"Of Wards and War": The Importance of Good and Bad Medical Care in the American Civil War

Wednesday, February 8th
From 5:30 PM - 7:00 PM
The New York Academy of Medicine
1216 Fifth Avenue | 103rd Street

During the crisis following the Haitian earthquake of 2010 one physician commented that "we're practicing Civil War medicine here," referring to the absence of supplies and primitive environment of care. Actually, the well-run Civil War hospital offered superior care to that possible in quake-ravaged Haiti. This paper will outline the components of the best and worst of Civil War medicine, and argue that the conditions in southern hospitals were so far inferior to those of the north that it probably made a difference to the war effort. In the northern hospitals men shot rats as a target practice game; in the south they roasted them for lunch. Important aspects of the best care were nutritious food, medicines such as chloroform, quinine, and opium, and sufficient staff to ensure cleanliness and care of the weakened or wounded body. It is difficult to assess hospital outcomes due the quality of the data, but what information is available indicates that the disparities between northern and southern hospitals were a factor in the manpower issues that dominated the war’s final years.

Learn to Play African Games

Friday, February 10th
From 2:30pm - 4:30pm
Dana Discovery Center
Central Park @ 110th Street
(bet. 5th/Lenox Aves.)

Museum for African Art educators will guide participants in learning about African games such as Macala, a board game carved out of wood using marbles as pieces dating back to the 17th century. Make your own game that you can take home and play with friends and family. This program is co-presented by The Central Park Conservancy. For more information, call 212-860-1370.

Gay New York and the Arts of the 20th Century

Saturday, February 11th
From 10:00 am–4:00 pm
The Museum of the City of New York
1220 Fifth Avenue at 104th Street

This day-long symposium, presented in conjunction with Cecil Beaton: The New York Years, explores both the influence of gay New Yorkers in the formation of the city’s artistic life from the 1920s through the 1960s and the dense social and cultural networks that fostered and supported them in fields as diverse as opera, theater, literature, music, and photography. Speakers include Donald Albrecht, the exhibition's curator; George Chauncey, award-winning author of Gay New York; Wendy Moffat, author of A Great Unrecorded History: A New Life of E.M. Forster (Picador, 2011) and Hugo Vickers, Beaton's official biographer. This symposium is made possible with the generous support of William T. Georgis and Richard D. Marshall. Additional support is provided by the Museum's Mark E. Ouderkirk Memorial Program exploring lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender culture and history. RESERVATIONS AND PREPAYMENT REQUIRED $25 Museum members, seniors, and students; $35 non-members. For more information please call 917-492-3395.

GRIDLOCK!
Congestion and Flow on New York City Streets

Wednesday, February 15 @ 6:30 pm
The Museum of the City of New York
1220 Fifth Avenue at 104th Street

Recent innovations by the Department of Transportation have helped to remake the multiple ways New Yorkers get from point a to point b; pedestrian malls, bike lanes, and bus-only lanes are reshaping traffic flows in New York City. Learn how traffic engineers and city planners work to keep traffic moving and explore the innovative and sometimes controversial reforms being made to the streets of New York. Guest curator Hilary Ballon moderates a discussion with Sam Schwartz (a.k.a. "Gridlock Sam"); Bruce Schaller, New York City Deputy Commissioner for Planning and Sustainability; and Jeffrey Zupan, Regional Plan Association. Presented in conjunction with the exhibition The Greatest Grid: The Master Plan of Manhattan, 1811-2011. RESERVATIONS REQUIRED $12 Non-Members $8 Seniors and Students $6 Museum Members *A two dollar surcharge applies for unreserved, walk-in participants. For more information please call 917-492-3395.

Saturday, February 18th
from 4:00 pm - 5:00 pm
en El Teatro @ El Museo del Barrio
1230 Fifth Avenue | 104th Street
Admission: Free

In collaboration with Carnegie Hall's Neighborhood Concert Series, El Museo del Barrio welcomes Latin Grammy award winner Lila Downs performing from her newly released album, Pecados y Milagros. Known for her striking voice and magnetic performances, Mexican-American singer and composer Lila Downs (Oaxaca, México) has created one of the most singular explorations of Mexican roots music on both sides of the border. The daughter of an American professor (her father) and a Mixtec cabaret singer, Downs came of age in both countries. By studying folk Mexican rhythms and native dialects and blending them with American folk, blues and rock, Downs has created a unique body of work through releases such as La Sandunga (1999), Tree of Life (2000) Border (2001), One Blood (2004), Entre Copa y Copa (2006) and Shake Away/Ojo de Culebra (2008). Her new CD release, Pecados y Milagros (Sins and Miracles), is an exploration of faith in light of modern events, both tragic and inspirational. Fifteen renowned Mexican contemporary visual artists have joined Lila in this project and each has created a work of art to accompany each song on the CD. These images have been integrated into a video projection which will be part of the concert performance. Lila will be accompanied by her long-time multi-national multi-instrumentalist band, La Misteriosa. Lila Downs has long been recognized by the music industry, receiving a Latin Grammy for the 2004 release "Una Sangre" and a Grammy nomination for 2008's "Shake Away," which was also named one of the top ten albums by WOMEX, the leading world music organization. In addition to headlining venues all over the world, she has appeared at major festivals and events including the World Sacred Music Festival - appearing with such luminaries as the Dalai Lama; WOMAD; Live Earth; the Latino Inaugural Ball for President Barack Obama; and the Bicentenario de Mexico. Lila Downs is currently composing the score for the musical theater adaptation of Like Water for Chocolate, the award winning novel and film by Mexican author Laura Esquivel. Please bring your printed RSVP with you to this event. RSVPs will be honored up until 30 minutes before show time. After that time, all guests will be admitted on a first come, first serve basis.

