New England Hospital for Women and Children Records 1792 - 1994

ArchivalResource

New England Hospital for Women and Children Records 1792 - 1994

1792-1994

Women's hospital. This hospital was, for more than a century, a teaching hospital for women doctors and a place where women could receive treatment from them. It was the first hospital in Boston to offer obstetrics, gynecology, and pediatrics all in one facility. Material includes memoranda, written histories, photographs and scrapbooks. Also documented are such topics as a 1915 controversy over abortion, using chloroform as an anesthetic, and African American interns. The collection includes several hundred letters collected for their autograph value for fund-raising fairs. The letters do not relate to the Hospital; content includes woman suffrage, abolition, freedmen's education, literature, and Civil War relief. Notable correspondents include: Louisa May Alcott, Susan B. Anthony, Alice Stone Blackwell, Elizabeth Blackwell, Lydia Maria Child, Thomas Wentworth Higginson, Julia Ward Howe, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Elizabeth Palmer Peabody, Lucy Stone, Harriet Beecher Stowe, and John Greenleaf Whittier.

27 boxes; (9.5 linear ft.)

eng,

Information

SNAC Resource ID: 6323203

Smith College, Neilson Library

Related Entities

There are 26 Entities related to this resource.

Blackwell, Elizabeth, 1821-1910

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6gc2x4p (person)

Dr. Elizabeth Blackwell was born in Bristol, England, in 1821 to a politically outspoken father committed to fairness among his male and female children. In 1832, Samuel Blackwell moved his family to the United States in part for financial reasons but also to participate in the abolitionist movement. Two of his daughters would grow up to continue this fight against slavery and to work towards women's rights, specifically in the area of women in medicine. After years of struggling to be taken ...

Stowe, Harriet Beecher, 1811-1896

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6qw4dg2 (person)

Harriet Beecher Stowe (b. June 14, 1811, Litchfield, Connecticut – d. July 1, 1896, Hartford, Connecticut) was an American abolitionist and author. She is the daughter of Rev. Lyman Beecher who preached against slavery. She is best known for writing Uncle Tom's Cabin. It became an instant and controversial best-seller, both in the United States and abroad. The novel had a major impact on Northerners' attitudes toward slavery and by the beginning of the Civil War had sold more than a million copi...

Alcott, Louisa May, 1832-1888

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6kt7h7c (person)

Louisa May Alcott (November 29, 1832 – March 6, 1888) was an American novelist, short story writer, and poet best known as the for her novel Little Women (1868) and the sequels Little Men (1871) and Jo's Boys (1886). Born in Germantown (Philadelphia), Pennsylvania, Louisa May Alcott was the daughter of transcendentalist and educator Amos Bronson Alcott and social worker Abby May. Like her famous literary counterpart, Jo March, she was the second of four daughters. The eldest, Anna Bronson (Al...

Anthony, Susan B. (Susan Brownell), 1820-1906

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w66r2ntn (person)

Susan B. Anthony (born Susan Anthony; February 15, 1820 – March 13, 1906) was an American social reformer and women's rights activist who played a pivotal role in the women's suffrage movement. Born into a Quaker family committed to social equality, she collected anti-slavery petitions at the age of 17. In 1856, she became the New York state agent for the American Anti-Slavery Society. In 1851, she met Elizabeth Cady Stanton, who became her lifelong friend and co-worker in social reform activ...

Cheney, Ednah Dow Littlehale, 1824-1904

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6290zzp (person)

Ednah Dow Littlehale Cheney (June 27, 1824 – November 19, 1904) was an American writer, reformer, and philanthropist. She was born on Beacon Hill, Boston, June 27, 1824; and was educated in private schools in Boston. Cheney served as secretary of the School of Design for Women in Boston from 1851 till 1854. She married portrait artist Seth Wells Cheney on May 19, 1853. His ill-health limited his volume of work and after a winter trip abroad (1854-1855) he died in 1856. They had one child, Mar...

