a> <a href="https://review.gale.com/tag/gale-ambassadors/" class="tag-cloud-link tag-link-4242 tag-link-position-18" style="font-size: 22pt;" aria-label="Gale Ambassadors (129 items)">Gale Ambassadors</a> <a href="https://review.gale.com/tag/gale-digital-scholar-lab/" class="tag-cloud-link tag-link-2047 tag-link-position-19" style="font-size: 13.323943662pt;" aria-label="Gale Digital Scholar Lab (46 items)">Gale Digital Scholar Lab</a> <a href="https://review.gale.com/tag/gale-primary-sources/" class="tag-cloud-link tag-link-483 tag-link-position-20" style="font-size: 18.4507042254pt;" aria-label="Gale Primary Sources (84 items)">Gale Primary Sources</a> <a href="https://review.gale.com/tag/gender-studies/" class="tag-cloud-link tag-link-2789 tag-link-position-21" style="font-size: 9.57746478873pt;" aria-label="Gender Studies (29 items)">Gender Studies</a> <a href="https://review.gale.com/tag/government/" class="tag-cloud-link tag-link-39 tag-link-position-22" style="font-size: 10.3661971831pt;" aria-label="government (32 items)">government</a> <a href="https://review.gale.com/tag/government-papers/" class="tag-cloud-link tag-link-5235 tag-link-position-23" style="font-size: 8.19718309859pt;" aria-label="Government Papers (25 items)">Government Papers</a> <a href="https://review.gale.com/tag/history/" class="tag-cloud-link tag-link-221 tag-link-position-24" style="font-size: 12.5352112676pt;" aria-label="History (42 items)">History</a> <a href="https://review.gale.com/tag/learning/" class="tag-cloud-link tag-link-4588 tag-link-position-25" style="font-size: 10.1690140845pt;" aria-label="Learning (31 items)">Learning</a> <a href="https://review.gale.com/tag/literature/" class="tag-cloud-link tag-link-83 tag-link-position-26" style="font-size: 10.1690140845pt;" aria-label="Literature (31 items)">Literature</a> <a href="https://review.gale.com/tag/newspapers/" class="tag-cloud-link tag-link-505 tag-link-position-27" style="font-size: 13.323943662pt;" aria-label="newspapers (46 items)">newspapers</a> <a href="https://review.gale.com/tag/nineteenth-century-history/" class="tag-cloud-link tag-link-3917 tag-link-position-28" style="font-size: 11.1549295775pt;" aria-label="nineteenth-century history (35 items)">nineteenth-century history</a> <a href="https://review.gale.com/tag/nineteenth-century-collections-online/" class="tag-cloud-link tag-link-615 tag-link-position-29" style="font-size: 8.59154929577pt;" aria-label="Nineteenth Century Collections Online (26 items)">Nineteenth Century Collections Online</a> <a href="https://review.gale.com/tag/politics/" class="tag-cloud-link tag-link-43 tag-link-position-30" style="font-size: 15.6901408451pt;" aria-label="politics (61 items)">politics</a> <a href="https://review.gale.com/tag/primary-source-literacy/" class="tag-cloud-link tag-link-5477 tag-link-position-31" style="font-size: 9.57746478873pt;" aria-label="primary source literacy (29 items)">primary source literacy</a> <a href="https://review.gale.com/tag/product-team/" class="tag-cloud-link tag-link-4882 tag-link-position-32" style="font-size: 11.3521126761pt;" aria-label="Product Team (36 items)">Product Team</a> <a href="https://review.gale.com/tag/publishing-team/" class="tag-cloud-link tag-link-4213 tag-link-position-33" style="font-size: 15.4929577465pt;" aria-label="Publishing team (59 items)">Publishing team</a> <a href="https://review.gale.com/tag/sarah-ketchley/" class="tag-cloud-link tag-link-5537 tag-link-position-34" style="font-size: 8.98591549296pt;" aria-label="Sarah Ketchley (27 items)">Sarah Ketchley</a> <a href="https://review.gale.com/tag/social-history/" class="tag-cloud-link tag-link-141 tag-link-position-35" style="font-size: 10.7605633803pt;" aria-label="Social history (34 items)">Social history</a> <a href="https://review.gale.com/tag/student/" class="tag-cloud-link tag-link-5565 tag-link-position-36" style="font-size: 12.1408450704pt;" aria-label="Student (40 items)">Student</a> <a href="https://review.gale.com/tag/study-tips/" class="tag-cloud-link tag-link-4781 tag-link-position-37" style="font-size: 11.1549295775pt;" aria-label="study tips (35 items)">study tips</a> <a href="https://review.gale.com/tag/teaching/" class="tag-cloud-link tag-link-2387 tag-link-position-38" style="font-size: 11.3521126761pt;" aria-label="teaching (36 items)">teaching</a> <a href="https://review.gale.com/tag/the-times/" class="tag-cloud-link