Recording Their Legacy to Share with the Next Generation
Oral history project gives women in medicine the chance to share their stories in their own words
When you sit across from someone who’s lived a full life, it’s natural to have questions. Where have they been? What have they done? What did they learn? And with all that experience and perspective, what advice would they give you?
Oral histories provide an opportunity to ask these questions because they capture a life in the words of the person who lived it. They tend to focus on the individual’s accomplishments while leaving room for them to weave in stories and surface insights — making oral histories distinctly human.
Most people create an oral account of their life because they want to leave a legacy. In this way, oral histories provide a unique opportunity for women in medicine. Women have often been relegated to the footnotes of history books — or left out entirely. Oral histories put the power back in their hands by giving them the ability to write the entry themselves.
As an organization that preserves and promotes the history of women in medicine, the Women in Medicine Legacy Foundation embraces the potential of oral histories. Our Renaissance Women in Medicine Oral History Project highlights recipients of the Alma Dea Morani, MD, Renaissance Award, including Barbara Barlow, MD, FACS, Catherine D. DeAngelis, MD, MPH, and Florence P. Haseltine, PhD, MD.
These women — pioneers in the medical field, groundbreaking practitioners and researchers, and trailblazers for future generations of women in medicine — have left a significant mark on history and pivotally advanced the future. Their experiences, their contributions, and their perspectives need to be included in our collective history if we are to thrive. Most importantly, they need to be shared with the next generation of women in medicine.
Our collection resides at the Harvard Countway Library of Medicine. There you’ll find over 30 hours of audio, complete transcripts, and additional materials including photographs, ephemera, and formal portraits.
We digitized our oral histories to promote research and recognition of the women who made an impact on medicine. We also did it to ensure their stories are accessible to future generations who seek answers.
“If I look back on the history of women in all kinds of fields, we don’t know who wrote great literature or did great art because history is made more by the people who write about it than who do it,” shared Carol Nadelson, M.D., an awardee who’s already participated in our oral history project.
Understanding history is critically important to how we move forward. We’re proud to capture these oral histories so we close the gap between the people who make history and what ends up in the history books — and ultimately, deepen how we understand their legacy of women in medicine.
Explore the Exhibit
You can explore the Renaissance Women in Medicine Oral History Project exhibit today to learn how these incredible women navigated their way through medicine and life. Simply click on their name below and you’ll be taken to their entry. Once there, you can watch videos, listen to audio, or read through the transcript.