1 00:00:02,480 --> 00:00:06,560 Speaker 1: Happy Saturday. Lucy Hobbs Taylor was born on March fourteenth, 2 00:00:06,640 --> 00:00:09,680 Speaker 1: eighteen thirty three, or one hundred and ninety three years 3 00:00:09,720 --> 00:00:13,160 Speaker 1: ago today, on the day we are publishing this classic. 4 00:00:13,960 --> 00:00:16,360 Speaker 1: She was the first woman in the US to receive 5 00:00:16,400 --> 00:00:20,560 Speaker 1: a degree in dentistry. This originally came out June twenty ninth, 6 00:00:20,640 --> 00:00:26,759 Speaker 1: twenty twenty two. Enjoy Welcome to Stuff You Missed in 7 00:00:26,880 --> 00:00:36,960 Speaker 1: History Class, a production of iHeartRadio, Hello and Welcome to 8 00:00:36,960 --> 00:00:40,280 Speaker 1: the podcast. I'm Holly Frye and I'm Tracy V. Wilson. 9 00:00:41,000 --> 00:00:45,680 Speaker 1: So in reading an old Ish mid twentieth century biographical 10 00:00:45,800 --> 00:00:49,159 Speaker 1: article for today's subject, it opened with the line quote, 11 00:00:49,240 --> 00:00:52,920 Speaker 1: the history of most of the major professions reveals that 12 00:00:52,960 --> 00:00:55,920 Speaker 1: they have been dominated by man, And when woman sought 13 00:00:55,920 --> 00:01:01,560 Speaker 1: to invade those sacred precincts of masculine activity, great consternation arose. 14 00:01:03,640 --> 00:01:10,760 Speaker 1: Which is a funny line, funny and aggravating. Right. That 15 00:01:11,000 --> 00:01:15,440 Speaker 1: was definitely, at least to some degree true for Lucy Hobbs. Later, 16 00:01:15,520 --> 00:01:18,480 Speaker 1: Lucy Hobbs Taylor and her desire to have a career 17 00:01:18,600 --> 00:01:22,600 Speaker 1: in dentistry before that was recognized as an acceptable vocation 18 00:01:22,800 --> 00:01:26,440 Speaker 1: for a woman. She's interesting and that she was really 19 00:01:26,480 --> 00:01:29,520 Speaker 1: just tenacious as hell. She got told no a lot, 20 00:01:30,520 --> 00:01:33,400 Speaker 1: and that did not deter her from her plan, and 21 00:01:33,440 --> 00:01:36,680 Speaker 1: she just kind of found her way around any obstacles 22 00:01:37,160 --> 00:01:38,959 Speaker 1: to make her own way to get to where she 23 00:01:39,040 --> 00:01:42,240 Speaker 1: wanted in life. But to be clear upfront, I want 24 00:01:42,240 --> 00:01:45,800 Speaker 1: to she often is lauded as the first woman dentist. 25 00:01:46,440 --> 00:01:50,320 Speaker 1: That's not accurate. We're going to talk about that towards 26 00:01:50,360 --> 00:01:53,360 Speaker 1: the end of the episode. She's someone if you listen 27 00:01:53,440 --> 00:01:55,360 Speaker 1: to our two parter on the history of dentistry, she 28 00:01:55,400 --> 00:01:58,840 Speaker 1: came up briefly and she was so interesting that I 29 00:01:58,880 --> 00:02:01,400 Speaker 1: wanted to do an episode about. I will also tell 30 00:02:01,440 --> 00:02:04,680 Speaker 1: you in a comforting way that there is no real 31 00:02:04,920 --> 00:02:08,440 Speaker 1: talk of any dental scariness here. We talk about fillings 32 00:02:08,480 --> 00:02:11,079 Speaker 1: a little in one advancement in how they were performed 33 00:02:11,080 --> 00:02:13,240 Speaker 1: in her kind of being a champion for that, but 34 00:02:13,280 --> 00:02:17,520 Speaker 1: it's pretty mild, so don't worry if you're squeamage. Lucy 35 00:02:17,680 --> 00:02:21,880 Speaker 1: was born Lucy Beaman Hobbes on March fourteenth, eighteen thirty three. 36 00:02:22,720 --> 00:02:25,240 Speaker 1: Her place of birth is a little uncertain. We know 37 00:02:25,360 --> 00:02:29,160 Speaker 1: she was born in New York State. Most biographies say 38 00:02:29,200 --> 00:02:32,000 Speaker 1: that it was in Franklin, County that's in the state's 39 00:02:32,000 --> 00:02:35,640 Speaker 1: northeast corner. If you look at her biography on the 40 00:02:35,720 --> 00:02:40,320 Speaker 1: Kansas Historical Society's website, you'll see Constable, New York list 41 00:02:40,360 --> 00:02:43,000 Speaker 1: it is her place of birth that's in Franklin County. 42 00:02:43,520 --> 00:02:46,080 Speaker 1: But there was another place mentioned in a paper about 43 00:02:46,120 --> 00:02:49,880 Speaker 1: Lucy that was written in nineteen fifty one. That document 44 00:02:49,919 --> 00:02:53,320 Speaker 1: says she was born in Ellenburg. That's in Clinton County, 45 00:02:53,320 --> 00:02:56,040 Speaker 1: New York, immediately to the east of Franklin County. So 46 00:02:57,280 --> 00:03:01,400 Speaker 1: we can say upstate New York pretty confidently, probably Franklin County, 47 00:03:01,440 --> 00:03:04,959 Speaker 1: but there's some inconsistency, and we don't know a whole 48 00:03:05,000 --> 00:03:08,800 Speaker 1: lot about Lucy's childhood. She also had a lot of siblings, 49 00:03:08,960 --> 00:03:12,160 Speaker 1: nine according to one source, and there is some indication 50 00:03:12,200 --> 00:03:14,280 Speaker 1: that her mother died when she was still quite young, 51 00:03:14,520 --> 00:03:16,680 Speaker 1: but we don't really have a lot of details about it. 52 00:03:17,560 --> 00:03:21,000 Speaker 1: Her story really picks up in eighteen forty nine, when 53 00:03:21,080 --> 00:03:24,360 Speaker 1: Lucy graduated from the Franklin Academy in Malone, New York, 54 00:03:24,880 --> 00:03:27,320 Speaker 1: with the intent to become a school teacher, and she 55 00:03:27,400 --> 00:03:30,120 Speaker 1: did do that for a decade. She started when she 56 00:03:30,240 --> 00:03:33,120 