tag-link-67 tag-link-position-39" style="font-size: 13.323943662pt;" aria-label="The Times (46 items)">The Times</a> <a href="https://review.gale.com/tag/the-times-digital-archive/" class="tag-cloud-link tag-link-269 tag-link-position-40" style="font-size: 18.0563380282pt;" aria-label="The Times Digital Archive (80 items)">The Times Digital Archive</a> <a href="https://review.gale.com/tag/twentieth-century-history/" class="tag-cloud-link tag-link-4257 tag-link-position-41" style="font-size: 15.6901408451pt;" aria-label="twentieth-century history (61 items)">twentieth-century history</a> <a href="https://review.gale.com/tag/undergraduates/" class="tag-cloud-link tag-link-4914 tag-link-position-42" style="font-size: 10.7605633803pt;" aria-label="Undergraduates (34 items)">Undergraduates</a> <a href="https://review.gale.com/tag/united-states/" class="tag-cloud-link tag-link-805 tag-link-position-43" style="font-size: 8pt;" aria-label="United States (24 items)">United States</a> <a href="https://review.gale.com/tag/visualisation/" class="tag-cloud-link tag-link-5022 tag-link-position-44" style="font-size: 9.77464788732pt;" aria-label="visualisation (30 items)">visualisation</a> <a href="https://review.gale.com/tag/womens-studies-2/" class="tag-cloud-link tag-link-4572 tag-link-position-45" style="font-size: 8.59154929577pt;" aria-label="Women’s Studies (26 items)">Women’s Studies</a></p></aside><aside id="block-23" class="widget inner-padding widget_block"><script> document.addEventListener("DOMContentLoaded", function() { // Find all divs with the specific class const ratioDivs = document.querySelectorAll('.kb-is-ratio-image.kb-image-ratio-square'); // Check if there's at least one found div if (ratioDivs.length > 0) { // Get the first div const firstDiv = ratioDivs[0]; // Find the parent anchor tag const anchor = firstDiv.closest('a.kb-advanced-image-link'); if (anchor) { // Create a new img element const img = document.createElement('img'); // Set the src attribute to the href of the anchor tag img.src = anchor.href; // Set the width of the image to 250px img.style.width = '250px'; // Insert the image into the div firstDiv.appendChild(img); } } }); </script> <style> .kb-is-ratio-image.kb-image-ratio-square img { border-radius: 50% !important; border: 5px solid white; } .inside-right-sidebar aside#block-23 { display: none; } a.kb-advanced-image-link { pointer-events: none; } </style></aside> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div class="site-footer footer-bar-active footer-bar-align-right"> <footer class="site-info" aria-label="Site" itemtype="https://schema.org/WPFooter" itemscope> <div class="inside-site-info grid-container grid-parent"> <div class="footer-bar"> <aside id="text-6" class="widget inner-padding widget_text"><h2 class="widget-title">Disclaimer</h2> <div class="textwidget"><p style="text-align: left;">Disclaimer: The views, thoughts, and opinions expressed in this blog belong solely to the authors, and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of Gale, part of Cengage Group.</p> </div> </aside><aside id="block-9" class="widget inner-padding widget_block"> <ul class="wp-block-social-links alignright is-layout-flex wp-block-social-links-is-layout-flex"><li class="wp-social-link wp-social-link-twitter wp-block-social-link"><a href="https://twitter.com/GaleAcademic" class="wp-block-social-link-anchor"><svg width="24" height="24" viewBox="0 0 24 24" version="1.1" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" aria-hidden="true" focusable="false"><path d="M22.23,5.924c-0.736,0.326-1.527,0.547-2.357,0.646c0.847-0.508,1.498-1.312,1.804-2.27 c-0.793,0.47-1.671,0.812-2.606,0.996C18.324,4.498,17.257,4,16.077,4c-2.266,0-4.103,1.837-4.103,4.103 c0,0.322,0.036,0.635,0.106,0.935C8.67,8.867,5.647,7.234,3.623,4.751C3.27,5.357,3.067,6.062,3.067,6.814 c0,1.424,0.724,2.679,1.825,3.415c-0.673-0.021-1.305-0.206-1.859-0.513c0,0.017,0,0.034,0,0.052c0,1.988,1.414,3.647,3.292,4.023 c-0.344,0.094-0.707,0.144-1.081,0.144c-0.264,0-0.521-0.026-0.772-0.074c0.522,1.63,2.038,2.816,3.833,2.85 c-1.404,1.1-3.174,1.756-5.096,1.756c-0.331,0-0.658-0.019-0.979-0.057c1.816,1.164,3.973,1.843,6.29,1.843 c7.547,0,11.675-6.252,11.675-11.675c0-0.178-0.004-0.355-0.012-0.531C20.985,7.47,21.68,6.747,22.23,5.924z"></path></svg><span class="wp-block-social-link-label screen-reader-text">Twitter</span></a></li> <li