Digging Deeper

 Post (c) by Angela Raines 

aka Doris McCraw

Photo (c) Doris McCraw
all rights reserved.

On Wednesday, July 19, 2023, the day this post is published, I will present a program at the Evergreen Cemetery Chapel in Colorado Springs on the women doctors buried at that cemetery who practiced before 1900.

As I researched these fantastic women and wrote the book, I realized one thing: to tell the story it was necessary to dig deeper.

One of the first things I did, I started with the idea that women didn't have the 'horrid' issue about being a doctor that was the commonly held concept. By doing this I could look at the facts without a preconceived bias. Guess what? It allowed for deeper and more incredible research. For example:

I dug until I found the autobiography of Elizabeth Blackwell. In there, I found the following pieces of information: "Is it not perfectly true everywhere that a woman who respects herself will be respected by others..." and."...found that I had so shocked Geneva propriety that the theory was fully established either that I was a bad woman, whose designs would gradually become evident, or that, being insane, an outbreak of insanity would soon be apparent. Feeling the unfriendliness of the people, though quite unaware of all this gossip, I never walked abroad, but hastening daily to my college as to a sure refuge, I knew when I shut the great doors behind me that I had shut out all unkindly criticism, and I soon felt perfectly at home amongst my fellow students."

This sounds totally different from the commonly held idea that she was laughed at by the students of Geneva College.

I also found the autobiography of Harriott Kezia Hunt, the woman who, after studying under another doctor had a medical practice in Boston, MA. in the 1830s. Here is a link to a brief overview of this amazing woman's story Harriot Kezia Hunt - MD

By taking the opposite approach I wasn't hindered by limiting beliefs and kept digging to try to verify or disprove my thesis. That has served me well over the last ten-plus years as I continue to research and write about these pioneering women.

For those who might like to read about those doctors and medicine in Colorado Springs, CO. here is a link to my aforementioned book: Under the Stone

Until next time - Stay safe, Stay Healthy, and Happy Reading.

Doris