October 16, 2005

Edward T. Morman, MSLS, PhD.
Francis C. Wood Institute for the History of Medicine
College of Physicians
19 South 22nd Street
Philadelphia, PA 19103

I wish to express my appreciation to you, to the members of the Wood Institute, and to the members of the Foundation for the History of Women in Medicine for the Foundation Fellowship award. My research visit to the College of Physicians and to the Archives and Special Collections on Women in Medicine at Drexel University College of Medicine this September was extremely successful, and I am most grateful for the fellowship support that enabled me to make the visit.

The Fellowship supported my research and writing project on the life of physician Esther Pohl Lovejoy (1869-1967) and her role in international medical relief, medical women’s organizations, and as a historian of women in medicine. This archival research enabled me to complete the research on Lovejoy in several vital areas:

Rare journals. I was able to access complete runs of the Women's Medical Journal, the Medical Women's International Association Journal and the Bulletin Association Internationale des Femmes. These journals carry key information on the medical relief organization Lovejoy headed, the American Women's Hospitals, and the association she co-founded and for which she served as the first president from 1919-1924, the Medical Women's International Association. It was important to undertake a close reading of each volume of these journals because they hold information not only in articles but in the "news and notes" sections that are not indexed. This helped me find information on the founding, formative, and maturing years of these two organizations, Lovejoy's role, her speeches and articles, and general information about international medical women.

Unique monographs. I was able to access unique monograph holdings on international medical women's activities and organizations associated with the Medical Women's International Association.

Medical directories. The collection of medical directories provided demographic information and support for the two large databases I am creating from the Census of Women Physicians (1918) and the Directory of Medical Women (1945).

The American Women's Hospitals and Medical Women's International Association collections. I was able to return to the archival collections at the Archives and Special Collections on Women in Medicine for the American Women's Hospitals and the Medical Women's International Association. This enabled me to complete the research that I started last summer in these two collections.

My research at the College of Physicians and at the Archives and Special Collections on Women in Medicine broadened my understanding of these important international organizations of women physicians and of Lovejoy's generative role in each. These materials reveal the voices of the women who were involved in formulating programs for international medical relief and for the cooperation of medical women globally. They believed that they could make a significant difference in the post-World War international movement and their contributions were significant. The materials also provide insights concerning the strategies, debates, and specific activities of members of the AWH and MWIA. They demonstrate the important contributions medical women made to internationalism, to medical relief, and to developing a global and diverse consciousness of medical women's accomplishments and needs.

By the eve of the Second World War, the American Women’s Hospitals had maintained 73 hospitals and 300 clinics outside of the United States. Members of this organization worked closely with medical personnel of the nations and regions that received AWH support in their planning and medical relief activities. The Medical Women’s International Association worked with international organizations associated with the League of Nations and helped to set health policy. The MWIA also assisted refugee women doctors to flee from fascist Europe prior to and during the war. MWIA conferences, panels, and publications enabled women physicians to share ideas and to network internationally. These organizations were important in internationalism and international feminism and in establishing frameworks for medical relief in the twentieth century and beyond.

After presenting a paper this September at a conference entitled "The Gentler Sex? Responses of the Women's Movement to the First World War" at the University of London I've been asked to revise this paper for an anthology based on the conference to be published next year by Palgrave MacMillan. My chapter will be expanded and revised to include materials from this fellowship visit. A colleague and I are preparing a session on women and internationalism between the world wars for the next annual conference of the Society for Historians of American Foreign Relations next June. My paper will be based on materials from this research trip. And I hope to present a paper on this topic at a future conference of the American Association for the History of Medicine. My ultimate goal for this project is a scholarly biography of Lovejoy. This trip was invaluable in this ongoing work.

I am very grateful to the members of the two Committees for funding this fellowship visit. I also appreciate the skilled and helpful support that Richard Fraser and Lisa Gensel provided during my stay. Please do not hesitate to contact me if I can be of any assistance to the College of Physicians, the Wood Institute, or the Foundation for the History of Women in Medicine. Thank you again for this opportunity.

Sincerely,
Kimberly Jensen
Kimberly Jensen
Department of History