Mary M. Crawford
{{short description|American surgeon (1884-1972)}}
{{Infobox scientist
| name = Mary Merritt Crawford
| image = Dr. Mary Crawford LCCN2014697834 (cropped).jpg
| caption = Crawford in 1914
| birth_date = {{birth date |1884|02|18}}
| birth_place = New York City, US
| death_date = {{death date and age |1972|11|25|1884|02|18}}
| death_place = New York City, US
| other_names =
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| alma_mater = Cornell University
| thesis_title =
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| known_for = Co-founder of the American Women's Hospitals Service
}}
Mary Merritt Crawford (February 18, 1884 – November 25, 1972), known as Mollie Crawford, was an American surgeon. She was Brooklyn's first female ambulance surgeon, worked as a surgeon in France during the First World War, and co-founded the American Women's Hospitals Service.
Personal life
= Early life =
Mary Merritt Crawford was born in Manhattan, the third eldest of eight siblings, on February 18, 1884, to Gilbert and Sarah Crawford.{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/10830919/the_brooklyn_daily_eagle/|title=Woman Ambulance Surgeon|date=January 15, 1908|work=The Brooklyn Daily Eagle|access-date=May 8, 2017|page=2}}{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/10867837/the_brooklyn_daily_eagle/|title=Boro's First Woman Surgeon Faces Busy Retirement in May|date=February 13, 1949|work=The Brooklyn Daily Eagle|access-date=May 9, 2017|page=2}}{{Cite book |last=Osborne |first=Mary E. |url=https://mcfarlandbooks.com/product/this-ghastly-war/ |title="This Ghastly War" - The Diary and Letters of a Woman Doctor in the American Ambulance Hospital in France, 1914–1915 |publisher=McFarland |year=2023 |isbn=978-1-4766-5092-0}} At the age of 2, she and her family moved to Nyack, where she grew up. Crawford's father was a lawyer, and she was initially inspired to follow in his footsteps, until - in high school - she developed an interest in chemistry and physics. She graduated from high school in 1899 as her year's valedictorian.
Crawford attended Cornell University, graduating in 1904, and received her medical degree from the same university in 1907.{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1972/11/27/archives/mary-0rawford-surgeon-88-diesi-became-brooklyns-first-ambulance.html|title=Mary Crawford, Surgeon, 88, Dies|date=November 27, 1972|work=New York Times|access-date=May 7, 2017}}
= Later years and death =
Shortly after returning from the First World War, Crawford married Edward Schuster, who had proposed to her via cablegram.{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/10867855/the_brooklyn_daily_eagle/|title=Boro's First Woman Surgeon Faces Busy Retirement in May|date=February 13, 1949|work=The Brooklyn Daily Eagle|access-date=May 9, 2017|page=36}} They had one daughter, Mary (born 1917).
Crawford retired in 1949, aged 65, and died at New York City's Midtown Hospital on November 25, 1972, aged 88.
Career
File:Mary Crawford with WWI patients 1915 RMC2017 0324-A.jpg
After obtaining her medical degree, Crawford earned an internship position at the Williamsburg Hospital. Internship advertisements at the time typically asked only for male students, but an oversight led to the Williamsburg Hospital not including that stipulation in their ad. Crawford applied, and gained the highest grade – out of 35 applicants, the others all male – at the entrance exam.{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/10831156/the_brooklyn_daily_eagle/|title=Slip in Ad Paved Way For Woman Interne in Brooklyn Hospital|date=March 12, 1933|work=The Brooklyn Daily Eagle|access-date=May 7, 2017}} Prohibited from attending preparatory quizzing sessions to study for the exam, Crawford was forced to study with a physician privately. Crawford's position made her Brooklyn's first female ambulance surgeon.{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/10830862/fort_wayne_daily_news/|title=Girl Surgeon|date=August 31, 1908|work=Fort Wayne Daily News|access-date=May 8, 2017|page=8}} Her first ambulance call was on January 15, 1908, to a man who had fallen from a window.{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/10831182/the_brooklyn_daily_eagle/|title=Dr Mary Crawford on an Ambulance Trip|date=January 16, 1908|work=The Brooklyn Daily Eagle|access-date=May 7, 2017|page=5}} Being the first woman on this ambulance service, Crawford created her own uniform for her work.
In 1910 she started her own medical practice in Brooklyn alongside her work at the hospital.
In 1914, following the outbreak of World War I, Crawford travelled to France as one of 6 American surgeons funded by Anna Gould to provide hospital and field services.{{Cite news |date=October 15, 1914 |title=Woman to be Field Surgeon |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/10830947/the_washington_post/ |access-date=May 8, 2017 |newspaper=The Washington Post |page=8}} One of only 55 women surgeons hired by the U.S. Army during World War I, Crawford was not eligible for rank or status in her position, being treated as a "civilian consultant" during her time in France. She served as an anesthesiologist and house surgeon at the American Ambulance Hospital at Neuilly-sur-Seine for a period of one year.{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/10831036/the_new_york_times/|title=Woman Surgeon's Experiences in War Hospital|date=October 10, 1915|work=The New York Times|access-date=May 9, 2017|page=48}} In addition to her anesthesia work, Crawford also spent time supervising several wards, overseeing the dental ward, and assisting with facial reconstruction surgery.
After her return, Crawford gave lectures to raise money for hospitals in France, and – alongside Rosalie Slaughter Morton – led the American Women's Hospitals Service from 1917 after it was founded by the Medical Women's National Association with the aim of establishing American hospitals in Europe.{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=oIro7MtiFuYC&pg=PA14|title=Encyclopedia of Women's History in America|publisher=Infobase Publishing|year=2014|isbn=978-1438110332|page=14|author=Kathryn Cullen-DuPont|access-date=9 March 2016}} She also volunteered at an American Red Cross station in New York City, after the United States joined the war.
Crawford was appointed as chairman of the Medical Women's National Association in June 1918.{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Yr69AwAAQBAJ&q=Mary%20M.%20Crawford%20surgeon&pg=PT172|title=American Women In World War I|last=Gavin|first=Lettie|publisher=University Press of Colorado|year=2011|isbn=978-1457109409}} The following year, she led the creation of a medical department at the Federal Reserve Bank as its medical director, where she remained until her retirement in 1949. In 1927 Crawford was elected to the Board of Trustees at Cornell University, receiving 7,449 votes out of a total of 9,814,{{Cite news |date=12 June 1927 |title=WOMAN ELECTED CORNELL TRUSTEE: Dr. Mary M. Crawford Wins the Alumnae's Long Fight for Representation |url=https://www.proquest.com/docview/103994688/555774C24EB042A0PQ/9 |access-date=16 February 2025 |work=The New York Times |pages=E4}} and in 1929 became the head of the health service for the American Woman's Association at their clubhouse.{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/10831114/the_brooklyn_daily_eagle/|title=Former Brooklyn Woman Doctor Head Of Health Service|date=April 8, 1929|work=The Brooklyn Daily Eagle|access-date=May 9, 2017|page=26}}
References
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Category:20th-century American women scientists
Category:American women physicians
Category:American women in World War I
Category:Physicians from Manhattan
Category:Physicians from Brooklyn
Category:Cornell University alumni