Alice Hamilton
| Alice Hamilton | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Born |
February 27, 1869 New York City, New York |
| Died | September 22, 1970 (aged 101) Hadlyme, Connecticut |
| Citizenship | American |
| Institutions | Harvard Medical School |
| Alma mater |
University of Michigan (1893) University of Leipzig (1895-96) Johns Hopkins University (research assistant) |
| Academic advisors | Simon Flexner |
| Notable awards | Lasker Award (1947) |
| Spouse | n/a |
 |
|
 Jane Addams, Alice Hamilton, and Aletta Jacobs in Berlin, during World War I, Critical Past |
Alice Hamilton (February 27, 1869 – September 22, 1970) was a leading expert in the field of occupational health and the first woman appointed to the faculty of Harvard University. She was a pioneer in the field of toxicology, studying occupational illnesses and the dangerous effects of industrial metals and chemical compounds on the human body.
Alice Hamilton was born in 1869 to Montgomery Hamilton and Gertrude Hamilton (née Pond), in New York City, New York and raised in Fort Wayne, Indiana. She was the second of four girls, all of whom remained close throughout their childhood and into their professional careers. Among her sisters was classicist Edith Hamilton. Alice was home schooled and completed her early education at Miss Porter's School in Farmington, Connecticut, as did her sister Edith Hamilton.
Hamilton read widely and cited literary influence for inspiring her to become a physician, even though she was uneducated in the sciences: "I meant to be a medical missionary to Teheran, having been fascinated by the description of Persia in [Edmond] O'Donovan's The Merv Oasis. I doubted if I could ever be good enough to be a real missionary, but if I could care for the sick, that would do instead." She studied sciences with a high school teacher in Fort Wayne and at a "little, third rate" medical school. She then enrolled at the University of Michigan Medical School in 1892, and received her medical degree in 1893. She completed internships at the Northwestern Hospital for Women and Children in Minneapolis and the New England Hospital for Women and Children near Boston. During her internships, Hamilton developed interest in public health.
At advice of her professors, Hamilton traveled to Europe to study bacteriology and pathology from 1895 to 1897. She was welcomed in Frankfurt, rejected in Berlin, and experienced some opposition at universities in Munich and Leipzig. When she returned to the United States, she continued her postgraduate studies at the Johns Hopkins University Medical School, where she worked with Simon Flexner. In 1897, she moved to Chicago, where she became a professor of pathology at the Woman's Medical School of Northwestern University.
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Wikipedia