Esther Pohl Lovejoy, M.D., the First World War, and a feminist critique of wartime violence

Kimberly Jensen

pp. 175-193

in: Alison S. Fell, Ingrid Sharp (eds), The women's movement in wartime, Basingstoke, Palgrave Macmillan, 2007

Abstract

For American physician Esther Pohl Lovejoy, the First World War was a vital bridge leading from local and national feminist activism to feminist activism and organization on an international scale. The conflict was also a turning point in her understanding of the impact of war and militarism on women; from it she created a new vision of the possibilities for social change on a transnational level. A suffragist and public health activist from Oregon, Lovejoy went to France for five months in 1917–1918 as a representative of American women's organizations to study the public health needs of women and children in devastated areas. In France she found that wartime violence against women took the form of rape, dislocation, poverty, and disease, and she developed a strong critique of militarism and war. Her observations also underscored her belief that women were capable citizens who were equal with men and that women could cross national, class, and professional divides to unite for progressive action. When she returned to the United States, Lovejoy developed her views in the course of several speaking tours, written reports and published articles. She then provided a full account of these experiences and a critique of war's violent effects on women in The House of the Good Neighbor.¹ Lovejoy subsequently transformed her critique into a post-war programme for action by organizing and directing visionary new international organizations for medical women and medical relief.