Speaker 1: was just eighteen, and later told a reporter quote, I 57 00:03:33,200 --> 00:03:36,360 Speaker 1: had pupils older than myself who knew about as much 58 00:03:36,400 --> 00:03:39,160 Speaker 1: as I did. But that did not shake my faith 59 00:03:39,200 --> 00:03:42,080 Speaker 1: in myself, for I knew that little informed as I was, 60 00:03:42,440 --> 00:03:44,840 Speaker 1: we had no better teacher in our district since I 61 00:03:44,880 --> 00:03:48,280 Speaker 1: could remember. She was described as laughing when she said this, 62 00:03:49,600 --> 00:03:51,600 Speaker 1: like I'm as good as any of the others I've had. 63 00:03:54,480 --> 00:03:57,440 Speaker 1: But she traveled to where teaching jobs were, and as 64 00:03:57,480 --> 00:04:00,640 Speaker 1: a consequence, she ended up in Brooklyn, Michigan, and she 65 00:04:00,760 --> 00:04:03,560 Speaker 1: met someone there who changed her life's trajectory. Although I 66 00:04:03,600 --> 00:04:06,440 Speaker 1: have never found this person's name in any of the 67 00:04:06,480 --> 00:04:09,640 Speaker 1: things that I read, but the house where she rented 68 00:04:09,680 --> 00:04:12,160 Speaker 1: a room in Michigan was apparently owned by a doctor, 69 00:04:12,600 --> 00:04:14,760 Speaker 1: and he and Lucy are said to have talked a 70 00:04:14,800 --> 00:04:18,560 Speaker 1: lot about his profession because she was deeply interested in it. 71 00:04:19,279 --> 00:04:21,919 Speaker 1: She's often quoted as saying that she wished quote to 72 00:04:22,160 --> 00:04:25,080 Speaker 1: enter a profession where she could earn her bread, not 73 00:04:25,320 --> 00:04:27,880 Speaker 1: alone by the sweat of her brow, but by the 74 00:04:28,000 --> 00:04:31,920 Speaker 1: use of her brains also, and her physician friend encouraged 75 00:04:31,960 --> 00:04:35,160 Speaker 1: her to take that intellectual curiosity and use it to 76 00:04:35,160 --> 00:04:38,080 Speaker 1: pursue a career in medicine. So Lucy decided to go 77 00:04:38,160 --> 00:04:42,080 Speaker 1: to Cincinnati, Ohio to enroll in medical school. This was 78 00:04:42,120 --> 00:04:45,000 Speaker 1: in eighteen fifty nine. She was twenty six at the time, 79 00:04:45,040 --> 00:04:48,560 Speaker 1: and her plan was to enroll at Eclectic Medical Institute 80 00:04:48,600 --> 00:04:52,000 Speaker 1: of Cincinnati, or EMI, So for a little bit of 81 00:04:52,000 --> 00:04:55,120 Speaker 1: background on that school. Eclectic medicine was a form of 82 00:04:55,160 --> 00:04:58,280 Speaker 1: medicine that was popular in the late nineteenth and twentieth 83 00:04:58,279 --> 00:05:01,200 Speaker 1: centuries in the United States, and the focus on this 84 00:05:01,320 --> 00:05:05,640 Speaker 1: type of medicine was based largely on botanicals in herbal medicine. 85 00:05:05,760 --> 00:05:08,640 Speaker 1: EMI had been founded in eighteen forty two, and for 86 00:05:08,680 --> 00:05:12,240 Speaker 1: a while, starting in eighteen fifty, it graduated some of 87 00:05:12,279 --> 00:05:16,279 Speaker 1: the first women with physician credentials in the US. But 88 00:05:16,560 --> 00:05:20,760 Speaker 1: even though Lucy Hobbs knew she wanted an education at Eclectic, 89 00:05:20,920 --> 00:05:24,640 Speaker 1: it turned out the school didn't want her. Eclectic had 90 00:05:24,680 --> 00:05:28,359 Speaker 1: stopped taking women's students in eighteen fifty seven, she was 91 00:05:28,440 --> 00:05:32,160 Speaker 1: refused enrollment. When she spoke to the college president about 92 00:05:32,160 --> 00:05:35,640 Speaker 1: the situation, he suggested that maybe she could pursue a 93 00:05:35,720 --> 00:05:39,520 Speaker 1: career in dentistry instead, and Lucy thought about it and 94 00:05:39,600 --> 00:05:43,120 Speaker 1: ultimately decided that she would take the college president's advice. 95 00:05:43,360 --> 00:05:46,479 Speaker 1: So her next step was to apply to work with 96 00:05:46,600 --> 00:05:50,400 Speaker 1: dentists in the Cincinnati area. She needed some degree of 97 00:05:50,480 --> 00:05:53,000 Speaker 1: learning in the field before she could apply to a 98 00:05:53,040 --> 00:05:56,479 Speaker 1: formal training programer a dental college, so she began to 99 00:05:56,560 --> 00:06:00,200 Speaker 1: search for a mentor, and she was told repeatedly that 100 00:06:00,240 --> 00:06:03,679 Speaker 1: the dental field was for men, and some dentists flat 101 00:06:03,680 --> 00:06:06,120 Speaker 1: out told her that it would damage their practice if 102 00:06:06,200 --> 00:06:09,120 Speaker 1: people found out a woman was being taught on the premises. 103 00:06:09,880 --> 00:06:12,680 Speaker 1: An article written later in her life reported that quote. 104 00:06:12,760 --> 00:06:15,839 Speaker 1: She began a tour of dentist offices in Cincinnati for 105 00:06:15,839 --> 00:06:19,360 Speaker 1: a place to study. On every hand, she was rebuffed, 106 00:06:19,400 --> 00:06:21,960 Speaker 1: though one man offered to let her clean his office 107 00:06:22,400 --> 00:06:26,640 Speaker 1: and look on while he worked, which proposition was indignantly refused. 108 00:06:27,640 --> 00:06:30,120 Speaker 1: She finally got an assist from the dean of the 109 00:06:30,160 --> 00:06:34,279 Speaker 1: Ohio College of Dental Surgery, that was doctor Jonathan Taft, 110 00:06:34,880 --> 00:06:37,920 Speaker 1: as a temporary arrangement while she kept looking for a 111 00:06:37,960 --> 00:06:41,039 Speaker 1: formal mentor to take her on. Taft told her she 112 00:06:41,080 --> 00:06:44,719 Speaker 1: could learn in his office for three months, so finally 113 00:06:44,760 --> 00:06:46,880 Speaker 1: she found somebody who was willing to work with her. 114 00:06:47,480 --> 00:06:51,320 Speaker 1: Doctor Samuel Wardle had been one of doctor Jonathan Taft's students. 