Elizabeth Blackwell, Frances Jane Coomes, and the History of Women Physicians in Kentucky
Elizabeth Blackwell
Today is National Women Physicians Day, in observance of the 196th anniversary of Elizabeth Blackwell's birth. The British-born Dr. Blackwell is remembered as the first woman to earn a medical degree in the United States as well as the first woman on the United Kingdom Medical Register. What you may not know is that, prior to undertaking her medical training, Dr. Blackwell briefly worked as a schoolteacher in Kentucky!
Elizabeth Blackwell was born in a large, nurturing family in Bristol, Gloucestershire, England in 1821; her father, Samuel, was a sugar refiner. Following civil unrest in Bristol, Samuel moved the family first to New York City and later to Cincinnati. As the family fell on hard financial times, Elizabeth accepted a teaching position in Henderson, Kentucky, at a salary of $400/year. Ultimately, Elizabeth's time in the Bluegrass State was unsatisfactory. She found herself suited neither for the town nor the profession, and returned to Cincinnati after a few months, resolving to find a more fulfilling line of work. She worked as a music teacher in North Carolina, saving money for her goal of pursuing a medical education, ultimately enrolling at Geneva Medical College in upstate New York. The degree of medical doctor was conferred upon Dr. Blackwell in January 1849.
Fort Harrod
While Dr. Blackwell is widely known as the first woman to attain a formal medical degree in the United States, the first woman who was recognized as a physician in Kentucky actually predates the Commonwealth's statehood. Frances Jane Coomes and her husband William accompanied Dr. George Hartt to Fort Harrod in the 1770s. Mrs. Coomes served an apprenticeship under Dr. Hartt, and also is known as Kentucky's first schoolteacher. According to Dr. John A Ouchterlony, in his 1880 book Pioneer Medical Men and Times in Kentucky,
The husband was brave and intrepid; took part in many fights with the Indians, and had numerous adventures and hair breadth escapes. He reached a high age, and was much respected and honored; but it is especially his wife who claims attention in connection with pioneer Medicine in Kentucky. She was a woman of remarkably vigorous intellect, great originality and fertility of resource, and of strong and noble character. She certainly was the first female who ever practiced Medicine in Kentucky and according to some she was the first of her sex to exercise the beneficent functions of the healing arts of our State. She was physician, surgeon, and obstetrician, and her fame and practice extended far and wide, even attracting patients from remote settlements and not only in Kentucky, but in adjoining States.
Here's to Mrs. Coomes, Dr. Blackwell, and all of the other great female physicians for whom Kentucky was part of the story!
I Hope to Have God on My Side, But I Must Have Kentucky
Previewing July's My Kentucky Tee and the historical significance of a famous Lincoln quotation.
It's no secret that I LOVE My Kentucky Tee.
I wear my tees all the time, and I always get such lovely compliments on them! I'm so excited to wear the June tee for Independence Day celebrations.
What I'm really, truly excited about is the July My Kentucky Tee. I mean, how cute is this?
I've always loved that quote from Abraham Lincoln, "I hope to have God on my side, but I must have Kentucky." It sounds like a pithy exclamation of Bluegrass State pride, but it's an important history lesson. President Lincoln wasn't just invoking sentiment of love for his home state. (We've been over this before: Kentucky is the ACTUAL Land of Lincoln. You can't have him, Illinois.) He was making a policy statement about keeping border states from seceding from the Union. Kentucky's population, resources, and strategic location were invaluable to the U.S. forces during the Civil War. Losing Kentucky to the Confederacy would have been a tremendous blow. What a great reminder of Kentucky's vital role in the Civil War, and our amazing heritage!
“I think to lose Kentucky is nearly the same as to lose the whole game. Kentucky gone, we can not hold Missouri, nor, as I think, Maryland. These all against us, and the job on our hands is too large for us.
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Remember, sign up for the July Tee by July First, and you'll get the Starter "1792" shirt as well as the Lincoln shirt in your mailbox in early July. The subscription is only $15/month; you can learn more here!
(Thanks to My Kentucky Tee for continued sponsorship of HerKentucky!)
Nothing Compares to the Old Dawahares.
Remembering the quintessential Kentucky department store.
Last week, my beau and I were browsing around the men's suits section of a local mall-based chain store. Later that week, we went in one of those UK and U of L-themed fan stores. Both times, I left with the same sigh of resignation:
"None of this can compare to the old Dawahares."
As any long-time Kentuckian can tell you, Dawahares was the Kentucky-based department store. Founded in 1907 in the tiny Eastern Kentucky coal camp town of Neon by Syrian immigrant S.F. Dawahare, the company expanded to over 30 stores in its heyday, and was in business for over 105 years. Unfortunately, the family-owned retailer filed for bankruptcy and was forced to close its remaining outlets in order to liquidate assets.
