"The special capacities of women as a class for dealing with sick persons are so great, that in virtue of that alone hundreds have succeeded in medical practice, though most insufficiently endowed with intellectual or educational qualifications."(p.177)
Mary Putnam Jacobi
Born on August 31, 1842 to American parents George Palmer Putnam and Victorine Haven Putnam, Mary Putnam Jacobi was one of the early female doctors in the US. Through her entire career she fought sexist bigotry and persisted to further modern medicine, becoming an inspiration to female doctors who followed in her footsteps. After completing her education she worked at the New England Hospital for Women and Children, and then founded the Association for the Advancement of the Medical Education of Women, along with lecturing at the Women’s Medical College of the New York Infirmary for Women and Children. She also joined numerous medical societies, some of which were only open to men before her. She also married Dr. Abraham Jacobi, another prominent doctor, in 1873. They had three children but only one of them survived to adulthood. Through the course of her career she wrote over 120 scientific articles and 9 books.