Post copyright by Doris McCraw/Angela Raines-author
As the Pikes Peak Library District Symposium draws closer, I’ve spent more time looking at the larger picture of the women doctors who received their license to practice medicine around the same time as Susan, Doc Susie, Anderson, who started her practice in Cripple Creek, Colorado in 1897. She did not move to Fraser, Colorado until 1907 where she earned her ‘fame’.
While the list is fairly long, I thought I would share some additional names and their contributions to Colorado and medicine.
Dr. Josepha Williams and Dr. Madeline Marquette opened a private hospital and sanatorium in Denver in 1889. In 1892 they added a nursing school to the hospital – Sanatorium. Dr. Williams was the superintendent of the facility. On a side note Dr. Williams married Charles Winfred Douglas a musician and Episcopal priest in 1896.
Dr.Genevieve M Tucker wrote Mother, Baby and Nursery: A Manuel for Mothers published by Roberts Brothers, copyright 1896. She practiced in Pueblo, Colorado. Around 1898 she was elected president of the Colorado Homeopathic Medical Society.
Dr. Ida Putnam began her practice in Chicago, but in 1898 she received her Colorado license and began a practice in Telluride, Colorado.
Dr. Florence Sabin was a research doctor who did much to advance the area of medical research. Her accomplishments are too numerous to list here. If you wish to know more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Florence_R._Sabin and http://www.biography.com/people/florence-sabin-9468690
Dr. Rose Kidd Beere was written up in the “History of Colorado” edited by Wilber Fiske Stone. She participated in the Philippine War of 1898-99 and WWI. She was unable to travel to the Philippine’s as a doctor so she gathered women to go there as nurses. A short write-up in her hometown newspaper of Wabash, Indiana can be found here: http://www.chronicle-tribune.com/archives/wabashplaindealer/wabash-native-was-woman-ahead-of-her-time/article_d993558d-237f-5717-b268-e7d22e1fb4f2.html
Dr. Mary Elizabeth Bates I have spoken of before. As you know she was the first woman intern at Cook County Hospital in Chicago, Illinois. From the book “A History of Surgery at Cook County Hospital” by Patrick D. Guinan, Kenneth J. Printen, James L. Stone, James S.T. Yao, we find in the nineteen months she worked as in intern she worked in the morgue, took part in fourteen amputations. Of her time there she later said “ the first six months were hell, the second six months were purgatory, the next six months were heaven; when it came time for me to leave, I wept bitter tears.”
So there you have just a few of Doc Susie’s contemporaries. For anyone wishing to listen in on the upcoming symposium on June 11, 2016 it will be streamed live. Further information will be supplied closer to the date. You can also find more at:http://www.regionalhistoryseries.org/2016-symposium-presentations.html
“A COWBOY CELEBRATION”
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HOME FOR HIS HEART
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Writing Wranglers and Warriors 
Thanks for sharing more information about Colorado women doctors.
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You are welcome Abbie. Doris
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Reblogged this on L.LEANDER BOOKS.
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I’ve reblogged this, Doris. I always find your posts about early women doctors fascinating and I think my readers will too. I’m curious as to how many years a person seeking a medical license had to go to college in those years, as well as nursing students. These women were strong and amazing. Thanks for sharing!
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Thank You Linda for sharing the information. As you know, the story of these women is a passion of mine.
For most, especially in the early days it was two years, but some also combined it with regular college. Toward the end of the nineteenth century, four years was becoming the norm. Doris
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You make me wonder how many women doctors there were in Wyoming at that time! Interesting and inspiring. I am awed by your research and knowledge of these women. How gratifying it must be if their ancestors find out about your passion for making their names and lives know.
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Neva, it is. I’ve been in contact with two relatives of different doctors. It is wonderful.
I confess, I’ve been at this for about four years and I’m just scratching the surface. The more I find, the more I know I need to find. But it is a joy and the research has taken me to many places in the archives.
