The Museum of South Texas History welcomes back Dr. Jamie Starling for a Sunday Speaker Series program. Starling will present “Health, Motherhood, and Infancy in the Colonial Rio Grande Valley” on Sunday, Sept. 29, at 2 p.m.
This presentation examines health in the Rio Grande Valley during the Spanish colonial period from 1749 to 1821. Starling’s presentation focuses on conditions faced by new mothers and infants, two groups who were especially vulnerable to disease during this time. Starling also covers what colonial records reveal about understandings of medicine, epidemic disease, and both science and spirituality during this time.
Starling is an associate professor of history at the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley and an affiliate in the Mexican American Studies Program. He has published articles on the Rio Grande Valley, El Paso and New Mexico on topics ranging from the colonial period through the Civil War. He also teaches undergraduate and graduate courses on American history with a focus on Texas, the American Southwest and Borderlands.
Sunday Speaker Series is included in the fee for regular museum admission. FRIENDS of MOSTHistory are admitted free as a benefit of FRIENDship and must present their FRIENDship card at the Admissions Desk.
This program is made possible with generous support from the Carmen C. Guerra Endowment. Mrs. Guerra was deeply committed to supporting educational opportunities in the Rio Grande Valley. This named endowment was created at the museum by her family to honor her memory and to continue her commitment to providing opportunities for education to the community.
About Museum of South Texas History
The Museum of South Texas History is accredited by the American Alliance of Museums. It is located in downtown Edinburg at 200 North Closner Boulevard on the Hidalgo County Courthouse square. Hours of operation are from 1 p.m.–5 p.m. Sunday and 10 a.m.–5 p.m. Tuesday–Saturday. Founded in 1967 as the Hidalgo County Historical Museum in the 1910 Hidalgo County Jail, the museum has grown over the decades through a series of expansions to occupy a full city block. In 2003, following the completion of a 22,500 square foot expansion, the museum was renamed the Museum of South Texas History to better reflect its regional scope. Today, the museum preserves and presents the borderland heritage of South Texas and Northeastern Mexico through its permanent collection and the Margaret H. McAllen Memorial Archives and exhibits spanning prehistory through the 20th century. For more information about MOSTHistory, including becoming a FRIEND, visit MOSTHistory.org, like us on Facebook and Instagram, follow on Twitter, find on YouTube or call +1-956-383-6911.