Hale, Edward Everett, 1822-1909

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6vb9047 (person)

Edward Everett Hale (1822-1909) was an American author and Unitarian minister. Hale was involved in many social reform movements, including abolition and popular education. He is best known for his 1863 short story, "The Man Without a Country," which promoted patriotic support of the Union. From the guide to the Edward Everett Hale Letters, 1884-1897, (Special Collections Research Center, Syracuse University Libraries) ...

Stone, Lucy, 1818-1893

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6wr0tw2 (person)

Lucy Stone (b. Aug. 13, 1818, West Brookfield, MA–d. Oct. 18, 1893, Boston, MA) was born to parents Hannah Matthews and Francis Stone. At age 16, Stone began teaching in district schools always earning far less money than men. In 1847, she became the first woman in Massachusetts to earn a college degree from Oberlin College. After college, Stone began her career with the Garrisonian Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society and began giving public speeches on women's rights. In the fall of 1847, with...

Child, Lydia Maria, 1802-1880

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6kt7gj0 (person)

Lydia Maria Child was born Lydia Maria Francis in Medford, Massachusetts on February 11, 1802. She was born into an abolitionist family and was greatly influenced by her brother, Convers, who would later become a Unitarian Clergyman. After the death of her mother in 1814, Child moved to Maine to live with her sister and began teaching in Gardiner in 1819. While living in Maine, Child became increasingly interested in Native Americans and visited many nearby settlements. Child began actively writ...

Howe, Julia Ward, 1819-1910

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6b95zmk (person)

Julia Ward Howe, née Julia Ward, (born May 27, 1819, New York, New York, U.S.—died October 17, 1910, Newport, Rhode Island), American author and lecturer best known for her “Battle Hymn of the Republic.” Julia Ward came of a well-to-do family and was educated privately. In 1843 she married educator Samuel Gridley Howe and took up residence in Boston. Always of a literary bent, she published her first volume of poetry, Passion Flowers, in 1854; this and subsequent works—including a poetry collec...

Higginson, Thomas Wentworth, 1823-1911

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6jb6wr4 (person)

Higginson was born in Cambridge, Massachusetts, on December 22, 1823. He was a descendant of Francis Higginson, a Puritan minister and immigrant to the colony of Massachusetts Bay. His father, Stephen Higginson (born in Salem, Massachusetts, November 20, 1770; died in Cambridge, Massachusetts, February 20, 1834), was a merchant and philanthropist in Boston and steward of Harvard University from 1818 until 1834. His grandfather, also named Stephen Higginson, was a member of the Continental Congre...

Richards, Linda, 1841-1930

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6183ts8 (person)

Nurse and nursing educator; received the first diploma from the first American nursing school, New England Hospital for Women and Children in Boston, Mass., in 1872. From the description of Linda Richards collection, 1863-1973. (Boston University). WorldCat record id: 70970907 ...

Jewett, Sarah Orne, 1849-1909

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w67q9ngs (person)

Sarah Orne Jewett was one of America's foremost regional writers. She produced novels, stories, and sketches, generally concerned with the lives and traditions of women in the rural areas of coastal New England. Her gentle, well-observed, respectful style transcends the limitations of genre and continue to make her work relevant. From the description of Sarah Orne Jewett letter to Loulie, ca. 1890. (Pennsylvania State University Libraries). WorldCat record id: 54429003 ...

Thomas, M. Carey (Martha Carey), 1857-1935

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6c82bbc (person)

Dimock, Susan J., 1847-1875

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6z03wgp (person)

Mahoney, Mary Eliza, 1845-1926

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w64w2tvx (person)

Eager to encourage greater equality for African Americans and women, Mary Eliza Mahoney pursued a nursing career which supported these aims. She is noted for becoming the first African American licensed nurse. Mary Eliza Mahoney was born in the spring of 1845 in Boston, Massachusetts. The exact date of her birth is unknown. Born to freed slaves who had moved to Boston from North Carolina, Mahoney learned from an early age the importance of racial equality. She was educated at Phillips School ...