I would love to know how many were in Wyoming also. I know one of the doctors and her husband in Colorado Springs spent a great deal of time and had property there.
Doris
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You have to be the ‘go to’ person for information, Doris. Again fascinating information about women who strode forward in medical history regardless of the many odds against them. Thanks for the update. 🙂
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You are more than welcome Nancy. I appreciate your stopping by. In some respects I suppose I am, but I still think I need to know more. Doris
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I’m still amazed at the number of women MDs at that time. Fascinating info.
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Kate, as am I. The number is far larger than most people realize. Guess it has become my mission to correct the misinformation. A job I seem to take to, especially with this topic. Thank you for the kind words. Doris
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Educational and enlightening post once again, Doris! I’m so inspired by your methodical and persistent research and I love learning history from you. Thank you for sharing your passion, perseverance, and projects with us!
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Gayle, it is people like you who keep me going. While I enjoy the research, it’s the sharing and responses that bring me even more joy. That the information is getting out there and making a difference is what it’s all about for me. Doris
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Doris, just as everyone else has commented, again you have offered us such a wealth of knowledge and it makes me want to spend the rest of the day researching. I’m much like you in that once I get on a subject and start investigating it, I could lose myself for days on end in reading…more, more, more. I have Home For His Heart on my Kindle and look forward to curling up to another heartwarming story. Thanks for all the info and wishing you the best. Bev
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Bev, Hope you enjoy my first foray into written storytelling. Clara and Sam are dear to my heart. Doris
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Doris, I love your research about early women doctors. Seems Colorado was a hub for many adventures. I am researching early journalism and photography for my little Western Series. I love research and I get lost in it. Cher’ley
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Cher’ley, you are right, it is easy to get lost in the research. While not a fan of the medical profession, somehow the story of these women keeps me enthralled. Doris
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Doris, I visited here yesterday or the day before. I have WordPress, signed in and came back now to make sure it went through and see if you commented and I don’t see my comment. So to put short version up–I so enjoy when you share this kind of interesting information. Being a nurse for over 30 yrs., a writer and a lover of history esp. women’s history–well this is right up my alley. So thank you for another very worthwhile post. I have Home for his Heart and look forward to reading it.
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Beverly, thank you. Making sure that the stories of these women doesn’t get lost has become a passion of mine. It makes my heart sing when others appreciate and understand what they accomplished. Thank you for making sure you comment made it. I appreciate it so much. Doris
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Thanks for the information, Doris. I especially enjoyed Dr. Mary Elizabeth Bates’ quote.
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Sarah, Dr. Mary was a force to be reckoned with. Each time I find something new about her, I grow to admire her even more. Thanks for stopping and commenting. Doris
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You know when you think about it, women didn’t even have the vote, and here they were providing health care in the West. Brave women in a free-for-all age, the Guided Age when a few powerful men like Vanderbilt, Carnegie and Rockefeller controlled everything — steel, railroad and oil. Even an auto cartel tried to keep Ford from manufacturing his Model T’s.
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Mike,
You nailed it. Of course Colorado had given women the right to vote in 1893, but some of these women were practicing long before that. When we put people into the events of their time, oh how we can really admire them.
Thank you for the added layers and comments. Doris
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What impresses me is that these women did more than just run their own practices–they started nursing schools, wrote books, gathered women to serve as nurses during wartime, did research… Their actions touched so many people outside their own communities.
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Kathy, you have it correct. They did so much and yet so few know of their efforts. Guess that’s why I keep researching and writing. Thanks for the feedback. Doris
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If you believed the general history you learn in high school, you would assume that female doctors were as rare as hen’s teeth back then. They obviously weren’t as numerous as male doctors, but I’m surprised by how many there were.
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Joe,
When I started this research, I believed the same myth. Now, it appears to be my life’s purpose to correct that misconception. I keep trying. **Smile** Doris
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Thanks for sharing. I had no idea there were so many women doctors back then. I suppose I always assumed most women were wives and mothers and had little time for anything else.
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