Left to right: Dr. Willey Glover Denis, Dr. Theodore Kenneth Lawless, Dr. Frances Jones Bonner
Firsts for Historically Marginalized Physicians and Women Physicians at MGH
Who were the first African American and Latino/Latina physicians at MGH, and in what departments? Who were among the first woman physicians at MGH?
See Finding More on MGH History to locate more information about each individual in medical journals, scholarly and non-scholarly publications, and newspapers.
Firsts for Historically Marginalized Physicians at MGH
African American and Latino/Latina physician “firsts” at MGH, through 2020: The Untold Story: URM Pioneers at MGH (slideshow with images of and brief information about African American and Latino/Latina physicians at MGH)
The following physicians, in the order in which their names first appear in the slideshow PDF, are included:
Drs. Louis Sullivan, Lloyd Ferguson, Vivian Pinn, Guillermo Sanchez, Jonathan Woodson, William Augustus Hinton, Theodore Kenneth Lawless, Harold E. Farmer, Robert E. Fullilove Jr, Frances J. Bonner, Effie O'Neal Ellis, Harold May, Charles E. Brown, Vivian W. Pinn, Chester M. Pierce, Juan Taveras, Ernesto Gonzalez, Hector Manuel Tarraza, Jonathan Woodson, Francisco Cigarroa, Raphael Lee, Juanita Merchant, Tina I. Young Poussaint, Winfred W. Williams, Edward M. Barksdale Jr., Lynt Johnson, Carlos Fernandez del Castillo, Walter R. Frontera-Roura, Vilma E. Ortiz, Paula O'Connor, Michael Watkins, Joan Y. Reede, J. Carl Pallais, Marcella del Carmen, William T. Curry Jr, Margarita (Maggie) Alegria, R. Roberto (Gil) Gonzalez, Emery M. Brown, Karen Winkfield, Valerie Stone, Carlos A. Carmago, Elsie Taveras, O'Neil Britton, Julie Price, Joseph Betancourt, Seun Johnson-Akeju
Firsts for Women Physicians at MGH
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1913 |
Dr. Willey Glover Denis – assistant chemist at MGH and first woman elected to MGH staff Meites S. Willey Glover Denis (1879-1929), pioneer woman of clinical chemistry. Clin Chem. 1985 May;31(5):774-8. PubMed PMID: 3886198. |
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1916 |
Dr. Loretta Cummins – first woman Assistant in Dermatology at MGH Cheever A, Rockwood E. Loretta Joy Cummins, 1883-1958. AMA Arch Derm. 1958 Oct;78(4):512. PubMed PMID: 13582200. |
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1919 |
Dr. Mary Wright - first woman member of the House Staff, who was appointed as a House Pupil or Intern in the Children's Medical Service at MGH Annual report of the trustees of the Massachusetts General Hospital, 1917 Faxon, Nathaniel W. The Massachusetts General Hospital, 1935-1955. Cambridge [Mass.]: Harvard University Press, 1959. [Online access requires a free username/password. For the print edition, contact MGH Archives for use.] p. 255. |
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1932 |
Dr. Marian Wilkins Ropes Fielding - first woman admitted to a medical residency at MGH Changing the Face of Medicine (National Library of Medicine) Mills JA. Marian W. Ropes, MD, 1903-1994. Arthritis Rheum. 1995 Jun; 38(6):866. |
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1936 |
Dr. Julia Arrowood – first woman Resident in Anesthesia at MGH |
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1938 |
Dr. Carrie E. Chapman -first House Pupil [equivalent to Intern] in Anesthesia at MGH |
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1938 |
Dr. Dera Kinsey -first Assistant Resident in Medicine at MGH |
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1943 |
Dr. Margaret Shipley - first Medical House Pupil [equivalent to Intern] at MGH |
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1943 |
Dr. Vivian [Allison] Tenney -- first Assistant Resident in Gynecology at MGH Source for 1936-1943: Faxon, Nathaniel W. The Massachusetts General Hospital, 1935-1955. Cambridge [Mass.]: Harvard University Press, 1959. [Online access requires a free username/password. For the print edition, contact MGH Archives for use.], p. 256. |
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1944 |
