A Biographical Dictionary of Women Healers: Midwives, Nurses, and Physicians

by Laurie Scrivener, J. Suzanne Barnes

Overview

Women have always been healers; they have helped each other through the birthing process, nursed the sick and wounded, and sought cures for illnesses and injuries. This book summarizes the lives of 240 significant or representative women who have engaged in the core professions of mid-wifery, nursing, and medicine (exclusive of psychiatry), and whose careers were primarily spent in the United States and Canada, from colonial times to the present. For the high school or college student, it will serve as an introduction to the lives of these healers; some students may be inspired to do further research on them or may be inspired to become healers themselves. Women's Studies scholars, biographers, and historians of science, medicine, or nursing, will find the biographies useful starting points for more in-depth research. Each biography provides references for further reading and study.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781573562195
Publisher:	Bloomsbury Academic
Publication date:	05/30/2002
Pages:	352
Product dimensions:	7.00(w) x 10.00(h) x 0.81(d)

About the Author

LAURIE SCRIVENER is Assistant Professor of Bibliography and Social Sciences Reference Librarian at the University of Oklahoma Libraries. Scrivener was a co-editor of the International Biographical Directory of National Archivists, Documentalists, and Librarians, second edition, and has been published in the Jourbanal of Government Information.

J. SUZANNE BARNES currently works for Ebsco Subscription Services Inc. in Los Angeles, California. She has worked for the University of Oklahoma Libraries, the Tulsa City-County Library System, the Santa Monica Public Library, and the Gemological Institute of America Library.

Table of Contents

Preface
Biographies
Appendix I: List of Women by Occupation
Appendix II: Notable Events Related to Women Healers
Bibliography
Index

Editorial Reviews

This biographical dictionary profiles 240 American and Canadian women midwives, nurses, and physicians (excluding psychiatrists and present-day practitioners of alternative medicine) from Colonial times through the present. Intended as starting points for in-depth research, the brief sketches include education, professional accomplishments, awards, and publications as well as some personal facts and a few references for additional information. Although much of this data can be found in sources such as Dictionary of American Nursing Biography, Women in Medicine, and American Midwives: 1860 to the Present, the editors all library professionals have supplemented and updated this volume with additional information and insights from Internet discussion groups, web pages, periodical articles, and personal interviews. The categories have been variously but understandably defined: "Physician" includes women trained informally as well as formally, "nurse" includes only the formally trained, and "midwife" includes lay practitioners. Designed for high school and college students, this dictionary does not add major insights but will serve as a handy reference for appropriate audiences. Margaret K. Norden, Marymount Univ. Lib., Arlington, VA Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information.

Library Journal

Scholars apparently based in Oklahoma City summarize the lives of 238 significant or representative women as an introduction for high school or college students and research trailheads for women's studies scholars, biographers, and historians of medicine or nursing. They emphasize past figures over living ones, except in the case of midwives. The information is gleaned from reference books, periodical articles, archival materials, the Internet, and interviews. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)