The broad ax., 1923-12-22

delegate to the Republican State Con-
vention, identified with numerous So
cial and philanthropic organizations,
DR. McKane. with undiminished YER
satility and energy, goes on with
achievements TO her credit and con-
tinues to earn the satisfaction that
comes from unselhsh service.
A graduate Of Tufts Medical Col
lege, DR.. Ruth Esterling. is practicing
in Cambridge, Mass. specializing in
children's diseases. Dr. Josefa Zaratt,
also a graduate Of Tufts Medical Col
1ege, Boston, is a practicing physician
in Springfield Mass. Other colored
doctors from Tufts Medical College
are DR.. Dorothy Boulding and Or.
Jeanette Banks.
DR. Harriet A. Rice of Newport, R.
T., was one Of the few women doctors
to become distinguished for service
overseas. The writer had the pleas
ure Of meeting DR.. Rice in New York
City after her return from France,
and found her unassuming, quiet, re-
fined with no inclination to talk of
herself or her achievements. Her re-
serve was most battling. Later we
learned that she had an A. B. degree
from Wellesley College in 1887, that
she had been graduated from the
Woman's Medical College, New York
City. and had spent most of her life
in France with a brother living there,
and that she had devoted herself to
the care OF the wounded in the French
Military Hospital during the greater
part of the war 1t is pleasant, even
now, to recall the thrill of delight
when the newspapers heralded the It'd
French Government in July, 1919, the
Reconnaissance Franchise. a bronze
medal, awarded for her work overseas.
The medal reached her through the
French Embassy, being presented by
Prince de Bearn, charge daffaires Of
the French Embassy. According to
the citation accompanying the medal
she was honored by the French Gov
eminent because Of cher devotion and
ability in caring for the French
wounded during the war" AT present
DR.. Rice is residing in Europe.
Most notable among colored women
physicians, not only in New York. but
in the country, was Susan M. Smith
Steward, the first colored woman
graduate in medicine in the country.
AT the time OF her death she was res
ident physician at Wilberforce Uni
versity where her husband. Chaplain
r. O. Steward, still lives. DR.. Steward
was a graduate of the New York
Med cal College and Hospital for
Women. and was chosen valedictorian
Of her class. She continued her studies
in Long Island College Hospital, the
only woman in large class. Her
biographer. Maritcha r. Lyons, makes
the following comment: "The woman
who today enters profession ap-
pears to be doing a casual thing.
When the then Miss S. Maria Smith
undertook her medical apprenticeship
such a decision was momentous. The
fear Of woman unsexing herself was
the bugbear Of that period Only
level-headed, determined, self-reliant
women then ventured to take a step
likely TO elicit unfriendly criticism;
likely to induce disparagement, if not
estrangement" DR.. Stewards success
was slow but sure. 1t grew until at
the zenith of her career she maintained
offices in two different sections Of the
city. Her practice included both
sexes and was unlimited by color or
creed. One of the founders of the
Women's and Children's Hospital,
Brooklyn, New York, a member of
Kings County Homeopathic Society,
and of the New York State Medical
Society, she held for years a leading
place as capable, popular, prosper
GUS physician. Twice married, with
intervening years Of widowhood, she
presents a fine type of an exemplary
matron, an admirable mother, a model
home keeper, and a woman active in
all matters pertaining to general up
lift and betterment.
In the vicinity Of our womens medi-
sal colleges one would naturally cx-
pect TO find a tendency toward a
study Of medicine at an earlier date
than elsewhere. Even now, in appar-
emily intelligent communities, there
are people who do not know of the
existence of a woman physician in the
United States or of any institutions
where women may receive training in
medical knowledge Therefore, as in
New York City one finds the first
colored woman in the profession. it
S not strange to find other pioneer
women studying in the Woman's
Medical College Of Philadelphia.
In the case OF DR.. Caroline V. Still,
knowledge Of the career Of Elizabeth
Blackwell must have been an element
of inspiration in her ear1v pirlhood