Fourth Friday Book Club to meet February 25
Fri, Feb 25 2022, 2pm
UMRA’s Fourth Friday Book Club will discuss The Doctors Blackwell: How Two Pioneering Sisters Brought Medicine to Women and Women to Medicine by Janice P. Nimura when it meets at 2 p.m. on Friday, February 25, via Zoom.
Everyone is welcome to join the discussion! Contact Dorothy Marden at [email protected] for your email invitation.
Elizabeth Blackwell was the first woman to receive a medical degree in the United States; her younger sister, Emily Blackwell, was the third. Nimura’s broad outline of their history, a 2021 New York Times bestseller, is a compelling tale of the sisters’ pioneering achievements in the mid 1800s.
Of even greater interest, it is a story of the medical profession as it was then practiced, prior to the establishment of the germ theory of disease. It was a time when, for many doctors, the focus was on short-term cures—treatments that were often painful and dangerous, and of questionable efficacy.
The Doctors Blackwell is a richly researched chronicle of evolving medical practices and the broad intellectual context of their time. Both sisters died in the year 1910. By then there were more than 9,000 women doctors in the United States. Today, 35 percent of physicians in America are women, and women comprise about half the medical students.
If you have questions, want to be on the email invitation list, or have suggestions for future books, please contact Dorothy Marden at [email protected] or Maggie Catambay [email protected].
Upcoming Events
Our July 15 "hike" is going to be a kayaking adventure on Bde Maka Ska (formerly Lake Calhoun) and Lake of the Isles! If you don't have a kayak (or paddleboard), Wheel Fun Rentals, located next to the new concession stand rents single kayaks at $15 an hour and double kayaks at $25. The second hour is free if we rent before noon. Life jackets are provided with the rental.
Laura Ericksen will lead the discussion of How Stella Learned to Talk by Christina Hunger, a true story by a speech-language pathologist who taught her dog, Stella, to communicate using buttons associated with different words.
Our August 5 hike will be a reprise of our hike last summer at William O'Brien State Park. This is a beautiful park with a winding trail and a great view of the countryside. The hike is about 5.5 to 6 miles and we'll go at a moderate pace with frequent water breaks. After the hike, we will eat lunch at Rustic Roots Winery, a half mile north of the park.
Kathy Cramer will lead the discussion of The Bookbinder by Pip Williams, a book set in 1914 Oxford chronicling the life of Peggy who works in the University bindery, but craves a life beyond binding books but to being a scholar herself.
Enjoy a two-hour cruise on the Jonathan Padelford, leaving from the Harriet Island dock in St. Paul, boarding time at 5:30 p.m. We will have a brief program on board by Patrick Nunnally from the River Life Program of the Institute on the Environment.
August 31 is the due date for annual reports and updates. Annual Reports, Toolkits, web page updates, operating document updates and archives collections are all due each year on this date.
Autumn is a wonderful season in Minnesota so plan to join UMRA at the Andersen Horticultural Library at the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum. Kristen Mastel, head librarian and curator, will reveal its treasure trove of publications and artifacts relating to plant history, horticulture, and natural history. After the tour, those who are interested may stay to eat lunch together, sitting outside if the weather is nice. Later, you are invited to a one-hour tram tour of the entire Arboretum that includes natural areas of flowering shrubs, bogs, and forests, family garden and landscaping showpieces, and the red barn farm
After a summer break the UMRA Photo Club will next meet September 10, 2024 in the meeting room of the Hennepin County St. Anthony Branch Library. For those interested in lunch, meet at the Great Dragon at 11:30 am. For September the THEME will be Curves
We will continue to discuss the pros and cons of Medicare Advantage. You will also hear about notable non-health plan and non-broker resources.