Over the century that Dawahares was in business, the small, mid-price outlets simply were Kentucky's hometown stores. Dawahares was known for outfitting the entire family. The extensive selection of men's suits and sports jackets were the place to shop for holidays and celebrations, with a selection to please everyone from UK coaches to countless grandpas to young men purchasing their first suits. The store felt like family for many of us in small town Kentucky -- we often went in to say hello to the salespeople as much as to actually shop. And, as our friend Allison (the PinkLouLou!), reminds us, the folks at Dawahares often went out of their way to help friends and neighbors.
And then, there was the UK gear. Oh my goodness, the UK gear.
Dawahares had a special knack for stocking Kentucky Wildcats apparel that was over-the-top, yet not-quite tacky. They always had the most delightful UK sweaters that worked equally well for the grandmas who attended basketball games and their granddaughters, who wore the blue-and-white sequins and appliques with just a hint of irony.
I thought it would be fun to pick out a few pieces of UK gear that have a Dawahares vibe -- things that I think they'd carry if they were still in business today.
I can't get enough of this '47 Brand cardigan sweater. Like my very favorite pieces from Dawahares, this would work equally well for you, your mom, or your grandma. It would be so fun to style it with leggings and wellies, or as an alternative to a coat.
And how about this Dooney & Bourke UK-print Shopper Tote? This would be so much fun for game day!
The golf shirts, cowgirl boots, house shoes and, of course, sweaters, in the galleries below keep the Dawahares vibe alive. Something tells me I'll be buying more than a few of these!
Do you have fond memories of Dawahares?
Happy Repeal Day!
Celebrate the 81st Anniversary of the repeal of Prohibition with a Kentucky bourbon cocktail!
In the second decade of the Twentieth Century, America experienced a wave of anti-alcohol sentiment. The temperance movement, led at its most radical edges by Garrard County, KY native Carrie Nation, posited the abolition of sales of alcoholic beverages as the key to the nation's health and moral soundness. The ratification of the Eighteenth Amendment and the subsequent passing of the Volstead Act outlawed the sale and manufacturing of alcoholic beverages in the United States, beginning in 1920.
Ultimately, neither the public safety nor the nation's economy profited from the Prohibition experiment. The production and procurement of alcoholic beverages was driven underground, resulting in a surge of organized crime activities. Prohibition grew increasingly less popular and by the onset of the Great Depression, it was evident that the legalization of alcoholic beverages would result in increased tax revenue for the nation.
When the aristocratic lawyer and sitting Governor of New York, Franklin Delano Roosevelt promised sweeping change for the nation, including economic stimulus through the reform of bootlegging operations. Roosevelt handily defeated incumbent Herbert Hoover in the 1932 Presidential election. By February 1933, the Twenty-First Amendment, which would repeal the Eighteenth Amendment, was introduced in Congress, and in March of that year, President Roosevelt signed into law the Cullen-Harrison Act, which allowed the sale of low-alcohol spirits. The 21st Amendment was adopted on December 5, 1933 (widely celebrated as Repeal Day).
Here in Kentucky, Prohibition's impact was particularly harsh. As bourbon historian Rick Bell brilliantly relays during the Evan Williams Speakeasy Tour, the Volstead Act brought dark days to Kentucky. Kentucky's famous bourbon industry was hit hard by Prohibition. The shuttered distilleries (which, by 1929, could produce small amounts of whiskey for medicinal purposes) led to scores of unemployed workers, many of whom had no additional job skills. A young whiskey salesman for the Stitzler-Weller distillery, Julian "Pappy" Van Winkle, found himself bereft of income or skills. In But Always Fine Bourbon: Pappy Van Winkle and the Story of Old Fitzgerald, Sally Van Winkle (Pappy's granddaughter), remembers the words of her own father, Julian Jr.:
I doubt there are too many around today who could imagine what it was like when Prohibition came. It meant that one of the nation's biggest industries was shut down tight. I was just a boy but I could remember all those men who had been in business for decades sitting in front of their rolled-top desks with their green eyeshades. They just rolled down their desktops, walked out, and locked the door on January 1, 1920.
Fortunately, eighty-one years later, Kentucky bourbon whiskey is stronger than ever. New labels are being introduced at a rapid pace and bourbon tourism is a major source of revenue for the Bluegrass State.
There are many ways you can celebrate Repeal Day today. If you'll be in Louisville tonight, check out the Evan Williams Bourbon Experience's Repeal Day Celebration (Period dress is encouraged, but not required!) from 5-9 p.m.
Maker's Mark has repealed shipping fees all day, so you'll get a break on ordering some of your holiday goodies, or perhaps a treat for yourself.
Or, you can pour yourself a bourbon cocktail (I'll have an old-fashioned, please!) and celebrate 81 years of freedom to (legally) imbibe!