Sewell, Lucy

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w65k3rrb (person)

Channing, Eva

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6b72v7k (person)

New England Hospital for Women and Children

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6614vkh (corporateBody)

Founded by women in 1862 as the New England Hospital for Women and Children, until the 1950s the Hospital was staffed exclusively by women. In 1951 the name was changed to New England Hospital since men were also being admitted as patients. In 1969 the Hospital's name was changed to Dimock Community Health Center. From the description of Records, 1914-1954 (inclusive), 1950-1954 (bulk). (Harvard University). WorldCat record id: 232006762 The New England Hospital, formerly th...

Sumner, Charles, 1811-1874

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6x34xv4 (person)

Massachusetts lawyer and U.S. Senator, 1851-1874. He was an ardent abolitionist who attacked the south in his "crime against Kansas" speech in 1856. Two days later he was assaulted in the Senate, receiving injuries that took him years to recover from. From the description of Letters, 1858-1869. (Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library). WorldCat record id: 55768315 Born in Boston, Mass., the U.S. statesman Charles Sumner studied law at Harvard and practiced law in his native ci...

Diaz, Abby Morton, 1821-1904

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w69g67sx (person)

Abby Morton Diaz (1821-1904) was born in Plymouth, Massachusetts. Her father, Ichabod Morton, was a social reformer involved in anti-slavery, temperance, and (with Horace Mann) education movements. Abby was secretary for the Juvenile Anti-Slavery Society as a girl. Her family moved to the Brook Farm Community in 1842, where Abby stayed to teach until 1847. She married Manuel Diaz, a Cuban, in 1845. They later separated. Abby taught singing and opened a dancing school in Plymouth. She published h...

Washington, Booker T., 1856-1915

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6h814sk (person)

Booker T. Washington was an African American educator and public figure. Born a slave on a small farm in Hale's Ford, Virginia, he worked his way through the Hampton Institute and became an instructor there. He was the first principal of the Tuskegee Institute, and under his management it became a successful center for practical education. A forceful and charismatic personality, he became a national figure through his books and lectures. Although his conservative views concerned many critics, he...

Blackwell, Alice Stone, 1857-1950

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6zc88pm (person)

Daughter of suffrage leaders Lucy Stone and Henry Browne Blackwell, Alice Stone Blackwell joined her parents in writing and editing the Woman's Journal. For additional biographical information, see Notable American Women, 1607-1950 (1971). From the description of Papers in the Woman's Rights Collection, 1885-1950 (inclusive). (Harvard University). WorldCat record id: 232008749 Editor, The woman's journal and suffrage news. From the description of Letter, 1920 Apr...

Zakrzewska, Marie E. (Marie Elizabeth), 1829-1902

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6bp0qdw (person)

Peabody, Elizabeth Palmer, 1804-1894

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6fr0208 (person)

Elizabeth Palmer Peabody was at the center of the Transcendentalist movement in New England. Although she wrote and published many works, she is best remembered for her support and friendship of Emerson, Hawthorne, Margaret Fuller and many others. She published the journal Dial, founded the famous West Street Book Shop and Publishing House, and introduced kindergarten to America. From the description of Elizabeth Palmer Peabody letters, 1846-1854. (Pennsylvania State University Libra...

Longfellow, Henry Wadsworth, 1807-1882

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w60863v9 (person)

Poet, from Cambridge (Middlesex Co.), Mass. From the description of Papers, 1859-1874. (Duke University Library). WorldCat record id: 19903002 American author and poet. From the description of A psalm of life, fourth verse, 1850. (Maine Historical Society Library). WorldCat record id: 274069802 American teacher, translator, and poet. From the description of Letter, Nahant, Mass., to Mrs. T.B. Lawrence, Newport, 1872 July 20. (Boston Athenaeum...

Jacobs, Harriet A. (Harriet Ann), 1813-1897

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6sq9mfw (person)