115 00:06:51,520 --> 00:06:54,560 Speaker 1: He had graduated in eighteen fifty nine, and he offered 116 00:06:54,600 --> 00:06:58,359 Speaker 1: her an apprenticeship in his office. This was a break 117 00:06:58,360 --> 00:07:00,440 Speaker 1: for Hobbs, but it also meant that her her days 118 00:07:00,440 --> 00:07:03,120 Speaker 1: were spent working and learning but not getting paid for it. 119 00:07:03,200 --> 00:07:05,560 Speaker 1: So in the evenings she would take in sewing to 120 00:07:05,600 --> 00:07:08,279 Speaker 1: try to keep herself afloat. Yeah. I have so many 121 00:07:08,360 --> 00:07:12,880 Speaker 1: questions that I never found satisfactory answers to about doctor 122 00:07:12,960 --> 00:07:15,400 Speaker 1: Wardle because he was fresh out of dental school, and 123 00:07:15,440 --> 00:07:18,200 Speaker 1: I'm like, was it that he was super progressive or 124 00:07:18,320 --> 00:07:20,840 Speaker 1: was it that he really needed an assistant for no 125 00:07:20,960 --> 00:07:24,360 Speaker 1: money because he was just starting as practice And how 126 00:07:24,400 --> 00:07:27,120 Speaker 1: much did doctor Taft kind of help push that thing together. 127 00:07:27,920 --> 00:07:30,320 Speaker 1: But at this point in time, there were not a 128 00:07:30,360 --> 00:07:33,720 Speaker 1: lot of dental programs in the United States. The first 129 00:07:33,960 --> 00:07:37,000 Speaker 1: had opened in Baltimore in eighteen forty, the second, the 130 00:07:37,040 --> 00:07:40,400 Speaker 1: Ohio College of Dental Surgery, had opened in eighteen forty five, 131 00:07:40,920 --> 00:07:44,240 Speaker 1: and the third, Pennsylvania College of Dental Surgery, had opened 132 00:07:44,240 --> 00:07:49,240 Speaker 1: in eighteen fifty six. But that was it three options. Lucy, 133 00:07:49,360 --> 00:07:52,440 Speaker 1: because of proximity, applied to the Ohio College of Dental 134 00:07:52,480 --> 00:07:56,480 Speaker 1: Surgery in March of eighteen sixty one. But even though 135 00:07:56,600 --> 00:07:59,240 Speaker 1: she had gotten that help, earlier from the Dean. This 136 00:07:59,280 --> 00:08:03,280 Speaker 1: application went exactly as well as her application to Eclectic. 137 00:08:03,680 --> 00:08:06,920 Speaker 1: Lucy's next move, on the advice of doctor Wortle, was 138 00:08:06,960 --> 00:08:09,920 Speaker 1: to just open up her own practice. At the time, 139 00:08:10,280 --> 00:08:12,880 Speaker 1: it was beneficial to have a degree, but it wasn't 140 00:08:12,960 --> 00:08:17,000 Speaker 1: required to practice. She opened an office in Cincinnati on 141 00:08:17,120 --> 00:08:21,000 Speaker 1: March fourteenth, eighteen sixty one, which was her twenty eighth birthday. 142 00:08:21,840 --> 00:08:24,840 Speaker 1: That year, of course, was monumental in the United States. 143 00:08:25,120 --> 00:08:27,800 Speaker 1: The Civil War officially began less than a month after 144 00:08:27,880 --> 00:08:31,600 Speaker 1: Lucy Hobbs opened her practice, So Lucy closed up her 145 00:08:31,640 --> 00:08:35,120 Speaker 1: Ohio office almost immediately, and then she moved to Iowa 146 00:08:35,240 --> 00:08:38,600 Speaker 1: to start over there. Presumably she thought it was safer 147 00:08:38,640 --> 00:08:42,680 Speaker 1: there farther away from the epicenter of conflict. And although 148 00:08:43,040 --> 00:08:46,360 Speaker 1: Lucy didn't really know anyone in Iowa when she moved there, 149 00:08:46,880 --> 00:08:50,160 Speaker 1: she must have been providing something that people really desperately 150 00:08:50,240 --> 00:08:53,640 Speaker 1: needed in opening a dental office in Bellevue, Iowa that's 151 00:08:53,679 --> 00:08:57,080 Speaker 1: located in Jackson County on the Illinois border. Because she 152 00:08:57,280 --> 00:09:00,439 Speaker 1: ended her first year there in the black, having put 153 00:09:00,480 --> 00:09:03,200 Speaker 1: away one hundred dollars more than it had cost to 154 00:09:03,320 --> 00:09:06,880 Speaker 1: run the office and pay for her necessities. This modest 155 00:09:07,000 --> 00:09:10,440 Speaker 1: success of her first year running her own dental practice 156 00:09:10,480 --> 00:09:13,360 Speaker 1: gave Lucy Hobbs the confidence to move somewhere that had 157 00:09:13,400 --> 00:09:17,400 Speaker 1: more lucrative potential. This time it was McGregor, Iowa, about 158 00:09:17,440 --> 00:09:21,440 Speaker 1: eighty two miles north of Bellevue, and her instincts were correct. 