About obgynhistory.net
What?
Version 3.0 (October 2026) is the third upgrade of this site since its launch in November 2014. It keeps the familiar look and content of earlier versions, with several improvements:
As the name implies, obgynhistory.net is devoted to historical aspects of midwifery, obstetrics, gynecology, and the diseases of women.
Professionals in these fields will find thousands of links to curated full-text articles from older books and journals --enough to provide months of casual reading, or to serve as a resource for writers or Grand-Round speakers seeking background information and case-histories not readily available from the usual WEB searches.
But there's a lot more...
Because OBGYN is a relatively recent specialty, its development is best appreciated in a broader cultural and medical context, and there are numerous articles about medicine unrelated to OBGYN.
The curious general reader will thus find many interesting topics, particularly under the Antiquity and Miscellanea menu tabs.
2nd and 3rd-level pages can be accessed directly from the tab menus. Higher-level pages can be reached by clicking on buttons or images within pages. Feel free to click everywhere, but some pages are still under construction. Please report any unintentional dead-links using the Contact page.
- Missing articles have been restored and broken links repaired. Nearly every listed reading now opens a PDF or a free online copy of the book.
- The pages are wider on large screens, and adapt to phones and tablets.
- A darker, easier-to-read color scheme and larger menus.
- A few new pages have been added, and a number of unfinished pages are being fleshed out.
- The Blog has been retired, since this is now a static site that does not accept comments. For discussion and feedback, please visit the obgynhistory Facebook page, where the blog posts first appeared.
As the name implies, obgynhistory.net is devoted to historical aspects of midwifery, obstetrics, gynecology, and the diseases of women.
Professionals in these fields will find thousands of links to curated full-text articles from older books and journals --enough to provide months of casual reading, or to serve as a resource for writers or Grand-Round speakers seeking background information and case-histories not readily available from the usual WEB searches.
But there's a lot more...
Because OBGYN is a relatively recent specialty, its development is best appreciated in a broader cultural and medical context, and there are numerous articles about medicine unrelated to OBGYN.
The curious general reader will thus find many interesting topics, particularly under the Antiquity and Miscellanea menu tabs.
2nd and 3rd-level pages can be accessed directly from the tab menus. Higher-level pages can be reached by clicking on buttons or images within pages. Feel free to click everywhere, but some pages are still under construction. Please report any unintentional dead-links using the Contact page.
Why?
obgynhistory.net was launched in November 2014, primarily as occupational therapy for a recently-retired Canadian/American OBGYN with an interest in the history of his profession.
I have collected antiquarian books and instruments for over 35 years. During the last two decades, I spent many evenings in libraries photocopying journal articles. When EBAY came along, I bought dozens of discarded bound journals to tear up, and expanded my collection of plastic-protected articles catalogued in over 200 three-ring binders. As evermore books and instruments accumulated on the shelves in my man-cave, my wife asked: “What are you going to do with all this s***?”
That particular pack-rat activity stopped around 2007, when GOOGLE began digitizing entire university libraries. Since I had always been more interested in the content of old books than in their value as artifacts, it seemed more convenient to go the digital route. I used slow on-call time to download literally thousands of books and journals from GOOGLE and other Internet sites.
Anticipating retirement and house-downsizing, I gradually scanned most of my articles and got rid of the binders. My database currently takes up about 700GB on a portable USB drive. After years in storage, I started selling my books and instruments to younger collectors who prefer tangibles to bytes, and have the space for them. There are still a few left, and anyone interested can look them up on eBay under the seller name “rmojc”.
I have collected antiquarian books and instruments for over 35 years. During the last two decades, I spent many evenings in libraries photocopying journal articles. When EBAY came along, I bought dozens of discarded bound journals to tear up, and expanded my collection of plastic-protected articles catalogued in over 200 three-ring binders. As evermore books and instruments accumulated on the shelves in my man-cave, my wife asked: “What are you going to do with all this s***?”
That particular pack-rat activity stopped around 2007, when GOOGLE began digitizing entire university libraries. Since I had always been more interested in the content of old books than in their value as artifacts, it seemed more convenient to go the digital route. I used slow on-call time to download literally thousands of books and journals from GOOGLE and other Internet sites.
Anticipating retirement and house-downsizing, I gradually scanned most of my articles and got rid of the binders. My database currently takes up about 700GB on a portable USB drive. After years in storage, I started selling my books and instruments to younger collectors who prefer tangibles to bytes, and have the space for them. There are still a few left, and anyone interested can look them up on eBay under the seller name “rmojc”.
Who?
Ronald M. Cyr M.D.
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I received my M.D. from the University of Toronto in 1977. After completing OBGYN training at McGill University, I practiced general OBGYN in Canada and the USA until 2014. I retired from clinical practice in 2014 as an Associate Professor at Michigan State University.
I am the 2003 ACOG/Ortho-McNeil Fellow in the History of American Obstetrics and Gynecology, and author of various articles and presentations on historical topics. In 2010, Dr. Thomas F. Baskett and I published a critically-acclaimed English translation of François Rousset’s 1581 treatise on Cesarean Section. Collaboration I appreciate any constructive feedback, and am happy to be a resource person or co-author to anyone looking to collaborate on a historical article for publication (or not). Please contact me using the Contact page on this site. |
How?
For twelve years, this site was built and maintained with WEEBLY’s “drag and drop” editor. In 2026 I learned that WEEBLY would be discontinued later that year. Rebuilding hundreds of pages, with thousands of links, images and PDF articles, on another platform would have taken months, so I looked for a way to keep the look and feel of the site intact.
Working with Claude (Cowork), an AI assistant from Anthropic, I converted the WEEBLY site into Version 3.0: a stand-alone website, independent of any website builder, that can be hosted anywhere. The site now lives at obgynhistory.net.
I use ADOBE ACROBAT PRO and PHOTOSHOP ELEMENTS to process and optimize the articles and images from my database.
Working with Claude (Cowork), an AI assistant from Anthropic, I converted the WEEBLY site into Version 3.0: a stand-alone website, independent of any website builder, that can be hosted anywhere. The site now lives at obgynhistory.net.
I use ADOBE ACROBAT PRO and PHOTOSHOP ELEMENTS to process and optimize the articles and images from my database.
What Else?
Copyright Issues
The material in my database was acquired over many years for my own use, and I have not always kept track of its origin. I am making it available to a wider audience in a spirit of information-sharing for personal, non-commercial use.
Most of the free GOOGLE books and journals were published before 1925 or so, and assumed to be in the public domain in the USA. There are only a few articles published in the last 50 years on my site.
If any readers believe I have infringed upon their copyright, and are unwilling to grant post-hoc permission, please contact me using the Contact page on this site.
Spam
If you are selling a product, service, or promoting a commercial or advocacy site, please don’t clutter my inbox.
Privacy
Unless you contact me, I have no idea who you are. This is a one-man operation, and I won't share your contact information with anyone without your consent.
The material in my database was acquired over many years for my own use, and I have not always kept track of its origin. I am making it available to a wider audience in a spirit of information-sharing for personal, non-commercial use.
Most of the free GOOGLE books and journals were published before 1925 or so, and assumed to be in the public domain in the USA. There are only a few articles published in the last 50 years on my site.
If any readers believe I have infringed upon their copyright, and are unwilling to grant post-hoc permission, please contact me using the Contact page on this site.
Spam
If you are selling a product, service, or promoting a commercial or advocacy site, please don’t clutter my inbox.
Privacy
Unless you contact me, I have no idea who you are. This is a one-man operation, and I won't share your contact information with anyone without your consent.