Women Physicians and the Cultures of Medicine

edited by Ellen S. More, Elizabeth Fee, and Manon Parry

This volume examines the wide-ranging careers and diverse lives of American women physicians, shedding light on their struggles for equality, professional accomplishment, and personal happiness over the past 150 years. Leading scholars in the history of medicine chronicle the trials and triumphs of such extraordinary women as Marie Zakrzewska, one of the first female medical graduates in the United States and founder of the New England Hospital for Women and Children; Mary S. Calderone, the courageous and controversial medical director of Planned Parenthood in the mid-twentieth century; and Esther Pohl Lovejoy, who risked her life to bring medical aid and supplies to countries experiencing war, famine, and other catastrophes. Illuminating the ethnic, political, and personal diversity of women physicians, the book reveals them as dedicated professionals who grapple with obstacles and embrace challenges, even as they negotiate with their own health, sexuality, and body images, the needs of their patients, and the rise of the women's health movement.

Encompassing the most recent work in the history of women in American medicine, Women Physicians and the Cultures of Medicine will interest students and scholars in history, women's studies, and the history of medicine.

Ellen S. More is head of the Office of Medical History and Archives at the Lamar Soutter Library and professor of psychiatry at the University of Massachusetts Medical School. She is the author of the award-winning book, Restoring the Balance: Women Physicians and the Profession of Medicine, 1850-1995. Elizabeth Fee is chief of the History of Medicine Division at the National Library of Medicine and professor of history of medicine at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine. Manon S. Parry is co-curator, with Ellen More, of the exhibition Changing the Face of Medicine: Celebrating America's Women Physicians, held at the National Library of Medicine 2004-2006.

Available from Johns Hopkins University Press.