Mary Sallom
{{Short description|American Syrian-born physician (1884–1955)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2024}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Mary Sallom
| image = MarySallom1911TheSurvey.tif
| alt = A woman, dark hair in an updo, in an oval frame
| caption = Mary Sallom, from a 1911 publication
| birth_date = {{birth date|df=y|1884|10|3}}
| birth_place = Syria
| death_date = {{death date and age|df=y|1955|3|3|1884|10|3}}
| death_place = Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.
| nationality =
| occupation = Physician
}}
Mary Sallom ({{Langx|ar|ماري سالوم}}; 3 October 1884 – 3 March 1955) was a Syrian-born physician, based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. She had plans to build a hospital in Syria, and worked in infant and child health.
Early life and education
Mary Sallom was born in Syria,{{Cite journal|last=Houghton|first=Louise Seymour|date=October 7, 1911|title=Syrians in the United States|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FvUh3_L-yTQC&lpg=PA967&ots=lIieUrvaLB&dq=Dr.%20Mary%20Sallom&pg=PA967#v=onepage&q=Dr.%20Mary%20Sallom&f=false|journal=The Survey|volume=27|pages=967|via=}} in the Mount Lebanon region, the daughter of Kalil Sallom (Khalil Yacoub Salloum) and Barbara Ghosn (Gosen) Sallom. Her parents were from Kousba in present-day Lebanon, which Mary Sallom also considered her hometown.{{Cite journal |last=Sallom |first=Abdullah K. and Mary |date=September 1907 |title=The True Cause and Sequence of the Heart Beat |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9VBDAQAAMAAJ&lpg=PA497&ots=qUm2W2x-ha&dq=Sallom%20Medical%20College%20Philadelphia&pg=PA523#v=onepage&q=Sallom&f=false |journal=American Medicine |volume=13 |pages=523 |via=}} Her father was an agent for a shipping company, and the first president of the Syrian Benevolent Society of Philadelphia.{{Cite news |date=1896-10-08 |title=Syrians Organize |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-philadelphia-inquirer-syrians-organi/159925933/ |access-date=2024-11-28 |work=The Philadelphia Inquirer |pages=7 |via=Newspapers.com}}
Sallom and her brother Abdullah both attended medical school in Philadelphia.Michael Farrow and Madeline Kavanaugh, [http://saddicazargosen.blogspot.com/2012/09/two-protestant-missionaries-and-worlds.html "Two Protestant Missionaries and the World's Fair"] History of the Saddic, Gosen and Azar families of Kousba, Lebanon (September 15, 2012). Mary Sallom graduated from the Woman's Medical College in 1909.[https://www.newspapers.com/clip/11710347/women_of_all_nations_studying_medicine/ "Women of All Nations Studying Medicine"] The Appeal (February 15, 1908): 1. via Newspapers.com{{open access}}
Career
In 1909 Sallom announced plans to build a hospital in Syria, with financial backing from her friend Helen M. Gould (daughter of Jay Gould) and in partnership with her brother, Abdullah K. Sallom.[https://www.newspapers.com/clip/11709280/mary_sallom_to_build_hospital_in_syria/ "Plans Syrian Work"] Inter Ocean (July 5, 1909): 2. via Newspapers.com{{open access}}{{Cite news |last= |first= |date=June 28, 1909 |title=Syrian Girl to Return to Native Land |url=https://newspaperarchive.com/science-clipping-jun-28-1909-1770291/ |url-status= |access-date=May 24, 2020 |work=Oakland Tribune |page=8 |via=NewspaperArchive.com}}
