with Madeline DeDe-Panken

Monday, September 9th
7:30pm Central Time

Zoom link will go to members via email.

Unearthing the historical hyphae of our current mushroom moment, this talk explores a remarkable group of women who helped shape and sustain popular mycology in the late 1800s and early 1900s. Women leveraged culinary applications and poisoning fears to legitimize mycological endeavors, sidestepping gender barriers to become experts and advocates. Mycology was a rare accessible venue for women interested in doing science. Yet simultaneously, their insistence on science-minded foraging denigrated traditional practices among marginalized gatherers, fueling exclusion that persists today. This talk uncovers the complex stories of long-overlooked mycological experts. Ultimately, it reflects on mushroom hunting’s enduring appeal and considers questions of accessibility and equity that remain relevant.

Madeline DeDe-Panken is a Ph.D. Candidate in U.S. History at The Graduate Center at the City University of New York. With broad interests in gender, authority and popular science, her research explores women’s involvement in scientific and sustenance mushroom foraging at the turn of the twentieth century. She has held fellowships at Harvard’s Schlesinger Library, Lloyd Library and Museum, New York Botanical Garden and New York Historical Society Center for Women’s History. She currently resides in the Boston area, where she is an active BMC member and works at The Mushroom Shop helping people take full advantage of culinary varieties.