Rinse and Repeat: Cleanliness in America [rebroadcast]




BackStory show

Summary: "Cleanliness is next to godliness," we say, and Americans have long associated good hygiene with moral and spiritual purity. But we haven't always thought of what it is to be "clean" in quite the same ways. So in this episode of BackStory, we dig into the changing ways Americans have defined cleanliness. We'll meet an 18th-century Pennsylvania woman who didn't immerse herself in water for 28 years, and ask how Americans like her kept clean without getting wet. We'll also hear about the campaign to clean up New York City in the mid-19th century, and question the extent to which germ theory really revolutionized sanitary practices. And we'll consider a dark chapter in the history of cleanliness, when social reformers in the early 20th-century set out to "sanitize" America's racial profile. For more on the guests and stories featured in this episode, and for an array of resources on the history of American cleanliness, check out BackStory's website at: http://backstoryradio.org/shows/rinse-and-repeat/