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“With No One Present With Her But Her Mother”: Infanticide and Social Childbirth in the Post-Civil War U.S. South

Year: 2025

Type: article

Abstract: Historians have long characterized infanticide as an act committed by unmarried women alone and in secret. However, this article demonstrates that in the post-Civil War U.S. South, the grandmothers of deceased infants, or the mothers of women accused of killing their newborns, were frequently suspected of having aided their daughters. This essay draws on local court records, coroners’ inquests, and newspaper reports involving Black and White women from South Carolina to explore this overlooked aspect of historical infanticide and to situate the participation of grandmothers in coroners’ inquests, criminal trials, and infanticide itself within the broader context of social childbirth.

Source: Journal of Family History

DOI: 10.1177/03631990251395693

Author: Hannah Katherine Hicks

Institution: Pennsylvania State University

Language: English

Topic: Homicide, Infanticide, and Child Abuse

Subfield: Sociology and Political Science

Field: Social Sciences

Domain: Social Sciences

SDGs: Peace, justice, and strong institutions, Gender equality

Open Access status: hybrid

Estimated APC paid: $3,650