class="wp-social-link wp-social-link-linkedin wp-block-social-link"><a href="https://www.linkedin.com/company/16228981/" class="wp-block-social-link-anchor"><svg width="24" height="24" viewBox="0 0 24 24" version="1.1" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" aria-hidden="true" focusable="false"><path d="M19.7,3H4.3C3.582,3,3,3.582,3,4.3v15.4C3,20.418,3.582,21,4.3,21h15.4c0.718,0,1.3-0.582,1.3-1.3V4.3 C21,3.582,20.418,3,19.7,3z M8.339,18.338H5.667v-8.59h2.672V18.338z M7.004,8.574c-0.857,0-1.549-0.694-1.549-1.548 c0-0.855,0.691-1.548,1.549-1.548c0.854,0,1.547,0.694,1.547,1.548C8.551,7.881,7.858,8.574,7.004,8.574z M18.339,18.338h-2.669 v-4.177c0-0.996-0.017-2.278-1.387-2.278c-1.389,0-1.601,1.086-1.601,2.206v4.249h-2.667v-8.59h2.559v1.174h0.037 c0.356-0.675,1.227-1.387,2.526-1.387c2.703,0,3.203,1.779,3.203,4.092V18.338z"></path></svg><span class="wp-block-social-link-label screen-reader-text">LinkedIn</span></a></li> <li class="wp-social-link wp-social-link-chain wp-block-social-link"><a href="https://gale.com/intl/" class="wp-block-social-link-anchor"><svg width="24" height="24" viewBox="0 0 24 24" version="1.1" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" aria-hidden="true" focusable="false"><path d="M15.6,7.2H14v1.5h1.6c2,0,3.7,1.7,3.7,3.7s-1.7,3.7-3.7,3.7H14v1.5h1.6c2.8,0,5.2-2.3,5.2-5.2,0-2.9-2.3-5.2-5.2-5.2zM4.7,12.4c0-2,1.7-3.7,3.7-3.7H10V7.2H8.4c-2.9,0-5.2,2.3-5.2,5.2,0,2.9,2.3,5.2,5.2,5.2H10v-1.5H8.4c-2,0-3.7-1.7-3.7-3.7zm4.6.9h5.3v-1.5H9.3v1.5z"></path></svg><span class="wp-block-social-link-label screen-reader-text">Link</span></a></li></ul> </aside><aside id="block-10" class="widget inner-padding widget_block widget_text"> <p class="has-text-align-left"><sup>Gale, part of Cengage Group, Cheriton House, North Way, Andover SP10 5BE</sup></p> </aside> </div> <div class="copyright-bar"> <span class="copyright">© 2025 The Gale Review</span> • Built with <a href="https://generatepress.com" itemprop="url">GeneratePress</a> </div> </div> </footer> </div> <script type="text/javascript"> _linkedin_partner_id = "3250977"; window._linkedin_data_partner_ids = window._linkedin_data_partner_ids || []; window._linkedin_data_partner_ids.push(_linkedin_partner_id); </script><script type="text/javascript"> (function(l) { if (!l){window.lintrk = function(a,b){window.lintrk.q.push([a,b])}; window.lintrk.q=[]} var s = document.getElementsByTagName("script")[0]; var b = document.createElement("script"); b.type = "text/javascript";b.async = true; b.src = "https://snap.licdn.com/li.lms-analytics/insight.min.js"; s.parentNode.insertBefore(b, s);})(window.lintrk); </script> <noscript> <img height="1" width="1" style="display:none;" alt="" src="https://px.ads.linkedin.com/collect/?pid=3250977&fmt=gif" /> </noscript><script id="generate-a11y">!function(){"use strict";if("querySelector"in document&&"addEventListener"in window){var e=document.body;e.addEventListener("mousedown",function(){e.classList.add("using-mouse")}),e.addEventListener("keydown",function(){e.classList.remove("using-mouse")})}}();</script><script id="email-subscribers-js-extra"> var es_data = {"messages":{"es_empty_email_notice":"Please enter email address","es_rate_limit_notice":"You need to wait for some time before subscribing again","es_single_optin_success_message":"Successfully Subscribed.","es_email_exists_notice":"Email Address already exists!","es_unexpected_error_notice":"Oops.. Unexpected error occurred.","es_invalid_email_notice":"Invalid email address","es_try_later_notice":"Please try after some time"},"es_ajax_url":"https:\/\/review.gale.com\/wp-admin\/admin-ajax.php"}; </script> <script src="https://review.gale.com/wp-content/plugins/email-subscribers/lite/public/js/email-subscribers-public.js?ver=5.7.49" id="email-subscribers-js"></script>  <script id="generate-menu-js-extra"> var generatepressMenu = {"toggleOpenedSubMenus":"1","openSubMenuLabel":"Open Submenu","closeSubMenuLabel":"Close Submenu"}; </script> <script src="https://review.gale.com/wp-content/themes/generatepress/assets/js/menu.min.js?ver=3.5.1" id="generate-menu-js"></script> <script id="generate-navigation-search-js-extra"> var generatepressNavSearch = {"open":"Open Search Bar","close":"Close Search Bar"}; </script> <script src="https://review.gale.com/wp-content/themes/generatepress/assets/js/navigation-search.min.js?ver=3.5.1" id="generate-navigation-search-js"></script> </body> </html>