Elizabeth Curtis French, M.D. was born in Picabo, Idaho on November 7, 1907. She enrolled as a pre-med student at the University of Idaho and continued her studies at the University of Oregon Medical School in Portland, Oregon. She graduated in 1931 at the age of 23, one of four women medical students in a class of 75. She served an internship at Illinois Research Hospital in Chicago becoming proficient in child delivery. After a year she completed a residency at the Women's and Children's Hospital in San Francisco, California. She returned to Idaho, setting up practice as a general practitioner in Weiser. Ms. Curtis met and married Donald French in 1942. Soon after, she and her husband moved to Portland where she gave first aid to the shipyard workers. In 1945, Elizabeth gave birth to her first and only child, Donald. She established a medical office in Portland and specialized in obstetrics and gynecology. She continued to practice until the age of 81. In 1989, she reluctantly gave up her practice. French died of lymphoma at the age of 89 on June 22, 1997, having delivered 7,000 babies in a career span of 60 years.
From the description of Elizabeth Curtis French papers, 1926-1937 (bulk 1933-1937). [1926-1937]. (Oregon Health & Science University Library). WorldCat record id: 123194177
Epithet: wife of Andrew French, of Tenterden
British Library Archives and Manuscripts Catalogue : Person : Description : ark:/81055/vdc_100000000301.0x0000a8
