Willoughby, Frances Lois, 1905-1984

Frances Willoughby was born in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania on July 1, 1905 to Frank and Annie Smith Willoughby. The family moved to Pitman, New Jersey, and Frances was educated at Woodbury High School before entering Dickinson College in Carlisle, Pennsylvania in 1923. Her elder brother Edwin graduated a year earlier as a member of the Class of 1922. While at the College, the younger Willoughby was active in Wilohea, the McIntire Literary Society, and the French Club; she also participated in basketball and volleyball. In addition, she was noted for her musical abilities at the piano and as a member of the Glee Club. After graduation in 1927, Willoughby taught in Shippensburg, Pennsylvania and Camden, New Jersey in order to earn enough money to enter medical school. Receiving her medical degree from the University of Arkansas School of Medicine in 1938, she served her residency at the Traverse City State Hospital, a mental institution in Michigan.

Towards the end of her residency, the Second World War erupted, the U.S. government solicited young doctors to enlist. Although she was exempt because she worked for a state hospital, Willoughby joined the Navy nonetheless in 1944. However, because she was a woman, she was not permitted to join the regular Navy, and so was assigned to the Naval Reserve. She was commissioned as a lieutenant and was stationed at the National Navy Center at Bethesda, Maryland. Treating female patients from the auxiliary branches of the armed services, Willoughby helped to administer the first electric shock treatment ever given at Bethesda. She later gave neuropsychiatric examinations to navy veterans in Washington, D.C., thus expanding her practice to male patients as well.

...