Rosalie Slaughter Morton

Rosalie Slaughter Morton
Born (1876-10-28)October 28, 1876
Lynchburg, Virginia
Died May 5, 1968(1968-05-05) (aged 91)
Winter Park, Florida
Nationality American
Alma mater Woman's Medical College of Pennsylvania
Known for Co-founder of the American Women's Hospitals Service and chairperson of the Public Health Education Committee
Spouse George B. Morton Jr.

Rosalie Slaughter Morton (October 28, 1876 – May 5, 1968),[1] born Rosalie Slaughter, was an American physician and surgeon. Besides running her own medical practices, she co-founded the American Women's Hospitals Service, worked as a medic during the First World War, and was the first chairperson of the Public Health Education Committee. Morton was one of the first female members of faculty at the Polyclinic Hospital of New York, and the first at the College of Physicians and Surgeons at Columbia University.[2]

Born in Lynchburg, Virginia, Morton studied at the Woman's Medical College of Pennsylvania despite her family's expectation that she would only aim to find a husband who could provide for her. She went on to further study and research across Europe and Asia before returning to the United States to open her own medical practices.

Morton received a number of awards during her career, including the Joan of Arc medal, and a park in Belgrade is named in her honor. In 1937 she published an autobiography - A Woman Surgeon: The Life and Work of Rosalie Slaughter Morton - to positive reception, and in 1940 released a second book titled A Doctor's Holiday in Iran.

Biography

Early life

Rosalie Slaughter was born in 1876 in Lynchburg, Virginia to Mary Harker and John Favel Slaughter. She had five brothers and one sister (three other siblings died in childhood), and was educated in Lynchburg before travelling to a finishing school in Baltimore. From here she chose to follow in the steps of her grandfather and two older brothers by becoming a doctor, joining the Woman's Medical College of Pennsylvania in 1893.[3] In her autobiography Morton remarked that her upbringing and education had "been designed... to make me a capable wife—not to imbue me with a desire for a career,"[4] noting that her father had left her no money – expecting her to find a husband who could provide for her – and that many in her family did not want her to pursue a career in medicine.[5]

Later life

Slaughter married George B. Morton Jr., an attorney who had previously studied medicine, in 1905 at St. Paul's Church, Lynchburg.[3][6] In 1910 it was reported that she was filing for divorce, and he died in 1912 of an aneurism.[7][8][9] In the early 1930s Morton suffered a bout of pneumonia, prompting her to move to Winter Park, Florida, where she died in 1968.[1][3]

Career

After graduating from college in Pennsylvania with two of the three honors available to her,[4] Morton was appointed as resident physician at the Alumnae Hospital and Dispensary, where she worked until 1899. She then began further studies in Europe, travelling to Berlin, Vienna, Paris, and London. During this time Morton took courses, observed surgeries, and wrote a number of scientific papers including several comparing the health of women and men. Following the advice of her instructor in London, Victor Horsley, she then travelled to the British Government Laboratory in Mumbai for six months to work on prophylactics against the bubonic plague as well as a period in Sri Lanka.[2][3][4]

Having finished her studies, Morton returned to the United States in 1902 and opened a medical practice specialising in gynecology in Washington D.C.[4] After marrying George Morton Jr., she opened a new medical practice in New York, where he was an attorney. In 1909 the American Medical Association created a Public Health Education Committee with the aim of educating the public on subjects including health, hygiene, child care, and other medical topics; they made Morton its first chairperson. Morton was appointed as a clinical assistant and instructor at the Polyclinic Hospital of New York (where she was one of the first female faculty members),[4] and later became a professor of gynecology. During this time she lectured at a number of other universities including a summer at the University of Vermont.[3]

After the breakout of the First World War, Morton travelled to Labrador to work in the Mission Hospitals there, before being made a special commissioner of the Red Cross to take supplies from Paris to the Macedonian Front and work at the field hospitals in Macedonia. After returning to New York Morton, alongside Mary M. Crawford, led the American Women's Hospitals Service from 1917 after it was founded by the Medical Women's National Association with the aim of establishing American hospitals in Europe.[3][10][11] After her request to send one thousand medical women who had volunteered for foreign service was opposed by the General Medical Board in Washington, she raised over $300,000 in 10 days through a national fundraising drive to send them.[3] At the recommendation of William C. Gorgas, Morton was made chairman of the committee of women physicians on the United States Council of National Defense, where she represented over 7000 female doctors.[2]

Morton continued running her New York practice while attempting to aid young people in Yugoslavia and Serbia who had been disrupted during the war into education.[3] In March 1919 she established the international Serbian Committee, through which she facilitated the placing of dozens of young Serbian people in American places of education.[12]

After moving to Florida in the early 1930s Morton established a small clinical practice where she carried out research into arthritis and endocrinology.[3]

Awards

By 1937 Morton had been awarded 9 decorations by home and foreign Governments.[13] During her career Morton's awards included the Cross of Czar Nicholas II, the Joan of Arc medal, and the Conspicuous Service Cross,[3] and in 1934 she was presented a special award by the American Medical Association for her work establishing the American Women's Hospitals.[3] A tree was planted in Central Park in her honor, commemorating her "distinguished patriotic service",[2][14] and both a street and park in Belgrade are named after her.[15][16]

