Bronx Primitive: Portraits in a Childhood

[…] We knew Dr. James had visited when we found our mothers in bed “resting,” an odd word, an odd event. When we left for school, they had no symptoms of cold or cough or pain; preoccupied perhaps, but that was common among women who worried about getting the rent paid on time, about shoes for the children, about husbands who habitually came home…

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Kate Simon’s Bronx Primitive: Portraits in Childhood (1982) is part of a trilogy of memoirs reflecting on her experiences growing up in the Bronx as a Polish immigrant. This passage comes from a chapter called “Birthing,” which explores reproductive rights, the immigrant experience, and the back-channel and often illicit support provided by figures like Dr. James to immigrant women at a time when abortion was illegal, dangerous, and yet still fairly frequently sought. 

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