User:Alyssans/Mary Harris Thompson

Mary Harris Thompson, MD (April 15, 1829 – May 21, 1895), was the founder, head physician and surgeon of the Chicago Hospital for Women and Children, renamed Mary Harris Thompson Hospital after her death in 1895. She was one of the first women to practice medicine in Chicago where she contributed in the health of Civil War Veterans families. Over the course of her life she made numerous contributions to science and education, that have made a lasting impact.

Early life and education[edit]
Thompson was born in Fort Ann, Washington County, New York, on April 15, 1829. She was the daughter of John Harris and Calista Corbin Thompson. She began her studies at a nearby school, then transferred to Fort Edward Institute, New York which offered a college preparatory class among others. She continued her studies at a Methodist school, Troy Conference Academy, located in West Poultney, Vermont, and in 1860 enrolled in classes at the New England Female Medical College in Boston. During this time she spent one year in an internship at the New York Infirmary for Women and Children, which was founded by physicians Emily and Elizabeth Blackwell. She received her medical degree in 1863 from the first medical school for women.

In 1890, the Chicago Medical College granted a degree ad eundem to Thompson.

Death[edit]
Thompson died in 1895 at age sixty-six, suffering a cerebral hemorrhage. Shortly after her death, the board of the Chicago Hospital for Women and Children renamed the hospital the Mary Thompson Hospital of Chicago for Women and Children. The hospital closed in 1988. In 1905, the hospital board gave the Art Institute of Chicago a bust of Thompson that they commissioned from sculptor Daniel Chester French. Thompson is buried in Fort Ann Cemetery in Fort Ann, New York together with four of her siblings.