First Female Surgeon in Illinois - Chicago, IL
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Metro2
N 41° 52.718 W 087° 37.445
16T E 448216 N 4636489
Mary Harris Thompson was the first woman surgeon in Illinois.
Waymark Code: WMBZV1
Location: Illinois, United States
Date Posted: 07/08/2011
Views: 3
This bust of Mary Harris Thompson is in the Chicago Art Institute. The coordinates listed here are for the Institutes' Michigan Avenue entrance.
Photography of permanent exhibits is permitted in the Museum.
The accompanying placard reads in relevant part:
"Daniel Chester French
(1850-1931)
Bust of Mary Harris Thompson, M.D.
1902
Marble
Gift of Mary Harris Thompson, M.D. Foundation
1992.647
When Mary Harris Thompson arrived in Chicago in
1863 to practice medicine, she found a city desperately
in need of medical care for women. It was obvious
that the city's two hospitals were grossly inadequate,
and one hospital did not even accept female patients.
Responding to this crisis, she opened the Women's and
Children's Hospital in 1865 (now the Mary Thomson
Hospital, at Ashland and Maypole avenues), and in
1870 she founded the Women's Hospital Medical
College, the first medical college for women in the
Midwest. At the time of her death, Thompson had
gained international recognition both as the first
female surgeon in Illinois, and for opening up the
healthcare profession to women."
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