Helen Walker McAndrew
Born
Helen Walker

(1825-02-06)February 6, 1825
Kirkintilloch, Scotland
DiedOctober 26, 1906(1906-10-26) (aged 81)
Ypsilanti, Michigan
NationalityAmerican
Alma materTrall Institute
Occupationphysician
SpouseWilliam McAndrew
Children2 (including William)

Helen Walker McAndrew (6 February 1825 – 26 October 1906)[1] was a Scottish-American doctor and the first documented female physician in Washtenaw County, Michigan. According to some sources, she was also the first female physician in the U.S. state of Michigan.

Early life and education

Helen Walker was born in Kirkintilloch, Scotland, to Thomas Walker and Margaret Boyd. In 1849, she married William McAndrew in Glasgow. The couple emigrated from Scotland shortly after their marriage and arrived in Ypsilanti, Michigan, by way of New York.[2] On June 24, 1852, McAndrew gave birth to their first born son Thomas.[2] On August 20, 1863, she gave birth to another son, William Jr,[2] who later became a noted educator.[3]

Career

Medical career

In Ypsilanti, McAndrew practiced as a self-trained nurse. When her son was still an infant, she decided to pursue medicine. No medical school west of New York would admit female students, so she traveled to New York Cityto attend the Trall Institute (New York Hydropathic and Physiological School), where she earned her M.D. in 1855.[4]

When McAndrew returned to Ypsilanti, she was ostracized by the public she had previously nursed. She turned to practicing medicine for the marginalized poor and African Americans in her community. She was not accepted as a doctor by most members of her community until she saved the life of local State Senator Samuel Post's long-suffering wife, helping her where distinguished physicians from Ann Arbor failed. As a proponent of the water cure, she subsequently established a private practice with a sanatorium in her home and mineral baths in the nearby Huron River.

By numerous accounts, McAndrew was the first female licensed physician in the state of Michigan.[5][6]

Activism

McAndrew was a leader of the push to admit women into the department of medicine at the University of Michigan, which succeeded in 1870. She, along with her husband, participated in the Underground Railroad,[7] temperance societies and the suffrage movement in Washtenaw County. She worked with several prominent leaders on the suffrage movement including Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony.

Later life and death

McAndrew was widowed after the death of her husband on October 22, 1895. She died eleven years later on October 26, 1906, in Ypsilanti, Michigan.[8]

In 1931, McAndrew was posthumously named Ypsilanti's "Most Distinguished Business and Professional Woman."[9][10]

References

  1. ↑ Dr Helen Walker McAndrew at findagrave.com
  2. 1 2 3 William McAndrew Jr., Helen Walker McAndrew, 1826-1906, Ypsilanti, Michigan, 1931
  3. ↑ "WM. M'ANDREW, 73, EDUCATOR, IS DEAD; When School Superintendent in Chicago, He Had Clash With Mayor Thompson A SCHOOL PRINCIPAL HERE Also Served as an Associate Superintendent in New YorkSpent 40 Years in Work Fight Against Politics Vindicated by Court Taught in Chicago in 1889 Backed by the Board (Published 1937)". The New York Times. 29 June 1937. Retrieved 30 December 2020.
  4. ↑ McAndrew, William (1931). "The Remarkable McAndrews". Ypsi Gleanings. Summer 2004: 8–14.
  5. ↑ Smead, Kevin J. (February 2000). "McAndrew, William (1863-1937), educator and editor". 1. doi:10.1093/anb/9780198606697.article.0900482. ISBN 978-0-19-860669-7. Retrieved 30 December 2020. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  6. ↑ "WM. M'ANDREW, 73, EDUCATOR, IS DEAD; When School Superintendent in Chicago, He Had Clash With Mayor Thompson A SCHOOL PRINCIPAL HERE Also Served as an Associate Superintendent in New YorkSpent 40 Years in Work Fight Against Politics Vindicated by Court Taught in Chicago in 1889 Backed by the Board (Published 1937)". The New York Times. 29 June 1937. Retrieved 30 December 2020.
  7. ↑ "Helen Walker McAndrew | Ann Arbor District Library". Ann Arbor District Library. Retrieved 11 February 2021.
  8. ↑ "The Remarkable McAndrews | Ann Arbor District Library". aadl.org. Ann Arbor District Library. Retrieved 10 January 2023.
  9. ↑ "Helen Walker McAndrew" (PDF). Michigan Women's Hall of Fame.
  10. ↑ "Helen Walker McAndrew". Michigan Women Forward. Retrieved 15 October 2020.
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