Jacobi, Mary Putnam, 1842-1906

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Mary Corinna Putnam Jacobi (August 31, 1842 – June 10, 1906) was an esteemed American medical physician, teacher, scientist, writer, and suffragist. She was the first woman to study medicine at the University of Paris, and had a long career practicing medicine, teaching, writing, and advocating for women's rights, especially in medical education. Disparaging anecdotal evidence and traditional approaches, she demanded rigorous scientific research on every question of the day. Her scientific rebuttal of the popular idea that menstruation made women unsuited to education was influential in the fight for women's educational opportunities.

Putnam studied at the New York College of Pharmacy in 1861, and received her M.D. from the Female (later Woman's) Medical College of Pennsylvania in 1864. She convinced the faculty to allow her to sit her examinations early, and in protest over the special allowances made for her, Dean Edwin Fussell resigned after her graduation. Ann Preston, who had argued for Putnam's early examination, took over his post as America's first woman dean of a medical school.

Putnam got her first chance to practice medicine from a fellow graduate, Marie Zakrzewska, who founded the New England Hospital for Women and Children in Boston in 1862. In 1866 Putnam moved to Paris to further her medical training, and supported co-education for men and women, arguing that women's medical schools could not provide the same training and clinical practice as at established universities affiliated with large hospitals.

Soon she returned to New York and organized the Association for the Advancement of the Medical Education of Women (later the Women's Medical Association of New York City) in 1872, serving as its president from 1874 to 1903. During the same period, she lectured at the Women's Medical College of the New York Infirmary for Women and Children. As lecturer on materia medica from 1871, and professor of materia medica and therapeutics from 1873 to 1889, she helped raise educational standards.

Putnam married Dr. Abraham Jacobi in 1873. Later called the "father of American pediatrics," he was instrumental in negotiating her admittance to the medical societies of New York. The Jacobis had three children, though their first daughter died at birth and their only son died at age seven.

As an attending and consulting physician, Mary Jacobi opened a children's ward at the New York Infirmary in 1886. She became a member of the New York Pathological Society and the New York Academy of Medicine, memberships that were vital to securing jobs and colleagues' respect. Dr. Jacobi's admission to the Academy of Medicine, earned by a majority of one vote, made her the society's first female member.

Before her death at age 63, Jacobi wrote a detailed account of her illness, "Description of the Early Symptoms of the Meningeal Tumor Compressing the Cerebellum. From Which the Writer Died. Written by Herself."

