My Work
History of
Forensic Science
Publications
"Coroners, Corruption, and the Politics of Death: Forensic Pathology in the United States"
Michael Clark and Catherine Crawford, eds. Legal Medicine in History, London: Cambridge University Press, 1994, pp. 268-289
"Speaking For the Dead: Forensic Pathologists and Criminal Justice in the United States"
Susan Silbey, ed, Law and Science: Volume I: Epistemological, Evidentiary, and Relational Engagements, London: Ashgate Publishing Group, 2008
"William Scott Wadsworth: An Appreciation of an Anomalous Career"
Transactions and Studies of the College of Physicians of Philadelphia, Series V, Vol. XII, No. 3 (September 1990), pp. 335-346
"The Impulse to Believe': Scientific Evidence and the "Problem" of the Jury in Historical Perspective"
Focus on Law Studies, American Bar Association Commission on College and University Legal Studies Fall 1995, Volume XI, Number 1, pp 9-11
"'The Impulse to Believe': Science, Juries, and History"
Scientific Evidence Review, Monograph no. 3 (1995), American Bar Association Section on Science and Technology
"Speaking for the Dead: Forensic Pathology and American Justice in the Twentieth Century,"
Science, Technology, and Human Values, 20 (4) Autumn 1995: 438-459
"Witness for the Prosecution: Science versus Crime in Twentieth-Century America"
Legal Studies Forum XXII (1) January 1998 pp. 183-199
Projects
Historical Consultant, "Lucretia Borgia"
Biography, Arts and Entertainment Network
Historical Consultant, "The Curse of the Borgias"
In Search of Ancient Mysteries, Arts and Entertainment Network
Historical Consultant, Visible Proofs: Forensic Views of the Body
National Library of Medicine
Presentations
"Coroners, Corruption, and the Politics of Death: The New York City Coroner's Office in the Gilded Age"
Murder in Gilded Age New York, New-York Historical Society
"Speaking for the Dead: Forensic Pathologists, Science and Law in Twentieth-Century America"
History of Science Colloquium, Harvard University
"The Dead Cannot Perjure Themselves: Scientific Evidence in the Courts of Law"
Francis C. Wood Institute for the History of Medicine, College of Physicians of Philadelphia; The Center for the Study of Society and Medicine, College of Physicians and Surgeons, Columbia University
"The Impulse to Believe: American Juries and Scientific Authority in the Twentieth Century"
History Department Colloquium, University of Delaware; American Bar Association Conference on Law and Science
"The Politics of Death: The Rise of the Medical Examiner System in the United States"
Grand Rounds, Department of Pathology, Methodist Hospital of Philadelphia; Grand Rounds, Department of Pathology, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine
"The Politics of Medicine: The Philadelphia Coroner's Office, 1900-1956"
Francis C. Wood Institute for the History of Medicine, College of Physicians of Philadelphia
"The Evidence Never Lies': Scientific Evidence in the Prosecution of Rape"
Center for the Study of the History of Nursing, University of Pennsylvania
"A House Divided: Medical Specialization and the Case of Forensic Pathology"
American Association for the History of Medicine Annual Meeting
"Crime's Nemesis: Forensic Science and Criminal Justice in the United States"
Department of Criminal Justice, University of Delaware; joint colloquium in History and Criminal Justice, St. Anselm’s College; Social Science History Association Annual Meeting
"The Politics of Death: The Philadelphia Coroner's Office, 1900-1956"
American Association for the History of Medicine Annual Meeting
"Witness for the Prosecution: Forensic Science and American Justice in the Twentieth Century"
Johns Hopkins University, Department of the History of Science, Medicine, and Technology; Program in Science Technology and Society, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
"Speaking for the Dead: Science, Law, and Democracy in Twentieth Century America"
Organization of American Historians Annual Meeting; Society for the Social Study of Science Annual Meeting
"Forensic Science and the Ethics of Criminal Prosecution: Lessons from the Crimes of the Century"
Convocation Address, Hiram College
"'The Evidence Never Lies': Science versus Crime in the Twentieth Century"
Law and Society Association Annual Meeting
The Coroner Lady
Julie Johnson-McGrath, Ph.D.
I offer historical consulting services to writers of fiction and non-fiction on the following topics: forensic science, medicine, science, technology, social and behavioral sciences, popular and material culture.