@SafetyWorkHSTM

Historian of home injuries and U.S. public health @UR_Med. Former Ph.D. student @ihmjhu and organizer @TRUhopkins. Still frustrated and/or over-caffeinated.

 Baltimore, MD
Joined September 2018
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Have you ever been burned by an iron? Received a shock from a power cord? Pulled your sleeve out of a motorized wringer? Check out my article on the history of home laundry safety on Project Muse! muse.jhu.edu/article/956850
Illustration of a little girl playing with a motorized wringer washer from the National Safety Council’s Family Safety magazine (1967). The image appears in Alexander Parry, “Making Homemakers Responsible for Safety: Housework, Laundry Equipment, and the Unequal Burdens of Accident Prevention, c. 1910–80,” Technology and Culture 66.2 (2025): 411-447

ALT Illustration of a little girl playing with a motorized wringer washer from the National Safety Council’s Family Safety magazine (1967). The image appears in Alexander Parry, “Making Homemakers Responsible for Safety: Housework, Laundry Equipment, and the Unequal Burdens of Accident Prevention, c. 1910–80,” Technology and Culture 66.2 (2025): 411-447

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My latest for JAMA Pediatrics on the history and continued importance of the Consumer Product Safety Commission. Medical practitioners have a duty to stand behind government-based product safety measures to protect the public from unreasonable risks. jamanetwork.com/journals/jam…

Why We Should Defend the Consumer Product Safety Commission

This Viewpoint discusses the importance of the Consumer Product Safety Commission and physicians’ role in advocating for our collective health.

jamanetwork.com
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As a historian of injuries and product safety, this one feels personal. The CPSC can’t do its job without independent commissioners. Let’s review some of the cases that led to the establishment of the agency in the first place: npr.org/2025/07/23/nx-s1-547…

Supreme Court allows Trump to fire 3 Democrats on consumer safety panel

The decision further limits a 90-year-old high-court precedent that was aimed at protecting the independence of certain regulatory agencies.

npr.org
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11. Glass bottles that exploded spontaneously on store shelves. 12. Eyeglasses with lenses that could shatter and flammable frames. 13. Ball-shaped fireworks that children mistook for candy. 14. Electric vaporizers that scalded and shocked their users. 15. Risky power tools.
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Users shouldn’t have to play Russian roulette with everyday products. This administration has cruelly decided that anyone who buys a harmful, defective, ineffective, or overpriced product is a sucker, nothing more and nothing less.
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Parent complaints were key drivers of the toy safety movement from 1965 to 1975. I worked with the National Archives to bring this history to high-school classes. Knowing how and why consumers have pushed for federal safety regulation is crucial today. socialstudies.org/social-edu…

Social Education May/June 2025

socialstudies.org
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If you aren’t a member of the National Council for the Social Studies, you can access the lesson from the article for free on DocsTeach. The Teaching with Documents series is also available on ProQuest. It’s a great resource for educators at all levels. docsteach.org/activities/tea…
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Alex Parry, Ph.D. retweeted
Tendon Magazine@tendonmag1 May 2025
Issue 07, "Rest," is live today! We’re so proud to share this one with you. Poetry, art, and prose on rest as repair, resistance, and care—and what it means to slow down, even when it’s hard to. → hopkinsmedicalhumanities.org…
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I wrote something! Excited to see my article on home laundry safety in Technology and Culture. I show how experts and the public worked to control the risks of laundry devices, reducing accidents but making homemakers responsible for their safety as buyers and housekeepers.
Abstract of “Making Homemakers Responsible for Safety: Housework, Laundry Equipment, and the Unequal Burdens of Accident Prevention, c. 1910-80,” Technology and Culture 66.2 (2025): 411-447

ALT Abstract of “Making Homemakers Responsible for Safety: Housework, Laundry Equipment, and the Unequal Burdens of Accident Prevention, c. 1910-80,” Technology and Culture 66.2 (2025): 411-447

A 1933 advertisement from the article marketing the Voss Bros. Safety-Guard wringer, which featured an instinctive emergency release. The ad shows a salesman feeding his hair, tie, and sleeves into the rollers of the machine.

ALT A 1933 advertisement from the article marketing the Voss Bros. Safety-Guard wringer, which featured an instinctive emergency release. The ad shows a salesman feeding his hair, tie, and sleeves into the rollers of the machine.