Archival Resources
Role Title Holding Repository
referencedIn Records of The Arthur and Elizabeth Schlesinger Library on the History of Women in America, 1942-2011 Arthur and Elizabeth Schlesinger Library on the History of Women in America‏
referencedIn Eastman, Mary F. Letter, 1875. Arthur and Elizabeth Schlesinger Library on the History of Women in America‏
referencedIn Arthur and Elizabeth Schlesinger Library on the History of Women in America. Records of the Arthur and Elizabeth Schlesinger Library on the History of Women in America, 1942-2003 (inclusive). Arthur and Elizabeth Schlesinger Library on the History of Women in America‏
referencedIn Records of the National Park Service, 1785 - 2006. National Register of Historic Places and National Historic Landmarks Program Records, 2013 - 2017 National Archives Library, National Archives Records Administration
referencedIn Joseph Ishill papers, 1888-1966. Houghton Library
creatorOf Putnam, George Palmer, 1814-1872. Autograph letter signed : New York, to his daughter Mary (here called "Minnie"), 1864 Feb. 7. Pierpont Morgan Library.
referencedIn Papers, 1851-1966 Arthur and Elizabeth Schlesinger Library on the History of Women in America‏
creatorOf Chapman, Mariana W. (Mariana Wright), 1843-1907. Chapman Family Papers, 1808-1983. Friends Historical Library of Swarthmore College
creatorOf Jacobi, Mary Putnam, 1842-1906. Letter, undated : [New York]. Duke University, Medical Center Library & Archives
referencedIn Records of the First Lady's Office (Clinton Administration), 1993 - 2001. Laura Schiller's Files, 1993 - 2001 William J. Clinton Presidential Library & Museum
referencedIn Blackwell family. Papers, 1832-1981 Arthur and Elizabeth Schlesinger Library on the History of Women in America‏
referencedIn Records of the Task Force on National Health Care (Clinton Administration), 1993 - 1994. Walter Zelman's Files, 1993 - 1994 William J. Clinton Presidential Library & Museum
creatorOf Putnam, George Palmer, 1814-1872. Correspondence. Dartmouth College Library
referencedIn Smith, Corinna Lindon, 1876-1965. Papers, 1851-1966 (inclusive). Arthur and Elizabeth Schlesinger Library on the History of Women in America‏
referencedIn Blackwell family. Papers, 1832-1981 Arthur and Elizabeth Schlesinger Library on the History of Women in America‏
referencedIn Blackwell family. Papers, 1784-1944 (bulk: 1832-1939) Arthur and Elizabeth Schlesinger Library on the History of Women in America‏
referencedIn Records of Town Hall, Bulk, 1930-1978, 1900-1985 New York University. Archives
referencedIn Lindseth, Jon A.,. Lindseth collection of American woman suffrage, [ca. 1820-1920]. Cornell University Library
referencedIn Century Company records New York Public Library. Manuscripts and Archives Division
creatorOf Papers, 1851-1906, 1923, 1974 Arthur and Elizabeth Schlesinger Library on the History of Women in America‏
creatorOf Jacobi, Mary Putnam, 1842-1906. Papers, 1851-1974 (inclusive), 1851-1906 (bulk). Arthur and Elizabeth Schlesinger Library on the History of Women in America‏
referencedIn Blackwell family. Papers, 1784-1944 (bulk: 1832-1939) Arthur and Elizabeth Schlesinger Library on the History of Women in America‏
referencedIn Lindseth collection of American woman suffrage, [ca. 1820-1920]. Division of Rare and Manuscript Collections, Cornell University Library.
Role Title Holding Repository
Relation Name
associatedWith Agassiz, Alexander, 1835-1907 person
associatedWith Agassiz, Alexander, 1835-1910. person
correspondedWith Agatha Schurz person
associatedWith Arthur and Elizabeth Schlesinger Library on the History of Women in America. corporateBody
associatedWith Blackwell, Emily person
associatedWith Blackwell family. family
associatedWith Blackwell family. family
associatedWith BLACKWELL FAMILY family
associatedWith BLACKWELL FAMILY family
correspondedWith C. Alice Baker person
correspondedWith Century Company corporateBody
associatedWith Chapman, Mariana W. (Mariana Wright), 1843-1907. person
associatedWith CORINNA HAVEN (PUTNAM) SMITH, 1876-1965 person
correspondedWith Dellenbaugh, Frederick Samuel, 1853-1935 person
associatedWith Eastman, Mary F. person
correspondedWith Edith Putnam person
correspondedWith Edith Reed person
correspondedWith E. L. Godkin person
associatedWith Eliot, Charles William, 1834-1926 person
associatedWith Eliot, Charles William, 1834-1926. person
associatedWith Elizabeth Blackwell person
correspondedWith George Haven Putnam person
associatedWith Harvard Medical School corporateBody
associatedWith Harvard Medical School corporateBody
associatedWith Holmes, Oliver Wendell, 1809-1894 person
associatedWith Holmes, Oliver Wendell, 1809-1894. person
correspondedWith Ishill, Joseph. person
spouseOf Jacobi, A. (Abraham), 1830-1919. person
spouseOf Jacobi, Abraham, 1830-1919 person
associatedWith James, William, 1842-1910 person
associatedWith James, William, 1842-1910. person
correspondedWith John C. Sundberg person
associatedWith Johns Hopkins University Medical School corporateBody
associatedWith Jon A., Lindseth person
associatedWith Lindseth, Jon A., person
correspondedWith McAneny, George person
associatedWith Mitchell, Silas Weir, 1829-1914 person
associatedWith Mitchell, S. Weir (Silas Weir), 1829-1914. person
associatedWith New Orleans Sunday Times corporateBody
employeeOf New York Evening Post, corporateBody
associatedWith New York Infirmary corporateBody
associatedWith New York Infirmary. corporateBody
correspondedWith New York Society for the Relief of the Widows and Orphans of Medical Men corporateBody
correspondedWith New York State Hospital Service corporateBody
alumnusOrAlumnaOf Paris. Université (Sorbonne) corporateBody
correspondedWith Paul Reclus person
associatedWith Putnam, Catherine (Palmer) person
associatedWith Putnam, Catherine Palmer. person
associatedWith Putnam, George Palmer, 1814-1872 person
associatedWith Putnam, George Palmer, 1814-1872. person
associatedWith Putnam, Ruth person
associatedWith Putnam, Ruth, 1856-1931. person
correspondedWith Schurz, Agatha person
associatedWith Schurz, Carl, 1829-1906 person
associatedWith Schurz, Carl, 1829-1906. person
associatedWith Smith, Corinna Lindon, 1876-1965. person
employeeOf The Atlantic Monthly corporateBody
associatedWith Town Hall, Inc. corporateBody
associatedWith Twelfth Street School corporateBody
correspondedWith Victorine (Haven) Putnam person
alumnusOrAlumnaOf Women's Medical College of Pennsylvania. corporateBody
Place Name Admin Code Country
Paris A8 FR
New York City NY US
London ENG GB
Subject
Addresses, essays etc
Childbirth
Mothers-in-law
Women physicians
Scientists
Women
Women in science
Women scientists
Youth and death
Occupation
Teachers
Authors
Gynecologists
Obstetricians
Pediatricians
Physicians
Scientists
Suffragists
Activity

Person

Birth 1842-08-31

Death 1906-06-10

Female

Americans

English,

Greek, Modern (1453-),

French

Information

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Ark ID: w6rc7v2b

SNAC ID: 84512741