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Contact Info:
Department of History
Tufts University
East Hall, room 06
Medford, MA 02155

617.627.2315
Email Prof. Drachman

Office Hours:
Mon. 1:30-3:00pm
Wed. 1:30-2:30pm
or by appointment
Virginia Drachman, Chair
Arthur and Lenore Stern Professor of American History
Modern America, Women in the U.S., Medicine and Society in the U.S.

Biography

I am currently the Arthur and Lenore Stern Professor of American History at Tufts University. I joined the History Department in 1977, so it is no exaggeration for me to say that Tufts is my professional home. My teaching interests focus on nineteenth and twentieth century American history, specifically the history of women, the professions, medicine and society, and the rise of modern American culture. My scholarship mirrors my teaching and focuses on women in modern America society. Specifically, I am interested in the overall theme of women in male-dominated professions, particularly medicine, law, and business. My current research project takes me in a new direction and focuses on girlhood in the late 1950s and early 1960s.

My books include: Enterprising Women: 250 Years of American Business (University of North Carolina Press, 2002); Sisters in Law: Women Lawyers in Modern American History (Harvard University Press, 1998); Women Lawyers and the Origins of Professional Identity in America: The Letters of the Equity Club, 1887 to 1890 (University of Michigan Press, 1993); and Hospital with a Heart: Women Doctors and the Paradox of Separatism at the New England Hospital,1862-1969 (Cornell University Press, 1984.

Education

  • B.A. in History, University of Rochester, 1970
  • M.S. in Education, State University College of Buffalo, 1972
  • M.A. in History, SUNY Buffalo, 1974
  • Ph.D. in History, SUNY Buffalo, 1976

Major Publications

  • Enterprising Women: 250 Years of American Business (University of North Carolina Press, 2002)
  • Sisters in Law: Women Lawyers in Modern American History (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1998)
  • Women Lawyers and the Origins of Professional Identity in America: Letters of the Equity Club, 1887-1890 (Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 1993)
  • Hospital with a Heart: Women Doctors and the Paradox Separatism at the New England Hospital, 1862-1969 (Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1984)

Courses

  • History 86: Emergence of Modern American Society
  • History 92: Women in America to 1900
  • History 93: Women in Twentieth-Century America
  • History 94: Sickness and Health in America