Public Program - Melanie Kiechle

Lectures and Performances

Thursday, November 16, 2017 - 7:00pm

What a Stench! The Civil War's Instant Cities

by Melanie Kiechle

When they weren't fighting, Civil War soldiers worried about smelly camps, hospitals, and prisons. The stenches of these spaces reminded soldiers of cities, which were notoriously bad for health. Based on her new book, Smell Detectives: An Olfactory History of Nineteenth-Century America, Kiechle will take us on a tour of Civil War smellscapes to explain how wartime smells combined with antebellum medical beliefs to create public health in American cities after the war.

Additional Information

Seating at public program lectures and performances is first-come, first-served. Doors open at 6:30 p.m., and we encourage you to arrive early to claim a seat.

Programs start at 7:00 p.m. unless otherwise noted.

Unless otherwise noted all programs will take place in Antiquarian Hall, 185 Salisbury Street, Worcester, Massachusetts, and are open to the public free of charge. Directions to Antiquarian Hall

Additional parking is available in the AAS lot at 90 Park Ave., Worcester, MA 01609

Books will be available for sale and signed by the author for any program associated with a publication.

Listing of previous lectures and performances

Many public programs are available to view on the AAS YouTube channel

For further information about our public programs, contact Kayla Hopper at khopper@mwa.org or call our main number at 508-755-5221.

The American Antiquarian Society is funded in part by the Massachusetts Cultural Council, a state agency that supports public programs in the arts, humanities, and sciences.

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