Journal of Women's History

This article analyzes British women's historian Alice Clark's (1874-1934) encounters with tuberculosis, in order to chart her rejection of an invalid identity for a more autonomous sense of self. It also compares and contrasts the effect of tuberculosis on her life with that of her elder brother, John Bright Clark, in order to distinguish how sex, gender, class, and historical context affect the impact of this disease. Third, it examines the disease process from the consumptive's point of view, seeking to acknowledge Alice Clark's agency in choosing how to live with and die from this disease.