This volume is the fulfillment of a dream long deferred. As a graduate student in the early 1990s, I came across The Backwash of War during my research and was deeply disheartened that such an extraordinary work had slid into literary obscurity. A quarter of a century later, I am delighted to help bring the book to light, accompanied by Ellen N. La Motte’s remarkable war essays. I am also delighted to have researched and written the first biography of its remarkable author, Ellen N. La Motte. For me, this has been a work of passion, but it has not been a solo endeavor.
I am extremely grateful to the following institutions for the use of their collections and for the many kind and helpful staff members who assisted me with my research: Alan Mason Chesney Medical Archives of the Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions; Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Yale University; British Library; Chicago History Museum’s Research Center; Howard Gotlieb Archival Research Center, Boston University; Library of Congress; British National Archives; Nemours Estate; New York Public Library; Royal College of Nursing Library; Schlesinger Library at the Radcliffe Institute, Harvard University; US National Archives and Records Administration; Washington and Lee University Library; Olin Library, Washington University; and Steinberg Library, Yeshiva University. I am also tremendously appreciative of those who shared with me material in their private collections. Thanks to one and all.
I owe thanks to many others as well, including the wonderful team at Johns Hopkins University Press, who helped me to realize this book. Laura Davulis, Lauren Straley, and Elizabeth Demers gave sound editorial advice and were delightfully enthusiastic. Melanie Mallon and Juliana McCarthy copyedited with great care and expert wordsmithing. I am profoundly indebted to them and their colleagues for the production of this volume. I am also very grateful to Dean Karen Bacon, of Yeshiva University, for her understanding of my time commitment to this project, and to the organizers of two superb conferences, “World War I: Dissent, Activism, and Transformation” and “Women and World War I,” where I presented portions of this work. My friends and family also offered valuable guidance and encouragement along the way and have generously understood when I vanished into the land of La Motte. Thanks most of all to Gabe, Jules, and Jeff.