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Please spread word of this TT position far and wide! CofC is a splendid liberal arts university in a terrific city- our dept is vibrant and supportive- don't hesitate to reach out directly with questions, as I'm chairing the search: h-net.org/jobs/job_display.p…
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ICYMI, my talk on childproofing and the health and safety of electric vaporizers is available online! Thank you for the turnout and for the excellent Q&A. youtu.be/MP-NA9Z1lXA?si=2C0I…

The Corner Society "Childproof: Health, Safety, and the Electric...

Enjoy the videos and music you love, upload original content, and share it all with friends, family, and the world on YouTube.

youtube.com
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Alex Parry, Ph.D. retweeted
Lauren Tilton@nolauren24 Sep 2024
Debates in #DH Computational Humanities is now available for purchase (OA @ManifoldScholar this winter)! Thank you to the amazing contributors, co-editors extraordinaire @jmjafrx @dmimno , the team @UMinnPress , and series editors @laurenfklein @mkgold ! 👇🏼
The cover of the book. Says computational humanities.

ALT The cover of the book. Says computational humanities.

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Alex Parry, Ph.D. retweeted
Tendon Magazine@tendonmag21 Sep 2024
We're open for submissions! Tendon is currently looking to publish creative and critical work on the theme of rest. Check out our open call here, and spread the word! tendonmag.submittable.com/su…
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Alex Parry, Ph.D. retweeted
Antoine J., PhD@AJohnsonHist18 Sep 2024
Received my first R&R today. Presenting the research on that article next week at UC Davis School of Medicine on Monday. Also giving a talk to my department (African American & African Studies) on Tuesday. Hope folks can join us
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Christine Slobogin@slobogin17 Sep 2024
Our first Corner Society lecture for this season is next Wed, Sept 25! I'm pleased to welcome my @UofR colleague @SafetyWorkHSTM to give the talk "Childproof: Health, Safety, and the Electric Vaporizer, c. 1920-1990" Join us at the Rochester Academy of Medicine, or join on Zoom
Childproof: Health, Safety, and the Electric Vaporizer, c. 1920-1990 Alexander Parry, PhD Assistant Professor University of Rochester Wednesday, September 25, 2024 5:30 pm Lecture 6:45 - 7:15 pm Social Gathering Over the course of the twentieth century, businesses, medical practitioners, and magazines for parents and homemakers routinely prescribed electric vaporizers to treat coughs, colds, croup, and other respiratory illnesses. These commercial devices were portrayed as safe and effective alternatives to old-fashioned steam kettles and were expected to relieve the discomfort of sick children at home. At the same time, these vaporizers could burn, shock, and trip their users or cause house fires and explosions. from the 1950s to 1970s, serious injuries involving hot-water vaporizers pushed consumer protection advocates to reconsider the safety of these appliances for children. This talk shos how and why U.S. experts and families changed their minds about the benefits of hot steam..

ALT Childproof: Health, Safety, and the Electric Vaporizer, c. 1920-1990 Alexander Parry, PhD Assistant Professor University of Rochester Wednesday, September 25, 2024 5:30 pm Lecture 6:45 - 7:15 pm Social Gathering Over the course of the twentieth century, businesses, medical practitioners, and magazines for parents and homemakers routinely prescribed electric vaporizers to treat coughs, colds, croup, and other respiratory illnesses. These commercial devices were portrayed as safe and effective alternatives to old-fashioned steam kettles and were expected to relieve the discomfort of sick children at home. At the same time, these vaporizers could burn, shock, and trip their users or cause house fires and explosions. from the 1950s to 1970s, serious injuries involving hot-water vaporizers pushed consumer protection advocates to reconsider the safety of these appliances for children. This talk shos how and why U.S. experts and families changed their minds about the benefits of hot steam..

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Alex Parry, Ph.D. retweeted
Dave Kamper 🌹@dskamper9 Sep 2024
I wrote about this wave last year for @labornotes labornotes.org/2023/03/whats…

What’s Fueling the Graduate Worker Union Upsurge?

The Twin Cities saw one of its biggest-ever snowstorms the week of Presidents Day. But for labor activists the snow was overshadowed by the launch of the University of Minnesota Graduate Labor Union.

labornotes.org
Daily Union Elections@UnionElections9 Sep 2024
BREAKING: According to new data from @HigherEd_CB's 2024 study, nearly 40% of Graduate Student Employees are now unionized. Over 60% of Graduate workers at Private institutions are now unionized. Grad unionized has nearly tripled since 2012.
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After I finish my current batch of projects, I’m debating between: 1. A deep dive on toy safety and “real-life” toys. 2. An essay unpacking how some businesses and the state have defined selling risky goods as a form of unfair competition. I wish I could write more quickly.
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