Janet Wilson James

Janet Wilson James was born in New York City on December 23, 1918, to Helen Peters Wilson and Willard O. Wilson, an automobile distributor. She had a challenging relationship with her mother, who suffered from depression, but formed a close bond with her sister, Lucy Wilson Benson. In 1928, the family relocated to Dallas, Texas, where James graduated from the Hockaday School for Girls in 1935. She received her BA from Smith College in 1939 and her MA from Bryn Mawr College in 1940. She returned to Smith College in 1940 as a teaching fellow and teaching assistant for Ray Allen Billington, remaining there until 1942.[2][3]

In 1942, James began doctoral work at Radcliffe College, studying women's history with Arthur Schlesinger Sr. The following year, she became one of the first women tutors in history and literature at Harvard University.[2]

In 1950, James and her husband, Edward T. James, moved to Oakland, California, where they both taught at Mills College until 1953. They received their PhDs in 1954, and Janet's dissertation, Changing Ideas about Women in the United States, 1776-1825, was published in 1981. In 1954, she became a history instructor at Wellesley College, but resigned in 1955 to move to New York and focus on motherhood.[1]

The family returned to Massachusetts in 1958, and James resumed her career in 1961, assisting Edward as an editor of Notable American Women, 1607-1950: A Biographical Dictionary.[4] She served as director of the Schlesinger Library from July 1965 to December 1968 and was a member of the Library's Advisory Committee.[1]

In 1971, James joined the faculty of Boston College as an instructor in the history department, becoming the first female member of that department. She taught courses on social, women's, and health care history, and was promoted to full professor in 1981. Her later research focused on the history of nursing, particularly the work of Lavinia Dock, a militant feminist nurse. James edited A Lavinia Dock Reader, published in 1985.[1][2][5]

James was a member of several professional organizations, including the American Association for the History of Nursing and the Organization of American Historians. She was an active participant in the Berkshire Conferences on the History of Women.[1]

• James, J. W. (1971). Notable American Women, 1607-1950: A Biographical Dictionary.[8]
• James, J. W. (1981). Changing Ideas about Women in the United States, 1776-1825.[9][10]
• James, J. W. (1983). Women at Work: A Massachusetts Historical Society Picture Book.[2]
• James, J. W. (Ed.). (1985). A Lavinia Dock Reader.[11]
• James, J. W. (Ed.). (1980). Women in American Religion.[12]

Through her studies with Arthur Schlesinger, James met Edward T. James, a fellow historian and a Harvard alumnus. They married in 1945 while Edward was serving in the U.S. Navy. The couple had two children, Ned, born in 1954, and Lucy, born in 1957.[1]

James died of cancer in Cambridge, Massachusetts, on June 10, 1987.[1]

• "Women's Liberation Not New, Speaker Says"
• Papers of Janet Wilson James, 1900-1999 (inclusive), 1940-1987 (bulk)