In Pursuit of a Grand Cause

Marie J. Mergler, MD

Marie J. Mergler, MD, graduated as valedictorian for the 1879 class of the Woman’s Hospital Medical College (later the Woman’s Medical School). She became a well-known gynecologist and was one of the top-ranked abdominal surgeons in Chicago, male or female. She taught at her alma mater, where she climbed the ranks from assistant to professor to chair of the gynecology department and, finally, to dean. She served on staff at many Chicago hospitals and became the head physician and surgeon at the Mary Thompson Hospital when Thompson passed away.

All told, Mergler spent half of her life connected to the Woman’s Medical School. She was completely dedicated to her patients and students, so much so that she died on her 50th birthday from pernicious anemia, likely brought on by overwork and exhaustion.

Mergler was in the first group of women allowed to compete for the highly sought-after internships at Cook County’s medical facilities. Despite earning the highest marks, and thus securing an appointment at the Cook County Insane Asylum, Mergler was denied the position as it was deemed unsuitable for a woman.

Mergler remembering the Cook County intern exam:

By: Katie Lattal

Sarah Hackett Stevenson, MD

Sarah Hackett Stevenson, MD, was the 1874 valedictorian of the Woman’s Hospital Medical College. After studying abroad, she became a professor of physiology and histology at the college and later taught obstetrics, ethics and history. She had a private practice and was on staff at half a dozen area hospitals. Stevenson was the first female member of the American Medical Association (1876), the first woman on staff at Cook County Hospital (1881) and the first woman appointed to the Illinois State Board of Health (1893). She also co-founded a nursing school, a maternity hospital and two homes for needy populations. In her spare time, she was an active member of more than 10 social and professional clubs.

When it became apparent that the Medical Bureau of the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition would not honor its promise to employ three women doctors at the fair, Stevenson and her peers were determined that the female physician community would be represented. They raised funds for an Illinois Woman’s Hospital and Pharmacy building, staffed entirely by female doctors, nurses and pharmacists from the state. The building was a living exhibit; the staff treated over 3,000 patients in the model wards and operating rooms.

Stevenson was committed to the betterment of women. She worked to provide women with quality medical care, advocated for women's rights and welfare, and championed women's abilities as physicians, fighting for equality of opportunity in medical education.

By: Katie Lattal

Emma Ann Reynolds, MD

Emma Ann Reynolds, MD, was born in Frankfort, Ohio, in 1862, when the 13th Amendment — which declared slavery illegal — had yet to be ratified. Reynolds graduated from Wilberforce University, a historically black university, and moved to Kansas City, Missouri, to teach. There, she noticed extreme health disparities between Black and white residents. Determined to meet the health needs of the African American community, Reynolds applied to nursing schools, only to experience rejection repeatedly because she was Black. She consulted Daniel H. Williams, MD, a prominent African American surgeon, for support, and this led to the opening of Provident Hospital, the first hospital in Chicago owned and operated by African Americans. Reynolds graduated from Provident Hospital’s nursing school in 1892. Three years later, she became the first African American woman to receive her MD from Northwestern University Woman’s Medical School.

Reynolds divided her time between private practice, hospital work and teaching positions in nursing schools. She followed her brother, Rev. Louis Reynolds, as he moved around the country, working in Waco, Texas; New Orleans; and Washington, D.C. In 1902, she moved back to Frankfort, Ohio, and remained there until her death in 1917.

By: Abebi Espinoza

Alice Hamilton, MD

Alice Hamilton, MD, began her career as a professor of pathology at the Northwestern University Woman’s Medical School in 1897. She lived at Hull House and befriended other women known for social reform such as Jane Addams and Florence Kelly. Not far from her residence, she noticed poverty and a high rate of disease among the immigrant population. This sparked her interest in and study of what is now known as occupational health.

Hamilton was appointed Special Investigator for the United States Bureau of Labor in 1911. Her studies focused on lead and its link to high mortality rates among factory workers. She educated employers and individuals in the medical industry on workplace hazards and industrial diseases among the immigrant working class.

In 1919, Hamilton became an assistant professor of industrial medicine at Harvard Medical School. She was the first woman to be a professor at Harvard University. She authored the books Industrial Poisons in the United States in 1925 and Industrial Toxicology in 1934. After her retirement from Harvard, she continued her work with industrial disease as a consultant in the Division of Labor Standards within the Department of Labor.

By: Abebi Espinoza

Northwestern University announced the closure of the Woman’s Medical School in January 1902 due to the school’s debts. The Board of Trustees promised to allow students to complete the academic year, but abruptly shuttered the school in March.

In the years leading up to this, the deans and faculty repeatedly asked for financial and administrative assistance, but they failed to realize that their contract with Northwestern did not prescribe material support. The trustees required the Woman’s Medical School to be self-supporting but also controlled the school’s revenue and expenditures. They even capped enrollment when student fees would have provided much-needed income. For reasons unknown, the faculty did not attempt to fundraise outside of appeals to university leadership.

The closure of the Woman’s Medical School had an immediate and negative impact because the school had represented real gains for women’s education and equal rights. It afforded women the freedom to study medicine without stigma or discrimination. It created unprecedented opportunities for women to hold professorships and conduct research, and it provided a toehold in medicine for women of color.

Today we celebrate the school for its progressive mission and the contributions of students and faculty. These inspiring physicians spread across the globe, dedicating themselves to treating groups like women, children, communities of color, immigrants and the mentally ill, thereby contributing significantly to the health of these communities with committed and compassionate patient care, and to the profession of medicine through research and instruction in underserved specialties.