Martha Ripley
| Martha Ripley | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Born |
Martha George Rogers November 30, 1843 Lowell, Vermont |
| Died | April 18, 1912 (aged 68) Minneapolis–St. Paul, Minnesota |
| Nationality | American |
| Occupation | Physician |
| Spouse(s) | William W. Ripley |
Martha George (Rogers) Ripley (1843–1912) of Lowell, Vermont was an American physician, suffragist, professor of medicine, and founder of the Maternity Hospital in Minneapolis, Minnesota. She also served six years as president of the Minnesota Woman Suffrage Association.
Martha George Rogers was born November 30, 1843, in Lowell, Vermont, the oldest of five children of Esther Ann (George) and Francis Rogers, a stock farmer. The family moved to the Iowa frontier, where she attended high school (leaving without a diploma). She was awarded a first-class teacher's certificate and taught elementary school for a time. In 1867 she married rancher William Warren Ripley, and shortly thereafter they moved back to his home state of Massachusetts, where he took up a job as manager of his uncle's paper mill in Lawrence. The couple had three daughters, Abigail, Clara, and Edna May. Within a few years, William had bought his own mill and moved the family to Middleton.
Ripley joined the suffragists in 1875 and worked to establish an active suffrage group in Middleton. The success of her efforts gained her a place in the statewide suffrage movement, and she was elected to both the central committee and the executive committee of the Massachusetts Woman Suffrage Association, serving in both capacities until 1883.
Ripley's concern over the health issues facing women who worked in the Massachusetts textile mills prompted her to go to medical school. She chose Boston University Medical School (from which one of her sisters had recently graduated) and earned her M.D. degree in 1883. That same year, her husband was badly injured in a mill accident and forced to retire from his mill business. Now dependent financially on Ripley's ability to earn a living, the couple moved to Minneapolis, Minnesota, where William had relatives and where a growing industrial sector offered scope for enterprising incomers.
With some difficulty, Ripley established a medical practice in Minneapolis and became a successful obstetrician. She received her license to practice in 1883, making her one of the first two dozen licensed women doctors in the state. She often spoke out about public health issues such as city sanitation, clean water, food adulteration, and crowding of patients in hospitals. She became an early advocate for cremation, on the grounds of both public health and reduced costs for the urban poor.
...
Wikipedia