159 00:09:21,559 --> 00:09:24,280 Speaker 1: She finished her second year in her new profession with 160 00:09:24,320 --> 00:09:26,840 Speaker 1: a profit of three thousand dollars on the books. That 161 00:09:27,000 --> 00:09:30,800 Speaker 1: was no small sum. In eighteen sixty three, Hobbs kept 162 00:09:30,800 --> 00:09:33,840 Speaker 1: building up her business. She established a very good reputation 163 00:09:33,960 --> 00:09:37,280 Speaker 1: as a dentist. For the next three years she stayed 164 00:09:37,320 --> 00:09:41,240 Speaker 1: in McGregor, and according to a newspaper account written several 165 00:09:41,320 --> 00:09:45,160 Speaker 1: years after Lucy had arrived in McGregor, Iowa, she had 166 00:09:45,200 --> 00:09:47,640 Speaker 1: had to work to prove herself to the new community, 167 00:09:47,720 --> 00:09:50,920 Speaker 1: and especially the men of the town. There were definitely 168 00:09:50,960 --> 00:09:53,319 Speaker 1: some who just did not believe that she, as a woman, 169 00:09:53,360 --> 00:09:55,840 Speaker 1: would know what she was doing, and so one man 170 00:09:55,920 --> 00:09:58,240 Speaker 1: decided that he was going to test her by making 171 00:09:58,280 --> 00:10:02,280 Speaker 1: an appointment in This back fired. According to a write 172 00:10:02,320 --> 00:10:05,280 Speaker 1: up about it from the Vermont paper, The Burlington Democrat, 173 00:10:05,280 --> 00:10:08,240 Speaker 1: which came out in eighteen seventy two, quote a young 174 00:10:08,280 --> 00:10:11,240 Speaker 1: man once entered her office in McGregor and asked her 175 00:10:11,280 --> 00:10:14,240 Speaker 1: to examine his teeth, Knowing at the time they were 176 00:10:14,240 --> 00:10:18,439 Speaker 1: perfectly sound. She saw the trick at once, but nevertheless 177 00:10:18,600 --> 00:10:21,559 Speaker 1: commenced to work at his teeth. She bored a hole 178 00:10:21,679 --> 00:10:24,400 Speaker 1: in a sound tooth and filled it with gold, charging 179 00:10:24,480 --> 00:10:27,400 Speaker 1: him the usual price. He had to pay well for 180 00:10:27,480 --> 00:10:32,520 Speaker 1: the experiment. I don't love this story. I don't either, 181 00:10:32,559 --> 00:10:36,000 Speaker 1: but I also think it's funny. Yeah, I love it 182 00:10:36,080 --> 00:10:39,560 Speaker 1: and I don't love it. Right, I'm like, that's malpractice. Yeah, 183 00:10:39,600 --> 00:10:44,200 Speaker 1: but I understand where you're coming from. Similar. Yeah. So 184 00:10:44,360 --> 00:10:47,240 Speaker 1: coming up, we'll talk about a surprising development in Lucy 185 00:10:47,280 --> 00:10:49,920 Speaker 1: Hobb's career. First, though, we will pause for a quick 186 00:10:49,920 --> 00:11:03,160 Speaker 1: sponsor break. In July eighteen sixty five, Lucy was invited 187 00:11:03,200 --> 00:11:05,920 Speaker 1: to attend a meeting of the Iowa State Dental Society 188 00:11:06,040 --> 00:11:10,080 Speaker 1: in Dubuque, Iowa. The president of the society, doctor Luhmann 189 00:11:10,200 --> 00:11:14,760 Speaker 1: Church Ingersoll, had extended that invitation himself, and while attending, 190 00:11:14,960 --> 00:11:18,719 Speaker 1: Lucy was asked to join the organization. This was a 191 00:11:18,760 --> 00:11:21,960 Speaker 1: pretty big deal, and Ingersoll had prepared a resolution for 192 00:11:22,000 --> 00:11:25,040 Speaker 1: the occasion, which he gave as a speech. It not 193 00:11:25,120 --> 00:11:28,360 Speaker 1: only noted that Lucy was welcomed by all of the members, 194 00:11:28,440 --> 00:11:32,120 Speaker 1: but also entreated the larger dental profession to recognize that 195 00:11:32,200 --> 00:11:36,800 Speaker 1: women are perfectly suited to work in dentistry. This read quote, 196 00:11:36,880 --> 00:11:41,680 Speaker 1: whereas the Iowa State Dental Society has, without precedent, elected 197 00:11:41,720 --> 00:11:46,000 Speaker 1: to membership a lady practitioner of dentistry, and whereas it 198 00:11:46,080 --> 00:11:49,000 Speaker 1: is due to her to know that the unanimous vote 199 00:11:49,080 --> 00:11:52,080 Speaker 1: by which she was elected was not simply a formal vote, 200 00:11:52,120 --> 00:11:55,400 Speaker 1: And whereas it is due to the profession at large 201 00:11:55,720 --> 00:11:59,120 Speaker 1: that we make a formal declaration concerning the position we 202 00:11:59,200 --> 00:12:03,760 Speaker 1: have assumed in our action. Therefore resolved that we most 203 00:12:03,880 --> 00:12:07,320 Speaker 1: cordially welcome Miss Lucy B. Hobbes of McGregor to our 204 00:12:07,440 --> 00:12:12,439 Speaker 1: number and to our professional pursuits, trials, aims, and successes. 205 00:12:13,080 --> 00:12:16,440 Speaker 1: Resolved that the profession of dentistry, involving as it does 206 00:12:16,520 --> 00:12:19,480 Speaker 1: the vital interest of humanity in the relief of human 207 00:12:19,520 --> 00:12:23,280 Speaker 1: suffering and the perpetuation of the comforts and enjoyments of 208 00:12:23,320 --> 00:12:26,960 Speaker 1: life in civilized and refined society, has nothing in its 209 00:12:27,000 --> 00:12:30,280 Speaker 1: pursuits foreign to the instincts of women, and, on the 210 00:12:30,320 --> 00:12:33,720 Speaker 1: other hand, presents in almost every applicant for operations, a 211 00:12:33,800 --> 00:12:37,839 Speaker 1: subject requiring a kind and benevolent consideration of the most 212 00:12:37,880 --> 00:12:41,920 Speaker 1: refined and womanly nature. Lucy then made a brief speech 213 00:12:41,920 --> 00:12:45,200 Speaker 1: of her own, thanking the Dental Society and remarking on 214 00:12:45,240 --> 00:12:48,680 Speaker 1: how truly meaningful it was after having heard quite the 215 00:12:48,720 --> 00:12:53,280 Speaker 1: opposite sentiment for so long regarding women in dentistry. The 216 00:12:53,320 --> 00:12:56,520 Speaker 1: Society also nominated her to be a representative to attend 217 00:12:56,559 --> 00:13:00,920 Speaker 1: the American Dental Association meeting that year. There's another benefit 218 00:13:01,040 --> 00:13:04,840 Speaker 1: to having gone to this meeting for Hobbes. Doctor Jonathan Taft, 219 00:13:04,920 --> 00:13:07,680 Speaker 1: the dean of the Ohio College of Dental Surgery, was 220 00:13:07,800 --> 00:13:11,400 Speaker 1: also at the meeting, and other members of society put 221 00:13:11,440 --> 00:13:14,440 Speaker 1: some pressure on him to do whatever he could to 222 00:13:14,600 --> 00:13:19,120 Speaker 1: finally admit Lucy Hobbs to the Dental school, and that worked. 