Hallie Knipp

Clemson University
Reforming Bodies: Conflicting Ideologies in Women-Led Healthcare in Kentucky, 1915–1945
This project examines how women reformers shaped reproductive and maternal healthcare in Appalachian Kentucky from 1915 to 1945, navigating intersecting ideologies of eugenics, public health, and feminist activism. By analyzing archival collections from Consortium member institutions including Harvard and the Library of Congress, I trace how national and transnational reproductive agendas were translated into regional policy and contested by local women. The project foregrounds women’s agency while interrogating structural constraints and contributes to scholarship in gender history, Appalachian studies, and medical history. Funding will support archival research and digital methods development for mapping networks of reproductive care across Kentucky.