Tallant, Alice Weld, 1875-1958

Alice Weld Tallant in uniform in Coulommier, France, 1918

Alice Weld Tallant was born in Boston on 14 July 1875. She attended private schools, and earned her A.B. from Smith College in 1897 and her M.D. from Johns Hopkins in 1902. She did graduate work at the hospital of the New York Lying-In Society and later at the Charite Hospital in Berlin. She interned and assisted at New England Hospital for Women and Children in Boston from 1902 to 1905. Tallant worked as "Examiner for Gymnasium and Lecturer in Hygiene" at Bates College from 1903 to 1904. She was Professor of Obstetrics at the Women's Medical College of Pennsylvania and Obstetrician-in-Chief at College Hospital from 1905 to 1923. From 1922-28, she was an obstetrician at the Philadelphia General Hospital. She went overseas with the Smith College Relief Unit in World War I, serving from July 1917 until February 1918. While there, she served in the 6th French army military evacuation hospital and was awarded the Croix de Guerre in 1918. In 1922, she wrote a textbook on obstetrical nursing.

From 1905 until her death in 1958, Tallant practiced obstetrics at the Woman's Hospital in Philadelphia. In addition to these responsibilities, throughout her life she worked in other hospitals and institutions in Philadelphia, including the Baby's Hospital from 1924 to 1942. Tallant also served as physician and social worker at the Joy Settlement from 1928 to 1938, and contributed her time and expertise to the Girls' House of Refuge from 1906 to 1950, first as visiting physician and then as consulting physician. Alice Weld Tallant died 31 May 1958.

From the guide to the Alice Weld Tallant Papers MS 158., 1896-1958, (Sophia Smith Collection)