Chasing a Killer
by Emilie Hornak/Staff Writer
Published in the Huntsville Item
October 26, 2002

Tracing the destructive path of a killer linked to the deaths of more than 25 million women, one Sam Houston State University professor is contributing to the fight to save the lives of women in Walker County.

SHSU history department chair James Olson's newest book "Bathsheba's Breast: Women, Cancer and History," a historical account of breast cancer, will be featured at two Oct. 29 book signing events.

The Pulitzer Prize-nominated historical account of breast cancer traces the disease from ancient Egyptian times through the Greek and Roman Empires to the present, Olson said.

"Breast cancer, for a historian, is one of the most interesting diseases because it may actually be the oldest recorded disease in history," Olson said.

Through records kept of prominent female figures in Egyptian, Greek, Roman and other societies, Olson traced the history of the almost exclusively female disease.

"It touches on what people (in history) thought caused the cancer and how they treated it, but it also shows the evolution of those thoughts and treatments," Olson said.

His interest is two-fold, he said.

While Olson was interested in the historical aspect, the connections between the sexual perceptions associated with the female breast in society and the treatment of the disease also interests him.

"It's interesting that you have a disease that is almost exclusively endured by women, but male doctors are the ones treating these women," Olson said. "That is an important medical issue associated with this disease."

Until recently, women were rarely involved in the treatment of breast cancer patients, he said. Traditionally, women in medicine were linked to pediatrics or psychology rather than surgical procedures.

This began to change though, as more women entered the field of medicine 70 years ago.

Olson began tracing the history of breast cancer 10 years ago when his own life was touched by the illness, he said.

"I just wanted to find some way to turn this bad thing I was going through into something good, so I thought I would write about it," he said. "And I decided to focus on breast cancer because I knew it was such a concern for women and our society."

"Bathsheba's Breast" is not Olson's first book. The author has had a hand in the publication of about 40 historically based, nonfiction books or edited anthologies during his career.

However, this is his first title to earn him recognition as a Pulitzer Prize nominee.

"It's a great honor to be nominated, but many are called and few are chosen, as the Bible says," Olson said.

Tall Pines Quilt Guild member Grettle Payne called the book gripping.

She and other members of the quilt guild approached Olson about teaming up with them for a project that would raise funds to educate women about early detection and treatment of breast cancer and provide services for mammograms for the noninsured or underinsured people of Walker County, Payne said.

"We thought this was a perfect companion activity for our project," she said. "It is a gripping book that looks at the issue we are dealing with and it is up for the Pulitzer Prize. We couldn't have asked for more."

So together, the group will work to raise $50,000 which will be matched by the Josey Foundation, Payne said.

"The Josey Foundation, which is a fund that was created to take care of Walker County's medical needs, said we could have this year's allotment as a matching grant," Payne said.

Profits from the sale of the book at two local events will be used to educate area women about the vital role of mammography in the detection and treatment of breast cancer, and will pay for mammograms for anyone who cannot afford the important preventive measure.

The books will be sold by the quilt guild until all 400 copies they purchased are gone.

Return to the SHSU Department of History Homepage
Last Update: November 2002