Still in the United States in 1913 and 1918,{{Cite book |last=United States Council of National Defense |first= |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5_pwaB6t2-QC&lpg=PA98&ots=C6bjezg_s3&dq=Sallom%20Medical%20College%20Philadelphia&pg=RA1-PA98#v=onepage&q=Sallom%20Medical%20College%20Philadelphia&f=false |title=Census of women physicians, Nov. 11, 1918 |date=1918 |publisher=American Women's Hospitals |year= |isbn= |location= |pages=98 |language=en}} Sallom was a member of the Child Hygiene Association, speaking on infant and child health to community groups, especially to young immigrant women.[https://www.newspapers.com/clip/11709451/mary_sallom_teaching_about_baby_care/ "Advises Little Mothers"] Philadelphia Inquirer (September 18, 1913): 7. via Newspapers.com{{open access}}[https://www.newspapers.com/clip/11709607/mary_hallom_of_the_child_hygiene_assoc/ "Many Pupils Attend Baby Show Lectures"] Philadelphia Inquirer (May 7, 1913): 2. via Newspapers.com{{open access}}{{Cite news |last= |first= |date=October 9, 1913 |title=Warn Parents Not to Give Baby Beer |url=https://newspaperarchive.com/science-clipping-oct-09-1913-1770336/ |url-status= |access-date=May 24, 2020 |work=Philadelphia Inquirer |page=8 |via=NewspaperArchive.com}} She organized at least three Little Mothers League chapters, to educate girls, some of them under the age of 10, who cared for younger siblings, "for it is most often upon them that the whole care of the little ones rests," she explained in 1913. "We have found that these little girls were very apt pupils, and were eager to learn."{{Cite news |date=1913-10-12 |title=Little Mothers' Third League is Well Under Way |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-philadelphia-inquirer-little-mothers/159927425/ |access-date=2024-11-28 |work=The Philadelphia Inquirer |pages=13, [https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-philadelphia-inquirer-little-mothers/159927704/ 14] |via=Newspapers.com}}
Publications
The Sallom siblings co-wrote an article on "The True Cause and Sequence of the Heart Beat" (1907) and another on double vision.{{Cite journal |last=Sallom |first=Abdullah K. |last2=Sallom |first2=Mary |date=June 1909 |title=A Theory of Diplopia |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VIY1AQAAMAAJ&lpg=PA29&ots=bbN6UDEjEJ&dq=Abdullah%20K.%20Sallom&pg=PA29#v=onepage&q=Abdullah%20K.%20Sallom&f=false |journal=The Ophthalmoscope |volume=7 |pages=382–384 |via=}} Mary Sallom also published medical research on her own, including a statistical analysis of diphtheria cases,Mary Sallom, [https://books.google.com/books?id=0sQ-AQAAMAAJ&dq=%22Mary%20Sallom%22%20Philadephia&pg=PA65#v=onepage&q=%22Mary%20Sallom%22%20Philadephia&f=false "Preliminary Report of a Statistical Analysis of over 43,000 Cases of Diphtheria"] Medical Record (July 9, 1910): 65-67. and a study of dosage in spinal anesthesia.Mary Sallom, "The Determination of the Dose of Stovaine in Spinal Anesthesia by Blood Pressure Observations" New York Medical Journal (November 19, 1910): 1021-1022.
- "The True Cause and Sequence of the Heart Beat" (1907, with Abdullah K. Sallom)
- "A Theory of Diplopia" (1909, with Abdullah K. Sallom)
- "Preliminary Report of a Statistical Analysis of over 43,000 Cases of Diphtheria" (1910)
- "The Determination of the Dose of Stovaine in Spinal Anesthesia by Blood Pressure Observations" (1910)
Personal life
Mary Sallom lived with her younger sister, Catherine Brewer, in her last years.1950 United States federal census; Brewer was also the informant on Sallom's death certificate; via Ancestry. She died in Philadelphia in 1955, at the age of 70. Her niece Aileen Sallom Freeman was a writer, artist, and local historian.{{Cite news |date=January 29, 2020 |title=Aileen Sallom Freeman |url=https://www.pikecountycourier.com/milestones/obituaries/aileen-sallom-freeman-BK826452 |work=Pike County Courier}}
References
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Category:20th-century Syrian physicians
Category:American people of Syrian descent
Category:Woman's Medical College of Pennsylvania alumni