Books

Morton wrote an autobiography titled A Woman Surgeon: The Life and Work of Rosalie Slaughter Morton which was published in 1937 by Frederick A. Stokes. The book was reviewed well, with praise given to both the writing and the breadth of experiences chronicled in it.[17][18]

Writing for The Pittsburgh Press, Harry Hansen described Morton's autobiography as an "excellent book on a woman's accomplishments" commending both the descriptions of medical topics as well as political ones.[17] In The Brooklyn Daily Eagle, George Currie wrote that "at no time is her book boring", calling it an important book for documenting the contributions of "a woman crusader".[18] The Salt Lake Tribune described the book as "informative, thrilling and colorful",[5] and The Sydney Morning Herald called it "particularly interesting".[13] In their review, the Indiana Gazette rated the book as one of the best medical autobiographies of recent times.[19]

After finishing her autobiography, Morton travelled to Iran, and in 1940 published a book on the country and her time there titled A Doctor's Holiday in Iran.[20][21]

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Rosalie Slaughter Morton.
  1. 1 2 Anne Commire (2007). Dictionary of Women Worldwide: 25,000 Women Through the Ages. Retrieved 20 February 2016 – via Highbeam.
  2. 1 2 3 4 Margaret L. Hicks (23 May 1926). "Woman Earns Fame as Surgeon". The Brooklyn Daily Eagle. p. 100. Retrieved 20 February 2016 – via Newspapers.com.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 Marilyn Bailey Ogilvie & Joy Dorothy Harvey (2000). The Biographical Dictionary of Women in Science: L–Z. Taylor & Francis. pp. 918–919. ISBN 041592040X.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 "Dr. Rosalie Slaughter Morton". National Library of Medicine. Retrieved 20 February 2016.
  5. 1 2 "Noted Woman Physician's Story of Life Informative, Thrilling and Colorful". The Salt Lake Tribune. 25 April 1937. p. 22. Retrieved 21 February 2016 – via Newspapers.com.
  6. ↑ "Social and Personal: Ceremony in Alexandria". The Washington Post. 7 September 1905. p. 7. Retrieved 20 February 2016 – via Newspapers.com.
  7. ↑ "Woman Physician Seeks to Divorce Lawyer Husband". The Evening World. 20 December 1910. p. 6. Retrieved 20 February 2016 – via Newspapers.com.
  8. ↑ Pnina G. Abir-Am and Dorinda Outram (1987). Uneasy Careers and Intimate Lives: Women in Science, 1789-1979. Rutgers University Press. p. 52. ISBN 0813512565. Retrieved 9 March 2016.
  9. ↑ Leonard, John William (1915). Woman's Who's Who of America, 1914-15. The American Commonwealth Company. p. 580. Retrieved 9 March 2016.
  10. ↑ "Lady Doctor Heads Women's Hospitals". The Hutchinson News. 17 July 1917. p. 6. Retrieved 20 February 2016 – via Newspapers.com.
  11. ↑ Kathryn Cullen-DuPont (2014). Encyclopedia of Women's History in America. Infobase Publishing. p. 14. ISBN 1438110332. Retrieved 9 March 2016.
  12. ↑ Edith Moriarty (16 July 1922). "With the Women of Today". The Charlotte News. p. 28. Retrieved 21 February 2016 – via Newspapers.com.
  13. 1 2 "Distinguished Woman Surgeon". The Sydney Morning Herald. 2 November 1937. p. 22. Retrieved 6 March 2016 – via Newspapers.com.
  14. ↑ Marion Brown (4 January 1939). "'Develop Daring Spirit' Urges Renowned Doctor". The Evening Independent. Retrieved 20 February 2016.
  15. ↑ "Отворен парк "Розали Мортон" у Београду" (in Serbian). 22 April 2014. Retrieved 6 March 2016.
  16. ↑ Rosalie Slaughter Morton (1937). A Woman Surgeon: The Life and Work of Rosalie Slaughter Morton. Frederick A. Stokes Company. p. 345. Retrieved 9 March 2016.
  17. 1 2 Harry Hansen (28 February 1937). "Doctor's Work Is Education as Well as Cure, Noted Woman Surgeon Holds in Story of Life". The Pittsburgh Press. Retrieved 20 February 2016.
  18. 1 2 George Currie (23 February 1937). "Passed in Review". The Brooklyn Daily Eagle. Retrieved 6 March 2016 – via Newspapers.com.
  19. ↑ "A Book A Day". The Indiana Gazette. 15 March 1937. p. 9. Retrieved 6 March 2016 – via Newspapers.com.
  20. ↑ Rosalie Slaughter Morton (1940). A Doctor's Holiday in Iran. Funk & Wagnalls Company. p. 1. Retrieved 8 March 2016.
  21. ↑ "A Doctor's Holiday in Iran - Rosalie Slaughter Morton". The Morning News. 14 November 1940. p. 6. Retrieved 8 March 2016 – via Newspapers.com.
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