223 00:13:19,640 --> 00:13:23,160 Speaker 1: Taft got Lucy admitted to the school. Of course, at 224 00:13:23,160 --> 00:13:25,840 Speaker 1: this point she had been in practice for half a decade, 225 00:13:25,960 --> 00:13:28,600 Speaker 1: so the school did not make her take the entire 226 00:13:28,640 --> 00:13:31,160 Speaker 1: load of classes that would normally be required of their 227 00:13:31,200 --> 00:13:35,320 Speaker 1: dental students. Lucy Hobbs was admitted as a senior. She 228 00:13:35,400 --> 00:13:37,360 Speaker 1: got credit for all of that work she had been doing. 229 00:13:37,800 --> 00:13:40,480 Speaker 1: She attended one session and then received a degree of 230 00:13:40,600 --> 00:13:44,400 Speaker 1: Doctor of Dental Surgery on February twenty first, eighteen sixty six. 231 00:13:45,360 --> 00:13:48,040 Speaker 1: She was, as it is often said, the first woman 232 00:13:48,080 --> 00:13:51,959 Speaker 1: in the world to receive a dental degree. That same year, 233 00:13:52,120 --> 00:13:54,959 Speaker 1: doctor Hobbs wrote a paper about one of the advancements 234 00:13:55,000 --> 00:13:58,320 Speaker 1: in the field of dental medicine, which she read before 235 00:13:58,400 --> 00:14:01,360 Speaker 1: the Iowa State Dental Society before it was published in 236 00:14:01,400 --> 00:14:05,320 Speaker 1: a dental journal, and in particular it championed the use 237 00:14:05,400 --> 00:14:09,199 Speaker 1: of mallets. It read quote, the mallet system has become 238 00:14:09,240 --> 00:14:13,440 Speaker 1: the prevailing system among the best operators. It needs but 239 00:14:13,480 --> 00:14:16,080 Speaker 1: a few facts to show every thinking mind that this 240 00:14:16,240 --> 00:14:19,240 Speaker 1: is the best system yet known to the profession. For 241 00:14:19,360 --> 00:14:23,120 Speaker 1: all ordinary fillings as very few, but can be better 242 00:14:23,160 --> 00:14:26,920 Speaker 1: and more easily condensed than by hand pressure. No proof 243 00:14:26,960 --> 00:14:29,920 Speaker 1: is necessary to show that anyone can do better work 244 00:14:30,160 --> 00:14:32,560 Speaker 1: when he can give all his attention to placing the 245 00:14:32,600 --> 00:14:35,920 Speaker 1: gold in the cavity, stand easy and natural, and have 246 00:14:36,000 --> 00:14:40,440 Speaker 1: an assistant do the condensing. So for clarity, mallets have 247 00:14:40,640 --> 00:14:43,560 Speaker 1: historically been used to knock out people's teeth, but this 248 00:14:43,720 --> 00:14:47,720 Speaker 1: was a very different situation. The mallets that Hobbes was 249 00:14:47,760 --> 00:14:51,040 Speaker 1: writing about were small. They were used to shape and 250 00:14:51,200 --> 00:14:55,280 Speaker 1: condense filling material for a more thorough restoration of the tooth. 251 00:14:55,600 --> 00:14:58,280 Speaker 1: And this worked a lot better than a dentist just 252 00:14:58,680 --> 00:15:01,080 Speaker 1: only being able to use them their hands to push 253 00:15:01,200 --> 00:15:04,680 Speaker 1: gold or amalgam into the filling holes, and they weren't 254 00:15:04,720 --> 00:15:08,680 Speaker 1: using them to tap, but just to shape. Doctor Hobbs 255 00:15:08,720 --> 00:15:12,280 Speaker 1: described the benefit of mallet use for career longevity as well, 256 00:15:12,360 --> 00:15:15,320 Speaker 1: writing quote, in the old way, the operator was all 257 00:15:15,400 --> 00:15:18,360 Speaker 1: worn out with a few fillings. The position was such 258 00:15:18,400 --> 00:15:21,240 Speaker 1: that in most cases the strength could not be applied 259 00:15:21,280 --> 00:15:24,160 Speaker 1: in the right direction, but at a great disadvantage to 260 00:15:24,200 --> 00:15:27,480 Speaker 1: the operator, so that after a very few years of practice, 261 00:15:27,560 --> 00:15:30,720 Speaker 1: an operator was worn out ere he had arrived at 262 00:15:30,760 --> 00:15:34,840 Speaker 1: any degree of perfection. Anyone that has tried both systems 263 00:15:34,920 --> 00:15:38,120 Speaker 1: will admit that more gold can be condensed in a cavity, 264 00:15:38,360 --> 00:15:40,600 Speaker 1: and of course make a better filling, as it is 265 00:15:40,640 --> 00:15:43,880 Speaker 1: more solid than in any other way. Being driven to 266 00:15:44,000 --> 00:15:47,600 Speaker 1: place by the mallet, it forms one solid mass. She 267 00:15:47,720 --> 00:15:50,240 Speaker 1: also notes that it's better for the patient to have 268 00:15:50,280 --> 00:15:53,960 Speaker 1: a narrow tool in their mouth than a dentist's whole hand, 269 00:15:54,080 --> 00:15:57,120 Speaker 1: writing quote, With the mallet, I have known the patient 270 00:15:57,240 --> 00:16:00,360 Speaker 1: to sleep when the operation was long. This show that 271 00:16:00,440 --> 00:16:04,920 Speaker 1: it was not very unpleasant. After officially receiving her degree, 272 00:16:05,000 --> 00:16:08,480 Speaker 1: doctor Hobbs moved her practice once more, this time to 273 00:16:08,600 --> 00:16:12,520 Speaker 1: Chicago to an office in ninety three Washington Street, and 274 00:16:12,600 --> 00:16:16,040 Speaker 1: while living there, she met a man named James Myrtle Taylor, 275 00:16:16,120 --> 00:16:18,080 Speaker 1: who had fought for the Union in the Civil War 276 00:16:18,520 --> 00:16:20,680 Speaker 1: and at that point was working as a train car 277 00:16:20,720 --> 00:16:24,360 Speaker 1: painter for the Northwestern Railway. The two married on April 278 00:16:24,360 --> 00:16:28,920 Speaker 1: twenty fourth, eighteen sixty seven. Several months later, on November first, 279 00:16:29,000 --> 00:16:32,680 Speaker 1: eighteen sixty seven, Lucy Hobbs Taylor sold her practice to 280 00:16:32,800 --> 00:16:36,560 Speaker 1: another doctor that was doctor Edmund Noys, and she and 281 00:16:36,560 --> 00:16:39,880 Speaker 1: her husband moved to Lawrence, Kansas to open a practice there. 