Indiana history journal probes disease that killed Lincoln's mother

The dreaded 19th-century disease known as milk sickness claimed the lives of many Hoosiers, including 9-year-old Abraham Lincoln's mother. Not until the mid-20th century did researchers confirm that milk sickness is caused by a poison produced by the white snakeroot plant, which still grows freely throughout the southern Indiana woods. Cows and goats ate the plant and passed the poison to humans through milk and meat. In the March issue of the Indiana Magazine of History, Dr. Walter J. Daly, dean emeritus of the IU School of Medicine, describes the decades of efforts to solve the puzzle of this formerly "unpredictable, untreatable and highly fatal disease." Full Story

Immigration: Insights from Indiana University

Indiana University professors of law, education and history offer their insights into the national debate about immigration and the need for reform. Full Story

Insecure borders and illegal immigration

States across the country are considering legislation designed to clamp down on illegal immigrants by denying them and their children health care, education or driver's licenses. Such laws merely create a category of people known as "illegals" whose labor is valued but whose humanity, cultural capital and well-being are not, according to John Nieto-Phillips, associate professor of history and Latino studies at Indiana University Bloomington. Full Story

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