Join us on December 7th for the final evening presentation of our Annual Fall Author’s Series!

Dr. Ian Radforth will present on his publication “Jeannie’s Demise: Abortion on Trial in Victorian Toronto ” as he unveils the results of his detailed investigation of a backstreet abortion that occurred on the streets of Toronto in 1875 and its tragic consequences while exploring the story about how one woman navigated politics in Victorian Toronto, when abortion was illegal.

Ian Radforth’s “Jeannie’s Demise” uncovers a real-life Victorian melodrama that played out in the bustling streets and courtrooms of “Toronto the Good,” cast with all the lurid stock characters of the genre. Historian Ian Radforth brings to life an era in which abortion was illegal, criminal proceedings were a spectator sport, and coded advertisements for back-alley procedures ran in the margins of newspapers. Part gripping procedural, part meticulous autopsy, “Jeannie’s Demise” opens a rare window into the hidden history of a woman’s right to choose.

About the Author:
Ian Radforth is a Canadian social historian who has taught for more than three decades in the department of history at the University of Toronto with a focus on labour and immigration history. He is the author of many historical works such as “Bushworkers and Bosses: Logging in Northern Ontario, 1900-1980” and “Royal Spectacle: The 1860 Visit of the Prince of Wales to Canada and the United States.” Radforth has also served as the representative of the history department’s Ethnic, Immigration, and Pluralism Studies Program Committee.