Each day we highlight one of the 36 finalists leading up to the April 8 announcement of the Minnesota Book Awards, presented by Education Minnesota. Today we feature 2017 Minnesota Nonfiction finalist:
Women of Mayo Clinic: The Founding Generation by Virginia M. Wright-Peterson
Published by: Minnesota Historical Society Press
Category Sponsor: Saint Mary’s University of Minnesota
The story of how the Mayo brothers and their father established an internationally renowned medical center in the middle of the prairies of Minnesota has become almost legend, but few people know the untold stories of the capable, intrepid women who contributed to Mayo Clinic’s founding and success. Women of Mayo Clinic: The Founding Generation tells the fascinating stories of more than 40 indelible women – physicians, nurses, librarians, social workers, secretaries, a janitress, an interpreter, artists, mothers, sisters, wives, and others – who were instrumental in establishing the medical center despite disease, war, and the hardships of pioneer life encountered in the remote Midwest from the 1850s to 1943. Mayo Clinic would not be the medical center that it is today without the contributions of these women.
About the Author:
Virginia Wright-Peterson, a native of Rochester, Minnesota, worked in administrative capacities for Mayo Clinic in Minnesota and Arizona for 17 years and has taught English and humanities for 14 years, including as a Fulbright Scholar in Algeria. She also deployed with the American Red Cross and served on a military base in Iraq. She has a Ph.D. in English from the University of Nebraska – Lincoln and is currently on the writing faculty at University of Minnesota Rochester. Women of Mayo Clinic: The Founding Generation is her first book. She is currently researching contributions made by women in the Midwest during World War II for a possible second book.
Rave Reviews:
“A thoroughly researched exploration of a previously unexamined area of Minnesota’s history, Women of Mayo Clinic successfully integrates the lives of the women staffers – everyone from janitors to department heads – into the larger history of the clinic. Detailed enough to serve as a scholarly reference, yet accessible and engaging for the general reader.” – Dr. Peter Kernahan, University of Minnesota
“Extremely well-written and exhaustively researched. It brings to life forgotten names and stories and fluently integrates sweeping trends at Mayo.” – Minnesota Book Awards judge
Beyond the Book:
Audio: Interview on KUMD of Duluth
Audio: Interview on North Shore Community Radio