A historic image of a large group of Black nurse midwives

Bjoring Center Events

Spring 2026 History Forums

"Race and Reparations in the History of Psychiatry"

Kylie M. Smith, PhD

March 11, 2026 at 12 p.m. (ET) on Zoom

2026 Randolph Award Lecture in conjunction with UVA Medical Center Hour

This presentation traces the development of Dr. Kylie Smith’s thinking and practice as a historian of psychiatry Randolph Award recipient for 2026over the last decade. Drawing on insights from her work on psychiatric nurses, the ethics of health care history research, and her newest work on segregated institutions in the American South, Dr. Smith argues that the history of mental health policy and practice is indelibly shaped by its long intersection with white supremacy. This history calls into question our methods as historians, as Dr. Smith calls for a reparatory approach to the history of psychiatry in which truth telling is essential for state and professional accountability. At the same time, Dr. Smith demonstrates that this is a complex task that requires us to think carefully about our role and methods as historians, including what stories we choose to tell, and what we owe to our historical actors.

Kylie M. Smith, PhD, is the recipient of the 2026 Agnes Dillion Randolph Award from the Bjoring Center for her outstanding scholarship on the history of psychiatry, nursing, and health equity. She is an adjunct associate professor at Emory University’s Nell Hodgson Woodruff School of Nursing and an adjunct research fellow with the University of Southern Queensland. Her latest book is Jim Crow in the Asylum: Psychiatry and Civil Rights in the American South (UNC Press, 2026).  She is also the author of the award-winning Talking Therapy: Knowledge and Power in American Psychiatric Nursing After WWII (Rutgers University Press, 2020).

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"Striking for the Patients: Medical Civil Rights and Labor Equity at the South Carolina State Hospital (1964-1984)"

Bradford Pelletier, PhD

April 14, 2026 at 12 p.m. (ET) on Zoom

Bradford Pelletier, PhD, is a Mellon Race, Place, and Equity Postdoctoral Research Associate in the History of Nursing aphoto of Bradford Pelletiernd Healthcare at UVA. His research examines the struggle for medical civil rights during the 20th century, with a particular focus on the influence of African American activism on American psychiatric practices in the South. Dr. Pelletier earned a PhD in history from the City University of New York; a master’s degree in European history and literature from Columbia University; a master’s degree in American history from the College of Charleston; and a bachelor’s degree in history and French from Roanoke College.

 

Photo of Dominique Tobbell
Dominique Tobbell, PhD
Director of the Bjoring Center for Nursing Historical Inquiry
Centennial Distinguished Professor of Nursing
rnp6dm@virginia.edu
Photo of Maura Singleton
Maura Singleton
Program manager, Bjoring Center for Nursing Historical Inquiry
mks2d@virginia.edu
434-924-0083
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