From the Publisher
The sophisticated analysis, clear and direct prose style, organization, and brevity make the paperbound version of Authorized to Heal ideal for upper-level undergraduate courses in southern history, women's history, and the history of medicine and public health. . . . Authorized to Heal is one of the finest monographs in the past decade to combine women's and southern history.—Journal of Southern History
[A] rich and graceful volume that combines the historical literature of women, medicine, and Appalachian history. . . . Barney has filled an important void in Appalachian history and at the same time helps to demonstrate that Appalachian history is American history.—American Historical Review
Barney does an admirable and much-overdue job of debunking some of the persistent myths about medicine in the hardscrabble communities that constitute rural Appalachia. . . . Authorized to Heal rests well within the extant literature on the subject of class and gender in medical care, but does so with a unique regional focus that is founded on substantive and cogent research. . . . A valuable addition to the historical literature on rural healthcare delivery in the United States.—Bulletin of History of Medicine
More than simply an examination of medicine, this book adds to our understanding of gender and class issues and their relationship to economic change during the Progressive Era. . . . It is a well-written regional study that adds to the burgeoning literature on Appalachia. It also improves our understanding of middle-class female reform by examining that phenomenon in an area far removed from the usual urban context. . . . Barney has given us a gem of a book—one that addresses both local concerns and wider issues.—Journal of American History
Authorized to Heal is a rich and eye-opening account of the transformation of medicine in late-nineteenth- and early-twentieth-century Appalachia. . . . It is a remarkably nuanced story of class politics in local communities. . . . Barney's finely grained analysis of medical care is an excellent addition to our knowledge of how mountaineers both solicited and resisted what came billed as the modern world, and the financial and political trappings that accompanied it.—Journal of Appalachian Studies
Authorized to Heal makes a significant contribution to women's and medical history and advances our historical understanding of a region and time period when the impact of gender, class, and medicine was so conflicted and so profound.—North Carolina Historical Review
Authorized to Heal is an important contribution to Appalachian studies, women's history, and history of medicine. . . . In her careful research into the lives of individuals as well as organizations, Barney also reminds us that people, shaped by gender, class, and professional affiliation, likewise shape regional and national history.—West Virginia History
A unique and fascinating study that will make an important contribution in the history of medicine, women's history, and the larger history of American Progressivism. It offers a unique perspective about the introduction of 'scientific' medicine into an area rarely studied by historians, and its central argument about gender makes it an important contribution.—Charlotte G. Borst, St. Louis University
Barney has meticulously burrowed through primary sources to explain the transformation of medical practice that followed upon the development of the coal industry in Central Appalachia. Her work adds important dimensions to studies of development in Appalachia and in general. At the same time, it makes an important contribution to the history and sociology of American medicine, with particular attention to gender and class. This is first-rate and imaginative scholarship done well.—Richard A. Couto, University of Richmond
