1866 – Lucy B. Hobbs (Taylor) becomes 1st US woman to earn a DDS degree
Doctors in Scottsdale
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1878 – Thomas Edison is granted a patent for his cylinder phonograph
The Doctor Was A Woman on Tour
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1920 – The League of Women Voters is formed in Chicago in celebration of the imminent ratification of the 19th Amendment, giving women the right to vote.
Dos and Don’ts for Influenza Prevention [Found in doctors’ offices across the West in 1918]
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The Doctor Was A Woman: Stories of the First Female Physicans on the Frontier
Wear a mask.
Live a clean, healthy life.
Keep the pores open—that is, bathe frequently.
Wash your hands before each meal.
Live in an abundance of fresh air—day and night.
Keep warm.
Get plenty of sleep.
Gargle frequently (and always after having been out) with a solution of salt in water. (Half teaspoon of salt to one glass—eight ounces—of water)
Report early symptoms to the doctor at once. Respect the quarantine regulations.
Avoid crowds. You can get the influenza only by being near someone who is infected.
Avoid persons who sneeze and cough.
Do not neglect your mask.
Do not disregard the advice of a specialist just because you do not under
Do not disregard the rights of a community—obey cheerfully the rules issued by the authorities.
Do not think you are entitled to special privileges.
Do not go near other people if you have a cold or fever—you may expose them to the influenza and death.
See the doctor.
Do not think it is impossible for you to get or transmit influenza.
Keep your hands out of your mouth.
Do not cough or sneeze in the open.
Do not use a public towel or drinking cup.
Do not visit the sick or handle articles from the sick room.
Don’t worry.
The Doctor Was a Woman
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To learn more about treatments prescribed for a variety of ailments by some of the first women physicians on the frontier read The Doctor Was A Woman
This Day…
The First Licensed Woman Doctor in Nevada
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The Doctor Was A Woman: Stories of the First Female Physicians on the Frontier
An advertisement that appeared in the May 5, 1892, edition of the Reno Gazette Journal caught the attention of many residents in the northern Nevada town. It read as follows: “Dr. Eliza Cook may be consulted at her office in rooms 25 and 26 at the Golden Eagle Hotel between the hours of 9:30 to 11:30 A.M. and from 2 to 4 o’clock P.M.” The reason the advertisement drew so much attention was the fact that a woman physician had posted it. The idea of a woman doctor was still a relatively new one in the Old West in the late 1800s.
A female physician publicizing her services was also unique. Dr. Cook was confident her practice would benefit the community and was willing to risk criticism from those who believed the bold act was as out of place for a woman in the medical profession. Eliza’s desire to become a doctor began when she was fourteen years old. She was a voracious reader, and one of her favorite books when she was young was of a country doctor and the individuals he helped. From that point on, she was consumed with the dream of studying medicine.
Eliza Cook was born in Salt Lake City, Utah, on February 5, 1856. Her parents, John and Margaretta, moved to America from England in the 1850s. Not long after her father passed away in 1870, Eliza, her mother, and her sister relocated to Carson Valley. Nine years after the Cooks arrived in Nevada, Eliza was presented with an opportunity to be part of the medical field. Dr. H. W. Smith, a prominent physician in Genoa, Nevada, hired her to help care for his wife. Mrs. Smith, who had just had a baby, was suffering with puerperal fever, a disease that primarily affects women within the first three days after childbirth. It progresses rapidly and causes acute symptoms of severe abdominal pain, fever, and debility. Dr. Smith was so impressed with Eliza’s natural ability and the way she tended to the patient, he suggested she study with him as a preparation for college.
The Doctor Was a Woman
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To learn more about Eliza’s struggle to study medicine read
The Doctor Was A Woman: Stories of the First Female Physicians on the Frontier.
This Day…
1863 – P. T. Barnum stages wedding of Tom Thumb & Mercy Lavinia Warren, both midgets, in NYC
Warrior of the People
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The Doctor Was A Woman: Stories of the First Female Physicians on the Frontier
Twelve-year-old Susan La Flesche wiped the perspiration off the brow of an elderly Omaha Indian woman stretched out on a cot before her. The woman’s sad eyes found Susan’s, and she lifted her feeble hand out for the girl to take. Susan helped the frail patient raise her head and take a sip of broth. Almost as if the effort had been overwhelming to her delicate frame, the ailing Native American fainted. Susan gently laid the woman’s head onto a pillow and dabbed her warm cheeks with a cool cloth.
The light from a gigantic moon streamed through the open flap of the buckskin tepee situated on the Omaha reservation near Macy, Nebraska. Susan left the sick woman for a moment to peer out into the night. She lingered a bit and listened to the sounds of the evening. With the exception of the cries of the coyotes in the far distance, all was quiet. It was late, and the elderly woman’s breathing was labored. A messenger had been sent out four times to get help, but the physician, hired by the government to care for sick and dying Omaha Indians, would not come. He was hunting prairie chickens and could not be persuaded to visit the reservation. It was 1877, and the health of a Native American woman was inconsequential to the white reservation doctor.
Susan spent the remainder of the evening hopelessly trying to make the woman comfortable. The agony of the lady’s unknown affliction continued until the morning. By the time the sun had fully risen, the woman had passed away. Susan stood over the lifeless body, contemplating the tragedy and deciding her own course of action. If she were a doctor, she would respond quickly to Native Americans in need of medical attention. Their lives would matter to her.
The Doctor Was a Woman
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To learn more about Susan’s journey to become the first female Native American physician read
The Doctor Was A Woman: Stories of the First Female Physicians on the Frontier