Dr. Celia White Tabor -- first female physician-scientist intern in MGH’s Department of Internal Medicine Tabor CW, Tabor H. It all started on a streetcar in Boston. Annu Rev Biochem. 1999;68:1-32. PubMed PMID: 10872442. |
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1944 |
Dr. Catherine R. Michie – first woman Resident in Pathology at MGH Chapter Five: The Mallory Era, p. 67. IN: Keen Minds to Explore the Dark Continents of Disease : A History of the Pathology Services at Massachusetts General Hospital, edited by David N. Louis and Robert H. Young. Boston, Mass.: Massachusetts General Hospital, 2011. |
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1946 |
Dr. Frances Jones Bonner - Psychiatrist - both the first African American woman Resident and first African American woman faculty member (1949) at MGH Department of Psychiatry Center for Diversity’s Frances J. Bonner Award |
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1949 |
Dr. Lucy Frank Squire - first woman to be enrolled as a resident in MGH’s radiology program Changing the Face of Medicine (National Library of Medicine) Gunderman RB. Lucy Frank Squire's legacy of collaborative learning in radiology education. Acad Radiol. 2007 Feb;14(2):121-4. PubMed PMID: 17315330. |
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1958 |
Dr. Harriet Louise Hardy - first woman at MGH to be appointed Associate Clinical Professor of Medicine at HMS Changing the Face of Medicine (National Library of Medicine) |
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1972 |
Dr. Janet Ward McArthur – first woman at MGH to be accorded full Professorship at HMS, as Professor of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Biology Harvard Gazette: Memorial Minute Papers at Countway Library, Harvard Medical School Oral history interview with Janet McArthur (video and transcript) |
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1976 |
Dr. Eve Elizabeth Slater – first woman to become Chief Resident in Medicine at MGH Changing the Face of Medicine (National Library of Medicine) Eve E. Slater. Nat Rev Drug Discov. 2006; 5(1):14 |
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1979 |
Dr. Mary Kraft - first female Chief Resident in Anesthesia at MGH "This is no humbug!" : Reminiscences of the Department of Anesthesia at the Massachusetts General Hospital : A History, edited by Richard J. Kitz, Hassan Ali ... [et al.]. [Ashland, Ohio : Atlas Books, 2003?], p. 261. |
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1984 |
Dr. Patricia Kilroy Donahoe – first woman to lead an MGH Surgery Division (Pediatric Surgery) and first woman Professor of Surgery at HMS -- Chief of Pediatric Surgery |
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1991 |
Dr. Anne Buckingham Young - first woman to be appointed chief of service (Neurology) at MGH Anne B. Young Papers, Countway Library, Harvard Medical School Young AB. Massachusetts General Hospital honors Anne Young for two decades as chief of neurology service: world-renowned researcher enters the next phase of her career by focusing on mentoring of the next generation. Ann Neurol. 2013 May;73(5):A7-8. doi: 10.1002/ana.23919. PubMed PMID: 23749744. |
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1993 |
Dr. Theresa Claire McLoud - first woman in Radiology at MGH to hold the rank of Professor at Harvard |
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1997 |
Dr. Anne Klibanski -- first woman promoted to full professor of medicine at Harvard from MGH. In 2019, she was named the Interim President and Chief Executive Officer of Partners HealthCare, the first woman to hold that title. Several months later was named the President and Chief Executive Officer of Partners HealthCare. The Endocrine Society 2002 Annual Awards. Endocr Rev. 2002 Aug;23(4):582-93. PubMed PMID: 12202474 (4th PDF page) |
| 2009 | Dr. Joan W. Miller - first woman appointed as chief of ophthalmology at both Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary and MGH. |
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2013 |
Dr. Katrina Armstrong – first woman to lead the Department of Medicine, MGH |