282 00:16:40,680 --> 00:16:44,360 Speaker 1: This practice was housed at ninety eight Massachusetts Street in Lawrence, 283 00:16:44,360 --> 00:16:48,000 Speaker 1: and there were two dentists because Lucy taught James the 284 00:16:48,080 --> 00:16:51,360 Speaker 1: dentistry trade, and as a pair they did really well. 285 00:16:51,400 --> 00:16:54,120 Speaker 1: Their practice was very popular and well respected, and they 286 00:16:54,160 --> 00:16:57,200 Speaker 1: stayed busy. They had built the office on land that 287 00:16:57,240 --> 00:16:59,920 Speaker 1: they purchased, and the building they put there also in 288 00:17:00,000 --> 00:17:03,880 Speaker 1: included their residence. After several years in that location, the 289 00:17:03,880 --> 00:17:06,560 Speaker 1: Tailors decided to build a new home, this time on 290 00:17:06,600 --> 00:17:09,280 Speaker 1: Ohio Street, and this time, it was not a combination 291 00:17:09,480 --> 00:17:13,000 Speaker 1: home in business. Instead, they moved the dental office to 292 00:17:13,119 --> 00:17:15,800 Speaker 1: a new and separate location at the corner of eighth 293 00:17:15,800 --> 00:17:19,879 Speaker 1: in Massachusetts. Lucy's time in Kansas was marked by heavy 294 00:17:19,880 --> 00:17:24,359 Speaker 1: participation in community activities. Lucy joined the Fraternal Order in 295 00:17:24,440 --> 00:17:28,920 Speaker 1: Service organization Rebecca Lodge, known more formally as the Women's 296 00:17:28,960 --> 00:17:32,879 Speaker 1: Associate Lodges of the Independent Order of the Oddfellows. She 297 00:17:33,000 --> 00:17:36,159 Speaker 1: joined that in June of eighteen seventy one. In eighteen 298 00:17:36,240 --> 00:17:39,200 Speaker 1: seventy six, the EIGHTA Chapter of the Eastern Star Lodge 299 00:17:39,240 --> 00:17:42,399 Speaker 1: was founded, and Lucy was a charter member. She really 300 00:17:42,440 --> 00:17:45,040 Speaker 1: loved Kansas and once said of it quote, I am 301 00:17:45,040 --> 00:17:48,320 Speaker 1: a New Yorker by birth, but I love my adopted country, 302 00:17:48,400 --> 00:17:51,439 Speaker 1: the West. To it belongs the credit of making it 303 00:17:51,520 --> 00:17:54,680 Speaker 1: possible for women to be recognized in the dental profession 304 00:17:54,720 --> 00:17:58,440 Speaker 1: on equal terms with men. We will talk a bit 305 00:17:58,440 --> 00:18:01,400 Speaker 1: about Lucy's life after she had become a well known 306 00:18:01,440 --> 00:18:03,960 Speaker 1: figure in dentistry, but first we will hear from the 307 00:18:03,960 --> 00:18:06,560 Speaker 1: sponsors that keep stuff you missed in history class going. 308 00:18:17,080 --> 00:18:19,639 Speaker 1: There was a certain degree of celebrity that came with 309 00:18:19,760 --> 00:18:22,680 Speaker 1: being the first woman in the US with a dental degree. 310 00:18:23,240 --> 00:18:26,960 Speaker 1: When Lucy traveled, her mere presence sometimes made the papers. 311 00:18:27,600 --> 00:18:30,119 Speaker 1: For example, when she went to see family in Ellenburgh, 312 00:18:30,200 --> 00:18:33,000 Speaker 1: New York in eighteen seventy two. You'll remember that's one 313 00:18:33,000 --> 00:18:35,439 Speaker 1: of the places she might have been born. But that 314 00:18:35,560 --> 00:18:37,720 Speaker 1: visit got a write up. That is the account that 315 00:18:37,760 --> 00:18:40,960 Speaker 1: we quoted from earlier that recounted the man in McGregor, Iowa, 316 00:18:41,320 --> 00:18:44,560 Speaker 1: who had decided to test her. And that article opens 317 00:18:44,560 --> 00:18:48,359 Speaker 1: with missus Lucy Hobbes Taylor DDS and her husband have 318 00:18:48,440 --> 00:18:51,640 Speaker 1: been visiting relatives in town for several weeks, and then 319 00:18:51,640 --> 00:18:56,719 Speaker 1: it continues with a brief biography of Lucy's accomplishments. James M. 320 00:18:56,760 --> 00:19:00,359 Speaker 1: Taylor died in eighteen eighty six. It's usually raport that 321 00:19:00,400 --> 00:19:03,480 Speaker 1: at that point Lucy retired, but that doesn't seem to 322 00:19:03,480 --> 00:19:06,800 Speaker 1: be entirely accurate. She did step away from the practice 323 00:19:06,800 --> 00:19:09,720 Speaker 1: for a bit, but then reopened the offices and kept 324 00:19:09,760 --> 00:19:13,000 Speaker 1: the practice open for quite a while, although with significantly 325 00:19:13,119 --> 00:19:16,439 Speaker 1: reduced hours that she kept there. Part of this seems 326 00:19:16,480 --> 00:19:18,840 Speaker 1: to be just a matter of her patients, who called 327 00:19:18,880 --> 00:19:22,280 Speaker 1: her doctor Lucy. They would not let her retire. An 328 00:19:22,280 --> 00:19:25,119 Speaker 1: eighteen ninety five to Peek of Paper reported quote for 329 00:19:25,280 --> 00:19:27,920 Speaker 1: years she had the largest dental practice in the city 330 00:19:27,960 --> 00:19:30,920 Speaker 1: of Lawrence, And regardless of the fact that she has 331 00:19:31,040 --> 00:19:34,520 Speaker 1: retired from active business, there are many who will let 332 00:19:34,520 --> 00:19:39,480 Speaker 1: no one do their work but her. I know a 333 00:19:39,560 --> 00:19:43,359 Speaker 1: number of people, more doctors than dentists really, who like 334 00:19:43,480 --> 00:19:48,440 Speaker 1: retire but still maintain hmmm like some level of patient engagement. 