Mary Barker Bates
{{Short description|American physician and surgeon}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Mary Barker Bates
| image = Mary Barker Bates.jpg
| alt =
| caption = Mary Barker Bates, Representative Women of Colorado, 1914
| birth_name =
| birth_date = {{birth date|1845|12|17|mf=y}}
| birth_place = Hannibal, New York
| death_date = {{death date and age|1924|8|3|1845|12|17|mf=y}}
| death_place = Denver, Colorado
| nationality = American
| alma_mater =
| other_names =
| occupation = Physician
| years_active =
| known_for =
| notable_works =
| spouse = George C. Bates
}}
Mary Barker Bates (1845–1924) was a 19th-century American physician and surgeon, practicing in Salt Lake City and Colorado. She was among the first women first admitted to the Denver Medical Society. She joined the staff of the Women's and Children's Hospital in 1885. She was also a vice president of the Colorado Medical Society. Bates served on the Denver School Board.
Early life and education
Mary Helen Barker, was born December 17, 1845, in Hannibal, Oswego County, New York{{Cite web |url=https://www.churchhistorianspress.org/the-first-fifty-years-of-relief-society/people/mary-helen-barker-bates?letter=B&lang=eng |title=Mary Helen Barker Bates |website=Church Historians Press |publisher=Church History Department of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints |access-date=July 5, 2018}} or Cayuga County, New York. She was the daughter of Dr. Ezra Ferris Barker and Jane Ruth (Freeman) Barker. When she was 14 years of age, she moved to Wisconsin. She was educated in Evanston, Illinois. She graduated from Edmunds College in New York in 1871 and the Woman's Medical College of Pennsylvania in 1873.{{cite book|author=Hubert Howe Bancroft|title=The Works of Hubert Howe Bancroft: History of Nevada, Colorado, and Wyoming. 1890|url=https://archive.org/details/workshuberthowe00bancgoog|year=1890|publisher=History Company|page=[https://archive.org/details/workshuberthowe00bancgoog/page/n699 657]}}
Career
She practiced medicine in Salt Lake City as a physician and a surgeon. Her patients included Brigham Young and his family. In 1873, she established an obstetrics school for women. She was a member of the Women's Centennial Executive Committee for Utah.
After marrying George C. Bates, she moved in 1878 to Leadville, Colorado, where she helped to establish the Ladies' Relief Hospital. They moved to Denver for a change in climate to improve his or her health. She practiced medicine in the city. In 1881, she was admitted to the Denver Medical Society, as were Edith Root and Alida Avery. They were the first women to be admitted to the organization.{{cite book|author=Colorado State Medical Society|title=Transactions of the Colorado State Medical Society: Annual Convention|url=https://archive.org/details/transactionscol05socigoog|year=1901|publisher=The Society|pages=[https://archive.org/details/transactionscol05socigoog/page/n512 503]–504, 505}} She joined the staff of the Women's and Children's Hospital in 1885. She was one of two physicians selected as a delegate from Colorado to attend the Pan-American Conference in 1896.{{cite book|title=The Colorado Medical Journal|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8l4BAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA56|year=1896|publisher=Colorado Medical Journal Publishing Company|page=56}} Bates was elected the 3rd Vice President of the Colorado Medical Society by 1901.
Bates was a member of the Denver School Board. She was also a suffragette, attending and speaking at a national suffrage convention.{{cite book|author1=Susan B. Anthony|author2=Ida H. Harper|title=The History of the Women's Suffrage: The Flame Ignites: The Trailblazing Documentation on Women's Enfranchisement in USA, Great Britain & Other Parts of the World (With Letters, Articles, Conference Reports, Speeches, Court Transcripts & Decisions)|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mWdODwAAQBAJ&q=Mary+Barker+Bates&pg=PT862|date=October 16, 2017|publisher=Musaicum Books|isbn=978-80-272-2483-8|pages=PT862 and other PTs}}
Personal life
References
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Category:Physicians from Denver
Category:Physicians from New York (state)
Category:Woman's Medical College of Pennsylvania alumni
Category:People from Utah Territory