SPEAK UP!
An Homage to Piri Thomas

Saturday, February 18th
From 7:00 pm - 9:00 pm
El Teatro @ El Museo del Barrio
1230 Fifth Avenue | 104th Street
Admission: Free

Join us for a special presentation of Speak Up! in memory of Piri Thomas, author and poet who shed light on our beautiful gente y nuestra cultura, via his book, Down These Mean Streets. Throughout his life, he soulfully delivered an array of awe inspiring poetry. The evening will be hosted by Dr. Marta Moreno Vega and Felipe Luciano, and curated by Rich Villar. Poets include Martin Espada, Jesus "Papoleto" Melendez, Junot Díaz, Willie Perdomo, Mayda del Valle, Emanuel Xavier, and others. This program is presented by GDS Arts in collaboration with El Museo del Barrio.

Hired to Care:
Civil War Nurses and the Military Body

Thursday, March 15th
From 5:30 PM - 7:00 PM
The New York Academy of Medicine
1216 Fifth Avenue | 103rd Street

“Hired to Care” explores women’s relief work during the American Civil War in its social, political, and medical contexts. Although the majority of surgeons and nurses identified themselves as elites, each group spoke of having established more intimate bonds with the working-class men under their care than with one another. At the bottom of the military hospital hierarchy, female nurses related easily to their charges who like them, experienced subordination as soldiers. While the events surrounding the war would bring dignity to middle-class women’s labor, volunteers who were able to work without wages compared themselves favorably to paid workers whose patriotic motives they questioned. Professor Schultz uses her analysis of the social demographics of military medical workers to explore the sites of personal conflict that inevitably arose in the theater of war, as well as the political implications of those struggles. The talk emphasizes interaction between the Union nursing and surgical corps, but it also addresses Confederate medical workers insofar as their experience was distinct from that of Union workers.

SPEAK UP! The Word Is Our Weapon
Hosted by Bonafide Rojas

Saturday, March 17th
7:00 pm - 9:00 pm
El Teatro @ El Museo del Barrio
1230 Fifth Avenue | 104th Street
Admission: Free RSVP

This month, we gather a collective of poets and musicians representing the Bronx, Manhattan, and Washington Heights who build community through their poetry and art. Hosted by Bonafide Rojas, author of Pelo Bueno and When The City Sleeps, this Speak Up! will reach vocal magnitudes and feedback worthy of documenting. SPEAK UP! Radical Views on the Mic Every third Saturday, February to May, 7:00pm - 9:00pm, El Teatro A night full of powerfully soulful words, Speak Up! features an exciting line-up curated and hosted by guest poets.

SPEAK UP! Between Beyond Stage Page
Hosted by Sheila Maldonado

Saturday, April 21
7:00 pm - 9:00 pm
El Teatro @ El Museo del Barrio
1230 Fifth Avenue | 104th Street
Admission: Free RSVP

In celebration of National Poetry Month, Sheila Maldonado introduces a delicious assortment ranging from the personal to the political, fragmented, funny, and lyrical. Poets Louis Reyes Rivera, Lydia Cortés, Rodrigo Toscano, and Christina Olivares come to break, sing, re-order, and whisper words before your ears. SPEAK UP! Radical Views on the Mic Every third Saturday, February to May, 7:00pm - 9:00pm, El Teatro A night full of powerfully soulful words, Speak Up! features an exciting line-up curated and hosted by guest poets.

SPEAK UP! Latinidades
Hosted by Emanuel Xavier

Saturday, May 19th
7:00 pm - 9:00 pm
El Teatro @ El Museo del Barrio
1230 Fifth Avenue | 104th Street
Admission: Free RSVP

Nuyorican spoken word artist Emanuel Xavier returns to El Museo del Barrio to host a very special evening of our monthly series with friends Nancy Mercado, Simply Rob and others. SPEAK UP! Radical Views on the Mic Every third Saturday, February to May, 7:00pm - 9:00pm, El Teatro A night full of powerfully soulful words, Speak Up! features an exciting line-up curated and hosted by guest poets.

Photos by Angelo Rivera, Photographer

Since February 2007, parishioners from Our Lady Queen of Angels Roman Catholic Church in El Barrio have protested the closing of their spiritual "home" by the Archdiocese of New York by holding a Sunday morning mass each week. Join Carmen Villegas and other worshippers to support their efforts to reopen a beloved 121-year-old parish that has served thousands East Harlem residents.