Katharine C. (Katharine Caroline) Bushnell

Born in Evanston, Illinois, in 1855, Katharine C. Bushnell became a medical doctor at a time when few women entered the profession. She went on to combine medicine, missionary work, and reform activism, building a reputation as a determined advocate for women and girls.

Bushnell is especially remembered for her campaigns against sexual exploitation and for her criticism of the double standard that excused men while punishing women. Later in life, she turned deeply to biblical study, arguing that key passages about women had been mistranslated or misunderstood.

Her best-known book, God's Word to Women, brought together years of scholarship and became an important text for readers interested in women's equality in Christian thought. Today she is often seen as a forerunner of feminist theology because she joined social reform with a careful reexamination of scripture.