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Women Physicians — The Parallels in History
March 20 @ 8:00 pm - 9:00 pm EDT
Celebrating the Earliest Women Physicians
In recognition of Women’s History Month, AMWA presents a discussion with author, Janis Robinson Daly, who celebrates women physicians from the past whose stories resonate strongly even in the present.This letter, written by 17 year old, Anandibai Gopal Joshi in Kolkata, India, in 1883, prompted the author’s journey to give voice to some remarkable women physicians in her debut historical novel—The Unlocked Path, which touches on sexism & self-doubt in a young woman who pursued an unorthodox career in medicine.
The determination which has brought me to your country against the combined opposition of my friends and caste ought to go a long way towards helping me to carry out the purpose for which I came, i.e., is to render to my poor suffering countrywomen the true medical aid they so sadly stand in need of and which they would rather die than accept at the hands of a male physician. The voice of humanity is with me, and I must not fail. My soul is moved to help the many who cannot help themselves.
About the Author: Inspired by a love of social history, she traced the lives of her grandparents’ lives, especially her paternal grandmother who lived from 1879 to 1957. Thinking of the global events she witnessed as a young woman: the dawn of a new century, a World War, the Titanic and Lusitania sinkings, an influenza pandemic, and ratification of the 19th Amendment. From these events, Janis formed the initial storyline for Eliza. With a desire to learn more about Elizabeth Peirce Elliott Robinson, who died before the author’s birth, she knew that her grandfather was Judge Peirce in Philadelphia and the family hailed from the city’s society circles. Many more details about their lives went unexplained and so having no answers, she created them instead.
Janis Robinson Daly
Photo Credit: Jessie Casey
