Virtual Lecture: “Crafting a Nation, Crafting a Mouth: Josiah Bartlett and the Meaning of Teeth in the Eighteenth Century,” by Lucy Smith

Explore a fascinating aspect of medical history as Lucy Smith examines a cultural shift during the revolutionary and early republican era when Americans began to value dental health and dental hygiene as markers of status. Dr. Josiah Bartlett, who was one of New Hampshire’s signers of the Declaration of Independence, kept meticulous records of his medical practice, including such procedures as dental extractions. Smith, a doctoral candidate at the University of Michigan, studied Bartlett’s papers during a research trip to the Society in 2023 with the support of a New England Regional Fellowship. Admission is free for New Hampshire Historical Society members; $5 for nonmembers. Register through Eventbrite.