Women in White Coats: How the First Women Doctors Changed the World of Medicine

by Olivia Campbell

Overview

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER!

For fans of Hidden Figures and Radium Girls comes the remarkable story of three Victorian women who broke down barriers in the medical field to become the first women doctors, revolutionizing the way women receive health care.

In the early 1800s, women were dying in large numbers from treatable diseases because they avoided receiving medical care. Examinations performed by male doctors were often demeaning and even painful. In addition, women faced stigma from illness—a diagnosis could greatly limit their ability to find husbands, jobs or be received in polite society.

Motivated by personal loss and frustration over inadequate medical care, Elizabeth Blackwell, Elizabeth Garrett Anderson and Sophia Jex-Blake fought for a woman’s place in the male-dominated medical field. For the first time ever, Women in White Coats tells the complete history of these three pioneering women who, despite countless obstacles, earned medical degrees and paved the way for other women to do the same. Though very different in personality and circumstance, together these women built women-run hospitals and teaching colleges—creating for the first time medical care for women by women.

With gripping storytelling based on extensive research and access to archival documents, Women in White Coats tells the courageous history these women made by becoming doctors, detailing the boundaries they broke of gender and science to reshape how we receive medical care today.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780778311980
Publisher:	Park Row Books
Publication date:	03/15/2022
Edition description:	First Time Trade
Pages:	368
Sales rank:	30,303
Product dimensions:	7.90(w) x 5.20(h) x 1.00(d)

About the Author

Olivia Campbell is a journalist and author specializing in medicine and women; her work has appeared in The Guardian, the Washington Post, New York Magazine and The Cut, among others. This is her first book.

Table of Contents

Prologue: The Forgotten History of Healing 11

Chapter 1 A Lady Doctor 15

Chapter 2 Surely, She Is a Joke 23

Chapter 3 Another Elizabeth Blazes the Trail 46

Chapter 4 More Than a Nurse 63

Chapter 5 Young Sophia 82

Chapter 6 Sophia in America 93

Chapter 7 Facing Down Hurdles as America's First Woman Doctor 107

Chapter 8 Changing the Culture, One Patient at a Time 118

Chapter 9 Lizzie Is Pushed into Private Study 137

Chapter 10 The Blackwells Welcome Sophia in New York 151

Chapter 11 Lizzie Takes On London 163

Chapter 12 Sophia Storms Edinburgh 173

Chapter 13 Emily's Turn to Shine in New York 194

Chapter 14 A Lady Doctor Gets Married 203

Chapter 15 The Campaign in Edinburgh Ends 225

Chapter 16 Finding a Way Forward 248

Chapter 17 Societies and Controversies 255

Chapter 18 A Place All Their Own in London 265

Chapter 19 On to Separate Paths 291

Epilogue: A Lasting Legacy 301

Acknowledgments 305

Author Note 307

Select Bibliography 309

Notes on Sources 313

Reader's Guide 349

Index 359

Editorial Reviews

"A fascinating, absorbing, and inspiring account of three women who set out to become doctors at a time when female doctors were desperately needed but hard to find. By overcoming obstacles of professional discrimination, personal heartaches, and societal suspicions, these women realized their dreams and changed the world." — Nina Sankovitch, bestselling author of American Rebels

"Olivia Campbell's Women in White Coats is a lovingly rendered, joyfully expressed history of extraordinary medical women. With a storyteller's flair, Campbell chronicles their struggles, setbacks, and stridently hard-won triumphs across decades and continents. I emerged from the book both humbled and inspired." — Rachel Vorona Cote, author of Too Much: How Victorian Constraints Still Bind Women Today


"An engrossing portrait of a transformative moment in Victorian medicine, when women doctors demanded the right to heal and be healed. Their battle was collective, and their hard-won triumph is ours. Women in White Coats is a timely reminder of just how many hands it takes to move mountains." — Claire L. Evans, author of Broad Band: The Untold Story of the Women Who Made the Internet

“Campbell's extensive research and lucid writing about medical matters impress. This entertaining account adds a valuable chapter to the history of women and medicine.” — Publishers Weekly

From the Publisher

11/23/2020

Journalist Campbell debuts with an inspirational group portrait of the first three women who became licensed doctors in the U.S. and the U.K. Elizabeth Blackwell (1821–1910), the first woman to be accepted to an American medical school, got in because the male students who voted for her admittance thought her application was a joke. British physician Elizabeth Garrett Anderson (1836–1917) worked as a surgical nurse and studied with private tutors to pass the medical licensing exam, and cofounded the first hospital staffed by women. Sophia Jex-Blake (1840–1912) became the first practicing female doctor in Scotland. Though women had always served their communities and families as healers, Campbell writes, “when medicine began to be solidified as a profession... patriarchal control swept in.” She delves into her subjects’ love lives and family relationships; documents their battles against sexist school administrators and professors, including pioneering surgeon Joseph Lister; and notes their support for one another as well as their differences of opinion. At times, Campbell makes it sound as if her subjects were pledging a sorority rather than entering a profession, but her extensive research and lucid writing about medical matters impress. This entertaining account adds a valuable chapter to the history of women and medicine. Agent: Zoe Sandler, ICM Partners. (Mar.)

Publishers Weekly

★ 02/01/2021

Using her expert research skills, journalist Campbell writes about the academic journeys and personal lives of three trailblazing Victorian women in the medical profession: Elizabeth Blackwell, Lizzie Garrett, and Sophia Jex-Blake (with appearances from the rest of the Edinburgh Seven). Separately and together, the actions of these three women paved the way for equality for women in the medical field, both in the United States and in Europe. This is the story of how they all had to hold strong against family pressures to comply with societal behavioral norms, use their intelligence and networking connections, and harness persistence. Campbell's research follows an intricate paper trail that includes diaries, letters, and notes. The author hopes that future professionals can be inspired to continue to advocate for equal representation, as modern-day medicine is still affected by the remnants of patriarchal structures and attitudes. VERDICT The story of these trailblazing women and their unique achievements within the medical profession in the 19th century is well written and benefits from bountiful primary sources. It will be a great resource for further in-depth biographical studies. A highly recommended purchase for public library collections, and those that focus on health policy and women in STEM careers.—Elizabeth J. Eastwood, Los Alamos, NM

Library Journal