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Adams argues that the many significant changes seen in this period were due not to architects' efforts but to the work of feminists and health reformers. Contrary to the widely held belief that the home symbolized a refuge and safe haven to Victorians, Adams reveals that middle-class houses were actually considered poisonous and dangerous and explores the involvement of physicians in exposing " unhealthy" architecture and designing improved domestic environments. She examines the contradictory roles of middle-class women as both regulators of healthy houses and sources of disease and danger within their own homes, particularly during childbirth. "Architecture in the Family Way" sheds light on an ambiguous period in the histories of architecture, medicine, and women, revealing it to be a time of turmoil, not of progress and reform as is often assumed.
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Adams, A.. Architecture in the Family Way : Doctors, Houses and Men, 1870 1900. : McGill-Queen's University Press, . p 1 http://site.ebrary.com/id/10141738?ppg=1 Copyright © McGill-Queen's University Press. . All rights reserved. May not be reproduced in any form without permission from the publisher, except fair uses permitted under U.S. or applicable copyright law. Architecture in the Family Way Doctors, Houses, and Women, 18jo-19 0 0 Architecture in the Family Way explores the relationship o f domestic ar chitecture, health reform, and feminism in late-nineteenth-century England. Annmarie Adams examines the changing perceptions o f the English middle-class house from 1870 to 1900, highlighting the ways in which attitudes towards health, women, home life, and even politics were played out in architecture. Adams argues that the many significant changes seen in this period were not due to architects’ efforts but to the work o f feminists and health reformers. She reveals that, contrary to the widely held belief that the home symbolized a refuge and safe haven to Victorians, middle-class houses were actually considered poisonous and dangerous. Adams ex plores the involvement o f physicians in exposing “unhealthy” architecture and designing improved domestic environments. She examines the con tradictory roles o f middle-class women as both regulators o f healthy houses and sources o f disease and danger within their own homes, partic ularly during childbirth. Architecture in the Family Way sheds light on an ambiguous period in the histories o f architecture, medicine, and women, revealing it to be a time o f turmoil, not o f progress and reform as is often assumed. a n n m a r ie a d a m s is associate professor o f architecture, M cGill University. Adams, A.. Architecture in the Family Way : Doctors, Houses and Men, 1870-1900. : McGill-Queen's University Press, . p 2 http://site.ebrary.com/id/10141738?ppg=2 Copyright © McGill-Queen's University Press. . All rights reserved. May not be reproduced in any form without permission from the publisher, except fair uses permitted under U.S. or applicable copyright law. McGill-Queens/Hannah Institute Studies in the History of Medicine, Health, and Society Series Editor: S.O. Freedman and J.T.H. Connor Volumes in this series have been supported by the Hannah Institute for the History of Medicine. 1 Home Medicine The Newfoundland Experience John K. Crellin 2 A Long Way from Home The Tuberculosis Epidemic among the Inuit Pat Sandiford Grygier 3 Labrador Odyssey The Journal and Photographs of Eliot Curwen on the Second Voyage of Wilfred Grenfell, 1893 Edited by Ronald Rompkey 4 Architecture in the Family Way Doctors, Houses, and Women, 1870-1900 Annmarie Adams Adams, A.. Architecture in the Family Way i Doctors, Houses and Men, 1S7G-19GG. i McGill-Queen's University Press, . p 3 httpi//site.ebrary.com/id/1G14173S?ppg=3 Copyright © McGill-Queen's University P