Virtual Book Display: Women's History

This program traces the development of nursing across cultures from ancient times to the 19th century. It discusses the nursing care that was provided by nuns and the military, considers the establishment of hospitals specifically dedicated to the care of the sick, and explores the contributions of Florence Nightingale to nursing history.

At this crucial time when women physicians and nurses are contributing significantly to our community’s health, this documentary provides a look at the challenging and illuminating history of 19th century women doctors. Hidden in American history, all-women’s medical schools began to appear in the mid-19th century long before women had the right to vote or own property. Distributed by PBS Distribution.

America's first Native doctor, Susan La Flesche Picotte (1865-1915) studied medicine at a time when few women dared. She graduated first in her class and returned home to serve as doctor to her Omaha tribe. During this heartbreaking and violent time she never gave up hope. The reverberations from her shattered world continue today as Native Americans suffer from alarming rates of disease, suicide and mental illness. Like Susan, these modern day medicine women from the Omaha, Lakota and Navajo tribes are fighting a war and sharing a confident, even joyful, approach to the work of healing.

"Florence Nightingale, described by one historian as 'a combination of Joan of Arc and Margaret Thatcher', is probably the most famous Victorian in the world along with Queen Victoria. The Lady with the Lamp, the founder of modern nursing, she brought comfort and solace to a war-torn army through her ground-breaking work during the Crimean War, but despite her efforts the men continued to die. Reputations unravels the mystery and reveals the real woman behind the legend. With contributions from leading experts and historians, a dramatic and emotional story is pieced together of a manipulative, neurotic and, above all, ruthlessly ambitious woman. A BBC Production.

Meet one of the most famous women of the Middle Ages. Pledged as a nun from the age of eight, Hildegard put the considerable knowledge she acquired to work through her writings. Her texts on medicine are notable for their blending of ideas that were drawn from the masculine and feminine spheres, as well as the insight they provide into medieval medical practice.

A conversation with Mary Wright, historian and expert on Elizabeth Blackwell, December 2018. The first woman in America to receive a medical degree, Elizabeth Blackwell championed the participation of women in the medical profession and ultimately opened her own medical college for women.

"Women and Medicine in 19th Century America" presented by Todd Savitt, PhD, Professor of Bioethics & Interdisciplinary Studies at East Carolina University.

Boasting an exceptional cast and production team, and based on Rebecca Skloot’s critically acclaimed 2010 nonfiction best-seller of the same name, this HBO Films drama tells the true story of Henrietta Lacks, an African- American woman whose cells were used to create the first immortal human cell line, known as HeLa. Told primarily through the eyes of Lacks’ daughter Deborah (Oprah Winfrey) and journalist Rebecca Skloot (Rose Byrne), the film chronicles Deborah’s search to learn about the mother she never knew, and to understand how the unauthorized harvesting of Lacks’ cancerous cells in 1951 led to unprecedented medical breakthroughs, from cancer to polio to radiation to AIDS, changing countless lives and the face of medicine forever. With a supporting cast that includes Renée Elise Goldsberry, Reg E. Cathey, Courtney B. Vance, Ruben Santiago-Hudson, Leslie Uggams, Reed Birney, Rocky Carroll and John Douglas Thompson, The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks is a story of medical arrogance and triumph, race, poverty, and deep friendship between the unlikeliest of people.

Makers tells the remarkable story of the most sweeping social revolution in American history, as women have asserted their rights to a full and fair share of political power, economic opportunity, and personal autonomy. It's a revolution that has unfolded in public and private, in courts and Congress, in the boardroom and the bedroom, changing not only what the world expects from women, but what women expect from themselves. The story is brought to life with priceless archival treasures and poignant, often funny interviews with those who led the fight, those who opposed it, and those first generations to benefit from its success.

This film follows the intimate stories of seven young women who are breaking barriers and overcoming personal challenges to follow their passion in science, math, computing & engineering (STEM) fields. Through video diaries and verite moments, each of these girls defy the stereotype of what it means to be an over achieving woman in the fields of technology. From small town Iowa to the busy streets of the Middle East, Big Dream immerses viewers in a world designed by the next generation of girls.

At the age of 85, U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg has developed a lengthy legal legacy while becoming an unexpected pop culture icon. Explore her unique and unknown personal journey of her rise to the nation's highest court.Academy Award nominee. Official Selection at the Sundance Film Festival.

