It seems fitting that a book about pioneering women should have many godmothers. Cornelia Small let me tag along to the Sophia Smith Collection at Smith College, where I first encountered Emily Blackwell. Julie Quain appeared like the answer to a wish I hadn’t yet made, opening doors and joining me on treasure hunts. Jane Carey Blackwell Bloomfield welcomed me into the story of her family. Mary Wright gave me two unforgettable days in Bristol, as well as her friendship, which will last much longer. Jill Platner invited me inside her home at the corner of Bleecker and Crosby to spend time with the ghosts. Darcy Fryer brought her brilliance as a reader and a historian to every page and made me think harder, as the best teachers do.
Profound thanks to the archivists and guardians who let me in and helped me out: Jane Kamensky, Sarah M. Hutcheon, and Diana Carey, Schlesinger Library, Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study; Arlene Shaner, New York Academy of Medicine; Alan Hawk, National Museum of Health and Medicine; Patrick Kerwin, Library of Congress; Nina Couzin and Jeremy Tavaré, Elizabeth Blackwell Institute, University of Bristol; Jacqueline Cahiff, Royal College of Surgeons, Edinburgh; Kate Jarman and Amanda Engineer, St. Bartholomew’s Hospital Archive, London; Gillian Murphy, Women’s Library, London School of Economics; Father Franck Derville and Patricia Tailhades, La Maternité, Paris; Glenn Horowitz and Hayley Setear, Dobkin Family Collection of Feminism; Harry Bubbins and Ariel Kates, Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation; Lisa Mix and Elizabeth Shepard, Weill-Cornell Medical Center Archives; Kim Turchin and Connie Wu, New York–Presbyterian Lower Manhattan Hospital; Tommy Rodecki, Green-Wood Cemetery; Frances Rosenfeld and Emily Chapin, Museum of the City of New York; Tricia McEldowney and Brandon Moblo, Hobart and William Smith College Archive; Martin Dornbaum, Health Professions Education Center, Hunter-Bellevue School of Nursing; and Carolyn Waters, Catherine McGowan, Barbara Bieck, and the entire staff of the New York Society Library, my second home.
For close reading, and close friendship: Elisabeth Gitter, Jessica Francis Kane, Gail Marcus, Caroline Rodoni, and Zanthe Taylor.
For good medicine, in so many forms: Fredi Pomerance, Leslie and Eric Slocum, Stacy Schiff, Megan Marshall, Ellen Feldman, Dr. Abigail Ford Winkel, Toby Cox, Yuko Uchikawa, Karina Yan Glaser, Daniel Clarke, Elise Cappella, Elisha Cooper, Peggy Sturdivant, Dr. Flavia Golden, Dr. Ana Alzaga Fernandez, Matthew Warnes, Maryann Parker, Linda Schapiro, J.C. Hallman, Samuel B. Jones, Jr., Betty Bayer, Steve O’Malley, Ted Aub, and the sisterhood of Women Writing Women’s Lives.
In 2017 I was honored to receive a Public Scholar grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities. Any views, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this book do not necessarily reflect those of the NEH.
I am privileged to work with the best book people imaginable. Few editors are as incisive and farseeing as Alane Salierno Mason: thank you for pushing me further. I could not do this work at all without Rob McQuilkin’s warmth and faith. Michael Taeckens and Whitney Peeling are gifted at telling the story of a book; I am lucky this book is one of their stories. At W. W. Norton, I’m grateful for Mo Crist, Janet Biehl, Yang Kim, Chris Welch, Michelle Waters, and Erin Lovett.
Last and first, to Yoji, Clare, and David Nimura, who make everything possible.