Women Pioneers in Texas Medicine: 70 (CENTENNIAL SERIES OF THE ASSOCIATION OF FORMER STUDENTS, TEXAS A & M UNIVERSITY) - Tapa dura

Women have offered medical care as midwives and herbalists for centuries. As the authors of this book show, however, the women who have worked in the medical professions in Texas not only staked out traditional roles but also moved into new territory as science and technology developed. Women Pioneers in Texas Medicine is the first-ever book on Texas women who practice the healing arts and sciences. The pioneering figures presented here have broken new ground in fields ranging from nursing, pharmacy, public health, and dentistry to general and hospital practice, hospice care, virology, surgery, and psychiatry. Their stories reveal the special obstacles they faced and overcame as women practicing in demanding, frequently all-male fields. Their profiles also chronicle the history of medicine in the state generally since their accomplishments paralleled and in some instances led the development of medical practice and specialization. Using vignettes and biographical details garnered from literature, newspaper archives, typescripts in various libraries, and interviews, Elizabeth Silverthorne and Geneva Fulgham have created profiles of women ranging from the traditional to contemporary pioneers in fields such as genetics and nuclear medicine. The accomplichments of the women heighten our understanding of the ways in which they have defied stereotype. Through dedication to their chosen fields, often against great odds, the women profiled here contributed to an elevated status for all women in the state.

The pioneering figures presented here have forged new paths for women in fields ranging from nursing, pharmacy, public health, and dentistry to general and hospital practice, hospice care, virology, surgery, and psychiatry. Their stories reveal the special obstacles they faced and overcame as women practicing in a demanding, traditionally all-male field. They also chronicle the history of medicine in the state generally since, although there was discrimination and resistance to accepting them, their accomplishments paralleled and in some instances led the development of medical practice and specialization. Using vignettes and biographical details garnered from sparse available literature, newspaper archives, typescripts found in various libraries around the state, and interviews, Elizabeth Silverthorne and Geneva Fulgham have created profiles of women ranging from traditional roles such as native herbalists and midwives through contemporary pioneers in fields like genetics and nuclear medicine. Drawing on subjects across the centuries throughout Texas' geographical regions and from diverse ethnic groups, they have painted rounded portraits of the women, showing their educational achievements, personalities, commitments, family lives, and hobbies. The stories of these pioneering women, told in clear and compelling prose, are fascinating and even inspiring. The accomplishments of the women heighten our understanding of the ways in which women have defied stereotype. Through personal persistence and dedication to their chosen fields, often against great odds, the women profiled here contributed to an elevated status for all women in the state.