While attending the University of Warwick I propose to study toward gaining an MA in the
History of Medicine. My proposed thesis/dissertation is tentatively titled “The Medical
Profession, Gender, and Women’s Suffrage from 1865-1928.” While the thesis of my project is
yet to be fully realized, I have formulated a number of research questions that will guide my
project. For example, what tangible contributions did early women physicians make to the
women’s suffrage movement? Were there differences of opinion among early women physicians
and, if so, what accounted for them? What implications did the relationship between these early
women physicians and the suffrage movement have to feminist movements later in the twentieth
century? These questions, and others, will frame my research as it moves forward.
I have already started to read primary sources including articles written by Elizabeth Garrett
Anderson, Louisa Garrett Anderson, and Dagmar Berne published in the British Medical Journal
and in other periodicals of the time. I plan to gather as many primary sources as I can
electronically before beginning at Warwick. However, studying in the United Kingdom will
allow me to gain access to resources I am unable to partake of in the United States. I have also
outlined a plan to gather and analyze secondary sources on this topic.
The primary sources I have gathered range between 1875 and 1927 and I anticipate being able to
gather much more. The secondary sources I have acquired thus far range from 1965 to 2009. I
have been unable so far to locate a copy of Louisa Garrett Anderson’s biography of her mother
Elizabeth Garrett Anderson (published in 1939), though I anticipate I will be able to locate one
and that it will be an important resource for this project. Also, I have been able to procure
several relevant archive images electronically from the Wellcome Trust Library online. I am
also aware of a large collection of holdings important to this project at the Women’s Library in
London (including the letters and works of Louisa Garrett Anderson).
Previous coursework in women’s history augments my background knowledge of women’s
suffrage in the United Kingdom and the United States. I have studied early women physicians
on my own. I have a strong interest in women’s issues and the history of medicine. When I was
nineteen years old I became an ovarian cancer survivor. I was already at university studying for
a degree in history. It came naturally to me to continue in history focusing on health, medicine,
and women. My undergraduate honors thesis (about 17,000 words), titled “A Continuing Battle:
Historical Trends, Successes, and Challenges in Understanding and Treating Women’s Cancers
to 2008,” was a comparative social history of gynecological and breast cancers.
My BA in History, Humanities, and Political Science came from the University of Louisville
summa cum laude in 2008. I also hold an MA in Bioethics and Medical Humanities from the
University of Louisville. Courses such as Global History of Women, History of Women in East
Asia, and Gender, Race, and Culture have given me a strong background in issues of women and
gender. My graduate work, especially in the History of the Black Death, has given me a solid
foundation in health issues and the history of medicine. I have a wide-ranging education but
have been able to focus my efforts into history, medicine, and women—a combination that
perfectly supports the project I hope to undertake at the University of Warwick.
Furthermore, I spent a summer working full-time as a history research assistant at the University
of Louisville working in legal and political history of the nineteenth century. During this time, I
researched legal cases and related sources (such as newspaper articles) involving the United
States Civil War and the Thirteenth, Fourteenth, and Fifteenth Amendments to the United States
Constitution. I also proofread and edited the work of a professor working on this subject.
The resources available at the University of Warwick and the Centre for the History of Medicine
for my proposed project are unparalleled. The Modern Records Centre at Warwick houses the
archive of the Headmistresses Association that contains many materials that link the suffrage
movement, headmistresses, and early women physicians. The electronic resources available at
Warwick are also outstanding including the British Periodicals Collection that will be important
to my research. I have been in contact with several members of the faculty and staff, including
Mathew Thomson and Hilary Marland, and they seem eager that I join them.
I am proposing this line of study as the possible target of a Fulbright Grant for the 2011-2012
academic year. If I am awarded the Fulbright Grant I will have a clear means by which to pay
tuitions and fees as well as a means of personal support. I am also applying for other
scholarships to bolster my chances of being able to attend the University of Warwick.
Though I have never studied abroad before, I have spent some time in Europe and South
America and feel that I can readily and happily make the transition to living in a different
country. I hesitate to admit it, but I am a lifelong Anglophile. I regularly listen to British radio
online (usually BBC Radio 4 and BBC World Service), read and participate in the online editions
of several British newspapers (especially The Guardian), and watch what British television
programming that I can. I believe the cultural transition for me would be as easy it could be for
anyone. The induction process for overseas students at Warwick is excellent, so I have no doubt
that moving to the United Kingdom will present no problems for me. I look forward to a
decision and hope to be in England next year.