Call Number:

SC.145

Repository:

Drexel University: College of Medicine Legacy Center

Extent:

2.0 linear feet

Language:

English

Preferred Citation:

Bertha Van Hoosen papers, 1913-1971, bulk 1920-1950. Drexel University College of Medicine, Legacy Center: Archives and Special Collections on Women in Medicine and Homeopathy

Date:

1920-1950 (bulk) and 1913-1971 (inclusive)

Creator:

Van Hoosen, Bertha, M.D., 1863-1952

Form:

Articles, Biographies, Card indexes, Correspondence, and Photographs

Abstract:

Bertha Van Hoosen (1863-1952), a doctor specializing in obstetrics and gynecology in Chicago, IL, founded the American Medical Women's Association. Her collection includes correspondence, journal articles, plans for a Medical Women's Library at Woman's Medical College of Pennsylvania, teaching material, images, and bibliographic material regarding women in medicine. A large part of the collection concerns Van Hoosen's interests in the National Medical Women's Association, later the American Medical Women's Association and the Medical Women's Library. There are also photographic images, x-rays and illustrations of medical case studies conducted by Van Hoosen.

Bertha Van Hoosen was born on March 26, 1863 to Joshua and Sarah Taylor Van Hoosen at Stoney Creek, Michigan. Although very supportive of education generally, the Van Hoosen’s did not support their daughter's desire to become a doctor. Despite their views, Van Hoosen graduated from the University of Michigan with her BA in 1884 and then became one of the first women to graduate from the University of Michigan Medical School with her MD in 1888.

Van Hoosen’s medical career began with residences at the Women’s Hospital in Detroit, the Michigan Asylum for the Insane at Kalamazoo, and the New England Hospital for Women and Children in Boston. In 1892, she opened her own practice in Chicago, specializing in gynecology and obstetrics. During her career, which spanned more than fifty years, Van Hoosen headed the obstetrical department of the Chicago Hospital for Women and Children from 1896 to 1899, was a member of the surgical staff at Provident Hospital, headed the gynecology department at the Northwestern University Women’s Medical School in 1901, and was the first woman to serve on the Cook County (Chicago) medical staff from 1913 to 1920. She also taught as a professor of medicine at Northwestern University Women’s Medical School from 1891 to 1902, at the University of Illinois from 1902 to 1912, and served as the head of the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at Loyola University from 1919 to 1937. Van Hoosen founded and served as the first president of the American Medical Women’s Association in 1915 and was an honorary member of the International Association of Medical Women.

Van Hoosen is known for developing the “buttonhole” appendectomy surgical technique and the use of scopolamine morphine, also known as “Twilight Sleep,” as an anesthetic. Her work also included efforts to publicize the need for and value of sterilization of medical instruments. In her autobiography, Petticoat Surgeon, Van Hoosen states that “medical women have always had to struggle for representation,” (p. 283), and she tried to reduce that struggle throughout her career.

Bertha Van Hoosen died on June 7, 1952.

Bibliography

Bertha Van Hoosen Papers at the University of Illinois at Chicago (http://www.uic.edu/depts/lib/specialcoll/services/rjd/findingaids/BVanHoosenf.html) Michigan Women’s Hall of Fame (hall.michiganwomenshalloffame.org)

The Bertha Van Hoosen papers consist of correspondence, a compilation of journal articles, materials related to the creation of a Medical Women’s Library at the Woman’s Medical College of Pennsylvania, illustrations and photographs of her medical work, and reference materials about women in medicine, generally. The collection contains valuable information related to the history of women in medicine and the institutional histories of the American Women’s Hospital and the Medical College of Pennsylvania, as well as the American Women’s Medical Association.

The collection is divided into the following series: "Correspondence," "Teaching Material," "Journal Articles," "Women in Medicine Reference Material," "Medical Women's Library Plans," "Images," "Artifacts," and "Mary Elizabeth Bates Records."

Van Hoosen’s "Correspondence," dating from 1924 to 1971 (bulk: 1924 to 1950), makes up the majority of the collection. Correspondence includes information related to the American Medical Association and missionary work, as well as other more general topics. Intermingled among the correspondence, researchers will find related magazine articles, newspaper clippings, invitations, event programs, speeches, postcards and Christmas cards. There is also correspondence filed in the Medical Women's Library series, regarding Van Hoosen’s hopes to create a library at the Woman’s Medical College of Pennsylvania. Her plans for the medical library focused on highlighting the history of women in medicine and she corresponded with physicians and librarians around the world compiling bibliographies on the subject and collecting books and other related materials for the library.

The "Journal Articles," from 1913 to 1929, are primarily written in Russian and German, however, some are in English or Ukrainian. They are arranged alphabetically by language and then chronologically within those groups. Most of the foreign language articles pertain to the practice of gynecology and obstetrics. Of the English language articles, one is about Van Hoosen, and two are about women in medicine. The reference materials and bibliographic information, which van Hoosen collected, are related to women in medicine and include a list of handwritten citations (1850-1934) that were likely compiled by Mrs. Clara Eliza Axtell Poynter (1876-1952) and sent to Van Hoosen on January 31, 1941. In addition, there is a bibliographical card index of women physicians mentioned in the Medical Women’s Journal from 1941 to 1948. The cards are arranged alphabetically by physician's name and note the issue addressed and page number on which she was referenced in the Medical Women’s Journal. The collection also includes photographs, illustrations and x-rays that were created during medical case studies and/or used in journal articles. The patient case study photographs include male and female genitalia, women demonstrating the breast pump, and one photograph of just the breast pump. The illustrations are generally of reproductive organs. There is also a series of illustrations that appear to demonstrate the “buttonhole” appendectomy surgical technique developed by Van Hoosen.

The last two series in the collection, "Artifacts" and "Mary Elizabeth Bates Records," do not immediately relate to Van Hoosen. The "Artifacts" series houses the following items: a seal of the Medical College of Pennsylvania and a banner of the American Women’s Hospital. Mary Elizabeth Bates (1861-1954) was a physician who studied and worked in Chicago, Illinois in the 1880s and was a member of the American Medical Association. Materials regarding Bates' scholarly and professional accomplishments are included in this series.