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Teaching Resources for Your Classroom

Colonial Williamsburg offers a variety of quality instructional materials to help you teach students about eighteenth-century medicine and life in early America, including the following:

"Archaeology: Revealing Our History" videoANN'S STORY: 1747
A Colonial Williamsburg Young Americans Series Book

Nine-year-old Ann needs to start behaving like a proper young lady, learning to knit, cook, and manage a household; but she would rather assist her father, Dr. McKenzie, with his patients. (Grades 4-6), $9.95. To purchase call 1-800-688-6473 or use the order form in the Teaching Resources Catalog.

 

"Potions, Ails, and Smallpox Tales" videoPOTIONS, AILS, AND SMALLPOX TALES
A Colonial Williamsburg Becoming Americans Series Video

Two 20-minute episodes tell the story of health care in early America-the medicines and medical equipment of the Apothecary and the dangers of a smallpox epidemic-as seen through the eyes of a doctor's young apprentice. (40-minute video with Web access to comprehensive teacher materials). This program is part of our Becoming Americans Video Series. (Grades 4–8), $34.99. To purchase call 1-800-688-6473 or use the order form in the Teaching Resources Catalog.

 

Physick: The Professional Practice of Medicine in Williamsburg, Virginia, 1740-1775PHYSICK: THE PROFESSIONAL PRACTICE OF MEDICINE IN WILLIAMSBURG, VIRGINIA, 1740–1775
by Sharon Cotner, Kris Dippre, Robin Kipps, and Susan Pryor

The professional practice of medicine and the methods used to treat patients in colonial Williamsburg between 1740 and 1775 are thoroughly explained. Topics include medical theory, education, treatments, surgery, and brief biographical sketches of several local practitioners. (adult reading level), $6.95. To purchase call 1-800-688-6473 or use the order form in the Teaching Resources Catalog.

 

"Our Common Passage" VideoOUR COMMON PASSAGE by Abigail Schumann
Educational Video

A compelling one-woman drama depicts the lives of four women against the backdrop of colonial America in the days before and during the Revolutionary War. A gentry woman must come to terms with the death of her child as Virginians approach the brink of revolution; a determined rural midwife celebrates life despite the increasing hardships of war; an enslaved woman reflects on family and loss; and a first-time mother faces the fear and isolation of giving birth alone on Virginia's western frontier.

First presented on stage in 1977, Our Common Passage artfully interprets Colonial Williamsburg's "Becoming Americans" theme. (Grades 5–12), $19.95. To purchase call 1-800-688-6473 or use the order form in the Teaching Resources Catalog.

 

Pamphlet: "Every Man His Own Doctor"EVERY MAN HIS OWN DOCTOR: OR, THE POOR PLANTERS PHYSICIAN
Reproduction Pamphlet

This facsimile is reprinted from a copy of the pamphlet produced by Williamsburg, Virginia, printer William Parks in 1734 and 1736 and by Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, printer Benjamin Franklin in 1734, 1736, and 1737. The pamphlet contains "Plain and Easy Means for Persons to cure themselves of all, or most of the Distempers, incident to this Climate, and with very little Charge, the Medicines being chiefly of the Growth and production of this Country." $19.95. To purchase, call 1-800-688-6473 or use the order form in the Teaching Resources Catalog.