Taussig, Frederick J. (Frederick Joseph), 1872-1943

Dr. Frederick J. Taussig (1872-1943) was a gynecologist and professor of clinical obstetrics at Washington University Medical School who became a mentor to generations of students beginning in 1907. He earned an A.B. at Harvard in 1893 and an M.D. in 1898 at St. Louis Medical College, a forerunner of the Washington University Medical Department. After an internship at the St. Louis City Hospital for Women where he was also assistant superintendant, Taussig interned in gynecology at the Imperial and Royal Elizabeth Hospital in Vienna from 1901 to 1902. He was one of a number of St. Louis doctors in private practice at the turn of the century who were concerned about the large number of indigent patients riddled with cancer that were unable to get treatment and hospital beds. These doctors banded together to treat indigent patients and encouraged George D. Barnard to provide funds for the Barnard Free Skin and Cancer Hospital. Dr. Taussig wrote a large number of clinical research papers drawn from the careful case records of patients he saw at Barnard Free Skin and Cancer Hospital, Washington University Hospital, St. Louis City Hospital, St. Louis Maternity Hospital, the New Jewish Hospital, and Barnes Hospital.

According to E.V.Cowdry, his colleague at Barnard Hospital, Fred J. Taussig's most significant publication was his book, Abortion, spontaneous and induced: medical and social aspects (1936), "a classic recognized by medical men and sociologists alike." Cowdry also observed the boundless energy Taussig brought to directing medical activities of Barnard Hospital at St. Louis and the State Cancer Hospital at Columbia, in addition to private practice, teaching, and research. With Robert Crossen, Frances Stewart, and Lesley Patton, Fred J. Taussig organized the first contraceptive clinic in St. Louis in 1933. The clinic was called the Maternal Health Association of Missouri until about 1943 when the name changed to the Planned Parenthood Clinic of Missouri. He also served on the board of directors at the National Committee on Maternal Health and the National Committee for Maternal Welfare.