Dr. Jerry A. Hedrick's HIStory

Enemy Fire Wasn't A Sailor's Greatest Threat to Health Demonstrations of 18th century medicine are fairly common at reenactments and historical sites. It’s both interesting and frightening for people as they imagine themselves in the place of an injured or sick person 300 years ago. I enjoy this particular bit of living history because, although primitive to us today, they really were practicing the height of technology of their time—and some of it obviously worked, because here we are today--at least some of our more hearty ancestors survived it, though it might have “cost them an arm and a leg.” My shipboard medical and surgical kit, ready for action. Oh, and a nosegay, so it smells nice. Early 18th  century shipboard medicine and the treatment of injuries and disease sounds just as perilous to us, if not more so, than the general medicine of the times. Doctors and surgeons were mostly self-taught, with the idea of standardized medical schools still a...

Making and Demonstrating the Art and Craft of Natural Fiber Rope Making Rope making is one of the first and most useful skills developed by humans. It predates other ancient tools and technologies such as the wheel and the ax. Not only was rope necessary for outfitting watercraft, it was needed to secure animals (and other humans), bundle goods, control horses, for tent making, for making simple footwear, and for team-based heavy lifting and pulling. And, in a pinch, holding up your pants. Without rope, the early Egyptians and ancient Chinese would be paddling their barges and feluccas up and down rivers, limiting the distance they could reasonably travel and the weight of goods they could hall. Both strong and flexible, the uses are endless. A rope might not seem very important, but it was critical to the emergence of early cultures around the globe.   Rope making demonstration with a young apprenti ce. Demonstrating 18 th century rope making is one of my favorite acti...