Elmira Y. Howard (3 May 1841 – 7 August 1921)[1] was an American doctor and the first woman to open a medical practice in Cincinnati, Ohio.[2][3] She was called "the first woman physician to practise west of the Allegheny Mountains".[4][5][6]
Elmira Y. Howard | |
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| Born | May 3, 1841 Shelby, Ohio, US |
| Died | August 7, 1921 (aged 80) |
| Alma mater | New York Medical College for Women |
| Occupation | Physician |
Life
editElmira Y. Howard was born in Shelby, Ohio on 3 May 1841.[2]
In 1859, she married Jerome B. Howard, an artist.[2] Jerome B. Howard, as an artist, was connected with the State Normal School of New York.[2] They couple had three children: two boys and a girl.[2]
When the Civil War broke out, Jerome Howard volunteered.[2] He was taken prisoner and died in Andersonville prison.[2] Elmira Howard was 23 years old.[2]
The Howards' daughter, Ellen Jeanette, died in 1909 from consumption.[7] Until her illness, Ellen Howard had co-owned and run a bookstore in Palmyra, Missouri.[7]
Medical career
editHoward decided to study medicine, partly inspired by her daughter's disability.[2] At the age of 27, she went to New York, where she entered the New York Medical College for Women.[2] There, she studied alongside Susan McKinney Steward.[8][9] Howard graduated in 1869.[8][10]
That year, Howard moved to Cincinnati, Ohio, where she opened an office for practice: the first woman in the city to do so.[2] After three years developing the practice, in 1873, Howard went to Europe.[2] There, she worked and studied in the Vienna General Hospital for nine months.[2][11] She studied both allopathy and homeopathy.[2]
Howard was also secretary of the Cincinnati Theosophical Society.[12]
After 25 years in practice in Cincinnati, Howard moved to Marion County, Missouri.[4] There, she continued to practice medicine, specializing in diseases of women and children, until her retirement.[5]
In 1894, Elizabeth Nourse, whose twin sister Howard probably attended during her last illness, was commissioned to create a portrait of Howard.[13]
Later years and death
editDuring the last three years of her life, she lived with her son, Dr. Jerome Howard in Covington, Kentucky.[4] She died there on Sunday 7 August 1921.[5][4]
References
edit- ^ "Kentucky, U.S., Death Records, 1852-1965". Ancestry. 8 August 1921.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n "Elmira Y. Howard", Woman of the Century, retrieved 2024-01-27
- ^ "1886: MEDICAL MAIDS. Cincinnati's Women Physicians. | Walnut Hills Historical Society". 2023-06-19. Retrieved 2024-01-28.
- ^ a b c d "Dr. Howard Dead". The Kentucky Post and Times-Star. 8 August 1921. p. 1.
- ^ a b c www.bibliopolis.com. "Portrait of Dr. Elmira Y. Howard Cabinet Card by 19th Century Women Physicians, James M. Landy on Downtown Brown Books". Downtown Brown Books. Retrieved 2024-01-27.
- ^ Medical record; a journal of medicine and surgery. Gerstein - University of Toronto. New York W. Wood. 1921.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link) - ^ a b "Death of Miss Ella Howard". The Palmyra Spectator. 29 September 1909. p. 1.
- ^ a b The Revolution. Vol. 5. Open Court Publishing Co. 31 July 1870.
- ^ Steward, S. Maria (1914). Woman in medicine : a paper read before the National Association of Colored Women's Clubs at Wilberforce, Ohio, August 6, 1914 / by S. Maria Steward. Harold B. Lee Library. Wilberforce, Ohio : [s.n.]
- ^ Journal of the American Medical Association. University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. Chicago, Ill.: American Medical Association. 1921.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link) - ^ The Woman's Journal. Vol. 6. Out-of-copyright. 3 July 1875. pp. 210–211.
- ^ "America". Supplement to the Theosophist. 7 (84). September 1886.
- ^ National Museum of American Art (U.S.) (1983). Elizabeth Nourse,1859-1938 : a salon career. Smithsonian Institution Press. ISBN 978-0-87474-298-5.