ABSTRACT

D uring the past few years I have been studying the history ofwomen caregivers for sick and disabled family members andfriends in the United States, specifically in the period between 1850 and 1940. My original intention was to challenge how researchers and policy analysts use the past. Highlighting the growth of the frail elderly population, some argue that the demands for informal care are greater today than ever before. Nadine F.Marks (1996:27), for example, recently wrote that “demographic changes have now increased the relative risk of becoming a caregiver at some time-or even multiple times-during a lifetime.” Cling-ing to a romantic vision of a vanished world, others argue that the nineteenth century was the golden age, because women delivered care selflessly and sensi-tively. The implication is that we should return to nineteenthcentury methods of care.