Oregon's Doctor to the World

Esther Clayson Pohl Lovejoy, whose long life stretched from 1869 to 1967, challenged convention from the time she was a young girl. Her professional life began as one of Oregon's earliest women physicians, and her commitment to public health and medical relief took her into the international arena, where she was chair of the American Women's Hospitals after World War I and the first president of the Medical Women's International Association. Most disease, suffering, and death, she believed, were the result of wars and social and economic inequities, and she was determined to combat those conditions through organized action.

Lovejoy's early life and career in the Pacific Northwest gave her key experiences and strategies to use for what she termed "constructive resistance," the ability to take effective action against unjust power. She took a political and pragmatic approach to what she called "woman's big job"-achieving a full female citizenship-and emphasized the importance of votes for women. In this engaging biography, Kimberly Jensen tells the story of this important western woman, exploring her approach to politics, health, and society and her civic, economic, and medical activism.

Watch the book trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=blyfLWnCTV0

Kimberly Jensen is professor of history and gender studies at Western Oregon University and the author of Oregon's Doctor to the World: Esther Pohl Lovejoy and a Life in Activism (UW Press, 2012) and Mobilizing Minerva: American Women in the First World War (U Illinois Press, 2008).

Kimberly Jensen is professor of history and gender studies at Western Oregon University and the author of Mobilizing Minerva: American Women in the First World War.

"Brings to life an overlooked leader in Portland's history."

American Medical Women's Association News Flash:

"A story of inspiration, courage, and leadership— a worthy read for anyone interested in the history of women in medicine."

Cody Stanley:

". . . a vivid biography of the pioneering physician and activist Esther Pohl Lovejoy. Jensen does an excellent job of bringing to life the story of Esther Pohl Lovejoy. Jensen's writing is approachable for undergraduates as well as graduates."

Ben Waterhouse:

“Kimberly Jensen sheds new light on the life of Esther Pohl Lovejoy, an Oregon activist whose legacy continues well beyond the campaign for suffrage.

Barbara Winslow:

"Kimberly Jensen has written an incredibly rich, exhaustively researched biography. A simple narrative chronology of this exceptional woman would alone be exciting to read. But Jensen gives us so much more.

Susan Smith:

“Jensen has unearthed an extraordinary level of detail about the life and work of Dr. Esther Pohl Lovejoy …address[ing] a number of themes, including women in medicine, social justice, women’s rights, politics, peace activism, public health, international health, and health activism.

Marisa Chappell:

"Jensen offers a richly textured narrative of Lovejoy's remarkable life, opening a window into the worlds of Northwest timber country, Progressive Era Portland, and the medical profession during the early twentieth century. . . immensely valuable addition to the history of women, social reform, and medicine . . ."

"Oregon's Doctor to the World is cutting edge in its presentation of a transnational history of women's participation in international health care, and its early chapters deepen understanding of the Northwest and national woman suffrage movement and women's partisan activism. As a whole, this book creates a picture of almost a century of women's public activism."—Melanie Gustafson, author of Women and the Republican Party, 1854—1924

"Esther Lovejoy's life intersected with some of the most important currents of the twentieth century: feminism, the rise of companionate marriage, universal suffrage, governmental reform, migration, labor rights, public health, the professionalization of medical and social work, anti—militarism, and global citizenship. Jensen illuminates the life of this fascinating, important leader and ably demonstrates the centrality of Oregon and the western U.S. to these currents."—Marjorie Feld, author of Lillian Wald: A Biography