Dorothy in a Man's World: A Victorian Woman Physician's Trials and Triumphs - Paperback

by Peter Dawson (Author)

This award-winning book is the story of a Victorian woman physician whose life encompasses the social changes of the Gilded Age, the Great Depression and two World Wars. It encapsulates the struggles all professional women experienced up until the latter part of the twentieth century. It recounts Dorothy's escape to college to avoid her mother's purposeless lifestyle. She graduates from medical school in 1900. Two years later, she makes fundamental discoveries in Hodgkin's disease which resulted in international recognition of her name. Despite this achievement she finds her career blocked by male prejudice. After her marriage, Dorothy devotes herself to fighting the discriminatory ways male physicians treated women. She pioneers the first national standards for the healthcare of pregnant women and their babies that still form the basis of present-day practice.

Author Biography

Born in Britain, Dr. Peter Dawson entered Cambridge University Medical School right after World War II. He trained in pathology in London and spent three years as a medical officer in the British army. He moved to the United States of America to become chief of surgical pathology first at Oregon Health Sciences University and later at the University of Chicago. Subsequently he joined the faculty of the University of South Florida School of Medicine.

He has published extensively on a wide range of topics, including Hodgkin's disease, leukemia, and breast cancer.

His long medical career and deep interest in early twentieth-century history have provided him with an unparalleled perspective on the life of Dorothy Reed Mendenhall. Due in part to his wife Ann, who, over thirty-five years, has opened his eyes to many aspects of the plight of women. Together, they enjoy bird watching and sailing.