Books: The Strange Tradition of “Practice Babies” at Women’s Colleges

The first decades of the 20th century were a strange time, not least because they marked the beginnin

Books May 3, 2021 • View in browser

The first decades of the 20th century were a strange time, not least because they marked the beginning of a simulated domestic experiment. This week, an essay by Megan Culhane Galbraith recounts the curious tradition of “practice babies,” which began in 1919 at Cornell University. Read on — it is indeed as bizarre as it sounds.Matt Stromberg shares news of Diža’ No’ole, a stunning new text that celebrates undocumented Indigenous women in Los Angeles. Through stunning photographs and expansive interviews, the book “walks a line between revealing and concealing, between demanding visibility and respecting the women’s decision to keep some things hidden.”Happy reading.—Dessane Lopez Cassell, Editor, Reviews

The Strange Tradition of “Practice Babies” at 20th-century Women’s Colleges An excerpt from Megan Galbraith’s The Guild of the Infant Survivor, a memoir of an adoptee’s quest for her past. Megan Culhane Galbraith

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Before Photography, Watercolorists Documented the Luscious Variety of Fruits and Nuts Between 1886 and 1942, the US Department of Agriculture commissioned watercolorists to document the food from farms and orchards. Lauren Moya Ford

Artists Collectively Write a Poetry Book During the Pandemic The Poem is Telling Me I Remember features collaborative poetry from the Oakland studio and gallery for artists with developmental disabilities. Sam Lefebvre

SPONSORED Curators Discuss Iconic Shows in "Site Read: Seven Curators on Their Landmark Exhibitions" The Pew Center for Arts & Heritage’s new anthology surveys an array of structurally innovative shows in the exhibition makers’ own words.

Honoring the Stories of Undocumented Indigenous Women in Los Angeles Diža’ No’ole walks a line between revealing and concealing, respecting the women’s decision to keep some things hidden. Matt Stromberg

Resonant Adventures in Art and Intimacy From Larissa Pham A memoir-in-essays, Pop Song is at its most satisfying when the author assembles an arsenal of visual artists to express the ineffable. Sophia Stewart

The Salacious and Scholarly Poems of Yusef Komunyakaa The poet suggests his art’s highest calling isn’t truth-telling but stirring our empathic imagination. Ela Bittencourt

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