Deborah Streahle
Deborah Streahle is a historian of medicine and curator whose research focuses on end-of-life care and health activism in the U.S. in the 20th century. Additional areas of interest include technology, reproductive health, disability, and alternative medicine. She earned a B.A. in Philosophy from Lehigh University and a Ph.D. in History of Science and Medicine from Yale. Deborah has developed a variety of history courses and workshops for high school and college students in the History of Science, Medicine, and Public Health major, the Yale Young Global Scholars Program, the Life Worth Living Program, and Yale Summer Session.
In her dissertation, “Care Underground: Activists and the Transformation of American Dying in the 1960s,” she argued that the 1960s were a turning point in death care in the U.S. Through several case studies, she examined activists’ efforts to incorporate greater personalization, meaning, and community connection into mainstream death care practices.
As Guest Historian at the Intrepid Museum, Deborah is co-curating an exhibition about Navy medicine on the restored medical facilities of a historic aircraft carrier. During her graduate education, she curated five exhibits on topics ranging from surgical tools to disability activism. Her research has been featured on COVID Calls, the Dead Ladies Show podcast, and in the Los Angeles Review of Books. She is active in disability advocacy on campus. In her free time, she hangs out with her family, explores local beaches, eats pizza, and cycles around the region.