When Rachel Carson's Silent Spring was published in 1962, the book became a phenomenon. A passionate and eloquent warning about the long-term dangers of pesticides, the book unleashed an extraordinary national debate and was greeted by vigorous attacks from the chemical industry. But it would also inspire President John F. Kennedy to launch the first-ever investigation into the public health effects of pesticides -- an investigation that would eventually result in new laws governing the regulation of these deadly agents.

Recalling a watershed event in US politics, this Peabody Award-winning documentary takes an in-depth look at the 1972 presidential campaign of Shirley Chisholm, the first black woman elected to Congress and the first to seek nomination for the highest office in the land. Shunned by the political establishment and the media, this longtime champion of marginalized Americans asked for support from people of color, women, gays, and young people newly empowered to vote at the age of 18. Chisholm's bid for an equal place on the presidential dais generated strong, even racist opposition. Yet her challenge to the status quo and her message about exercising the right to vote struck many as progressive and positive.

This episode traces the history of women pioneers in the U.S. space program. Some, like aviators Wally Funk and Jerrie Cobb, passed the same grueling tests as male astronauts, only to be dismissed by NASA, the military, and even Lyndon Johnson, as a distraction. It wasn't until 1995 that Eileen Collins became the first woman to pilot a spacecraft. The program includes interviews with Collins, as well as Sally Ride's classmates Shannon Lucid, Rhea Seddon and Kathryn Sullivan, and features Mae Jemison, the first woman of color astronaut, and Peggy Whitson, the first female commander of the International Space Station. The hour ends with the next generation of women engineers, mathematicians and astronauts--the new group of pioneers, like Marleen Martinez, who continue to make small but significant steps forward.

This episode profiles women in public office who were "firsts" in their fields. From the first woman elected to Congress in 1916 to a young woman running for Detroit City Council in 2013, the documentary explores the challenges confronting American women in politics.

In 1956, four years before Jane Goodall ventured into the world of chimpanzees and seven years before Dian Fossey left to work with mountain gorillas, 23-year-old biologist Anne Innis Dagg made an unprecedented solo journey to South Africa to study giraffes in the wild. When she returned home a year later, the insurmountable barriers she faced as a female scientist proved hard to overcome. In The Woman Who Loves Giraffes, Anne (now 86) retraces her steps, offering an intimate window into her life as a young woman, juxtaposed with a first-hand look at the devastating reality that giraffes are facing today. Anne and the species she loves have each experienced triumphs as well as setbacks. THE WOMAN WHO LOVES GIRAFFES gives us a moving perspective on both.

Geraldine Ferraro: Paving the Way is a feature-length documentary about the life and legacy of the trailblazing woman who made history in 1984 as the first female Vice Presidential nominee on a major party ticket in the United States. The film profiles Ferraro's life from an impoverished childhood, the struggles she endured while growing up, and the hurdles she faced and overcame both professionally and personally in order to achieve what no woman had done before. The primary focus of the film is Ferraro's public service and political career, from District Attorney in Queens, NY, and later respected member of Congress, to the emotional night of her Vice Presidential nomination and acceptance speech, along with the tough campaign that followed. Though the Mondale-Ferraro ticket was defeated, the film explores how Ferraro's landmark nomination and her conduct during that campaign changed the national perception of what was possible for women.

An essential documentary on women tech entrepreneurs, SHE STARTED IT upends the popular perception of a male-dominated Silicon Valley. Featuring interviews with leading female CEO's and entrepreneurs, it follows several passionate, trailblazing young women as they strive to launch their companies in the ruthlessly competitive world of tech start-ups.

How could America claim to be the world's greatest democracy, but deny the right to vote to women? With an introduction by Ruth Bader Ginsburg, ONE WOMAN, ONE VOTE documents the events that culminated in the passing of the 19th Amendment.

It would be hard to name anyone who has had more of an impact in the realm of animal research and wildlife conservation than Jane Goodall, whose 45 year study of wild chimpanzees in Africa is legendary. In Jane's Journey, we travel with her across several continents, from her childhood home in England, to the Gombe National Park in Tanzania where she began her groundbreaking research and where she still returns every year to enjoy the company of the chimpanzees that made her famous.

Against a backdrop of sex, politics, and race, ANITA reveals the intimate story of a woman who spoke truth to power. An entire country watched as a poised, beautiful African-American woman sat before a Senate committee of 14 white men and with a clear, unwavering voice recounted the repeated acts of sexual harassment she had endured while working with U.S. Supreme Court nominee Clarence Thomas. Anita Hill's graphic testimony was a turning point for gender equality in the U.S. and ignited a political firestorm about sexual harassment and power in the workplace that resonates still today.