335 00:19:50,280 --> 00:19:53,879 Speaker 1: When another dentist from Lawrence, doctor C. E. Esterley, died 336 00:19:53,920 --> 00:19:57,520 Speaker 1: suddenly in nineteen oh one, doctor Taylor and five other 337 00:19:57,600 --> 00:20:00,000 Speaker 1: dentists in the area placed a note in the Lawrence 338 00:20:00,160 --> 00:20:03,680 Speaker 1: Daily Journal to honor him. They included a description of 339 00:20:03,800 --> 00:20:07,560 Speaker 1: him as fostering friendships among the various dentists of the area, 340 00:20:07,640 --> 00:20:11,320 Speaker 1: writing quote, the cordiality of his relations to each of 341 00:20:11,440 --> 00:20:14,159 Speaker 1: us has taught us much of what one practitioner should 342 00:20:14,160 --> 00:20:17,000 Speaker 1: be to another, and we feel that our intercourse with 343 00:20:17,080 --> 00:20:20,359 Speaker 1: him and his friendship toward us has been a moral 344 00:20:20,440 --> 00:20:24,120 Speaker 1: as well as a professional blessing. When she wasn't kindly 345 00:20:24,240 --> 00:20:27,360 Speaker 1: continuing to see patients who felt that no other dentist 346 00:20:27,400 --> 00:20:30,000 Speaker 1: would do, Lucy spent most of her time working with 347 00:20:30,080 --> 00:20:34,159 Speaker 1: civic groups and her fraternal organizations. As an example of 348 00:20:34,160 --> 00:20:35,959 Speaker 1: some of the charitable work that she did in her 349 00:20:36,000 --> 00:20:39,720 Speaker 1: later years. In eighteen ninety three, a new home for 350 00:20:40,000 --> 00:20:44,240 Speaker 1: orphans was being built in nearby Ottawa, Kansas. The board 351 00:20:44,240 --> 00:20:47,800 Speaker 1: of trustees managing the project reached out to the various 352 00:20:47,880 --> 00:20:50,560 Speaker 1: Rebecca Lodges of the state to help the project along 353 00:20:50,760 --> 00:20:54,760 Speaker 1: in whatever ways they could. A lot sent donations. Doctor 354 00:20:54,880 --> 00:20:58,240 Speaker 1: Lucy Hobbs Taylor encouraged her local lodge to help, which 355 00:20:58,240 --> 00:21:01,680 Speaker 1: it did. But in addition to that, Lucy also selected 356 00:21:01,720 --> 00:21:04,400 Speaker 1: one of the rooms in this orphan home and provided 357 00:21:04,440 --> 00:21:07,320 Speaker 1: all the furnishings from it from her own money. This 358 00:21:07,480 --> 00:21:09,320 Speaker 1: was in line with a lot of her charity work 359 00:21:09,400 --> 00:21:12,359 Speaker 1: both before and after her husband's death, which was often 360 00:21:12,400 --> 00:21:15,919 Speaker 1: done for the benefit of mothers and children's causes. In 361 00:21:15,960 --> 00:21:19,480 Speaker 1: eighteen ninety five, the Chicago Tribune ran an article about 362 00:21:19,480 --> 00:21:23,040 Speaker 1: women dentists, which opened with quote, ten years ago, a 363 00:21:23,080 --> 00:21:27,600 Speaker 1: woman dentist was a rarity, even a novelty in Chicago. Today, 364 00:21:27,640 --> 00:21:31,000 Speaker 1: the city claims at least fifteen fair devotees of the 365 00:21:31,000 --> 00:21:34,120 Speaker 1: profession who are making their way in the most approved 366 00:21:34,200 --> 00:21:38,040 Speaker 1: American girl fashion. And this article is mostly about the 367 00:21:38,080 --> 00:21:40,560 Speaker 1: women that are practicing in the city at the time, 368 00:21:40,760 --> 00:21:43,800 Speaker 1: including one named missus Hattie E. Lawrence, who the paper 369 00:21:43,840 --> 00:21:48,520 Speaker 1: called a quote pioneer woman dentist, whatever that means. The 370 00:21:48,640 --> 00:21:51,199 Speaker 1: article gets quotes from a handful of women in the 371 00:21:51,200 --> 00:21:53,840 Speaker 1: field and shares some of the things that they were 372 00:21:53,840 --> 00:21:56,240 Speaker 1: dealing with on a day to day basis, including people 373 00:21:56,280 --> 00:21:59,280 Speaker 1: always asking if they were strong enough to pull teeth. 374 00:22:00,160 --> 00:22:02,879 Speaker 1: But then it traces all of that back to Lucy 375 00:22:02,960 --> 00:22:06,919 Speaker 1: Hobbs as the forerunner and mentions the quote bitter opposition 376 00:22:07,119 --> 00:22:10,439 Speaker 1: and foolish objection that she had to endure in her 377 00:22:10,480 --> 00:22:15,159 Speaker 1: early dental career. She finally officially closed her office in 378 00:22:15,200 --> 00:22:18,960 Speaker 1: the early nineteen hundreds. According to a real estate transfer 379 00:22:19,040 --> 00:22:23,159 Speaker 1: announcement in Lawrence's Jeffersonian Gazette, she sold the house on 380 00:22:23,240 --> 00:22:26,520 Speaker 1: Ohio Street to a woman named Kate M. Spaulding for 381 00:22:26,680 --> 00:22:30,720 Speaker 1: oney five hundred and ten dollars. She'd already moved into 382 00:22:30,760 --> 00:22:33,399 Speaker 1: a new home at eight oh nine Vermont Street a 383 00:22:33,440 --> 00:22:36,400 Speaker 1: few years before that. Yeah, that was both her home 384 00:22:36,440 --> 00:22:40,560 Speaker 1: and her office because she was still occasionally letting people 385 00:22:40,600 --> 00:22:45,320 Speaker 1: come over to have work. In the late summer or 386 00:22:45,359 --> 00:22:48,320 Speaker 1: early autumn of nineteen ten, doctor Taylor had a stroke 387 00:22:48,560 --> 00:22:51,720 Speaker 1: and this left her with some degree of paralysis. I 388 00:22:51,760 --> 00:22:53,639 Speaker 1: read about it in papers, they did not describe it 389 00:22:53,680 --> 00:22:57,080 Speaker 1: any more detailed than that. A little more than a 390 00:22:57,080 --> 00:23:00,960 Speaker 1: month later, she died of a cerebral hemorrhage am on 391 00:23:01,040 --> 00:23:04,880 Speaker 1: October third, nineteen ten, in her home in Lawrence, Kansas. 392 00:23:05,680 --> 00:23:08,080 Speaker 1: The local paper referred to her as quote one of 393 00:23:08,119 --> 00:23:11,600 Speaker 1: the best known residents of this city. In the death announcement. 394 00:23:12,240 --> 00:23:16,080 Speaker 1: An Arkansas paper reported her death by saying, quote, Lawrence, 395 00:23:16,160 --> 00:23:19,760 Speaker 1: Kansas has lost its most widely known and most prominent 396 00:23:19,840 --> 00:23:24,200 Speaker 1: professional woman in missus Lucy Hobbs Taylor. She was buried 397 00:23:24,200 --> 00:23:27,560 Speaker 1: in Oak Hill Cemetery on Thirteenth Street, alongside her husband. 398 00:23:28,080 --> 00:23:32,199 Speaker 1: Before her death, she almost certainly understood her significance as 399 00:23:32,280 --> 00:23:36,440 Speaker 1: the first woman to earn a degree in dentistry. Allegedly, 400 00:23:36,520 --> 00:23:39,000 Speaker 1: in nineteen oh seven, she gave her diploma to a 401 00:23:39,040 --> 00:23:43,080 Speaker 1: friend that was doctor Edward Bumgartner. At least that's one 402 00:23:43,200 --> 00:23:46,560 Speaker 1: version of the story. The Jeffersonian Gazette reported it as 403 00:23:46,600 --> 00:23:51,040 Speaker 1: the Bumgardner received the diploma when Lucy died. The announcement 404 00:23:51,119 --> 00:23:54,800 Speaker 1: reads quote valued as a keepsake, the diploma of the 405 00:23:54,880 --> 00:23:57,800 Speaker 1: late doctor Lucy Hobbs Taylor, whose death took place a 406 00:23:57,840 --> 00:24:01,080 Speaker 1: week ago, issued to her from the Ohio College of 407 00:24:01,119 --> 00:24:04,399 Speaker 1: Dental Surgery in February eighteen sixty six as the first 408 00:24:04,440 --> 00:24:09,240 Speaker 1: woman dentist in America. Has been given to doctor Edward Bumgartner, 409 00:24:09,680 --> 00:24:12,879 Speaker 1: who has a hobby as a collector. He values the 410 00:24:12,920 --> 00:24:16,680 Speaker 1: parchment very highly. Yeah, it's unclear since they don't mention 411 00:24:16,760 --> 00:24:18,840 Speaker 1: when it was given to him. They kind of make 412 00:24:18,920 --> 00:24:21,040 Speaker 1: it sound like it was when he died. But then 413 00:24:21,080 --> 00:24:22,679 Speaker 1: I'm like, well, then who gave it to him? Like 414 00:24:22,720 --> 00:24:24,800 Speaker 1: who was the executor? That was like, you can have this. 415 00:24:25,680 --> 00:24:28,280 Speaker 1: We know they were friends. They had both co signed 416 00:24:28,320 --> 00:24:30,800 Speaker 1: that placement that they had had put in the paper 417 00:24:30,800 --> 00:24:34,040 Speaker 1: about their colleague that had died. They knew each other 418 00:24:34,119 --> 00:24:37,600 Speaker 1: before that. Bumgardner was a fellow dentist who had moved 419 00:24:37,600 --> 00:24:41,120 Speaker 1: to Lawrence, Kansas in eighteen ninety three after he received 420 00:24:41,160 --> 00:24:45,120 Speaker 1: his dental degree. And though you would think that technically 421 00:24:45,160 --> 00:24:48,280 Speaker 1: they were competitors, at that point, Lucy had largely stepped 422 00:24:48,280 --> 00:24:51,840 Speaker 1: back from dentistry, and so she and Bumgardner became friends 423 00:24:52,160 --> 00:24:54,919 Speaker 1: and she was something of a mentor to him. And 424 00:24:54,960 --> 00:24:58,439 Speaker 1: in any case, he kept Lucy's diploma for some period 425 00:24:58,440 --> 00:25:00,520 Speaker 1: of time and then he gave it to the Kansas 426 00:25:00,560 --> 00:25:04,879 Speaker 1: State Historical Society, where it remains in the organization's archives. 427 00:25:05,280 --> 00:25:08,680 Speaker 1: In an obituary in the Lawrence Daily Journal, the following 428 00:25:08,840 --> 00:25:12,600 Speaker 1: was written about Lucy Hobbs Taylor. Quote. Doctor Lucy Taylor 429 00:25:12,880 --> 00:25:16,119 Speaker 1: was one of the most striking figures in Lawrence. She 430 00:25:16,280 --> 00:25:19,919 Speaker 1: occupied a position of honor and ability for years. She 431 00:25:20,000 --> 00:25:22,520 Speaker 1: occupied a place high in the ranks of her profession. 432 00:25:23,119 --> 00:25:26,400 Speaker 1: Doctor Taylor was a great charitable worker and did much 433 00:25:26,480 --> 00:25:31,480 Speaker 1: good in a quiet, unobtrusive manner. By nineteen hundred, less 434 00:25:31,480 --> 00:25:34,400 Speaker 1: than forty years after Lucy Hobbs opened her first practice, 435 00:25:34,400 --> 00:25:37,200 Speaker 1: and while she was still alive, there were almost one 436 00:25:37,320 --> 00:25:41,399 Speaker 1: thousand women dentists in the United States. Today, there is 437 00:25:41,440 --> 00:25:44,040 Speaker 1: an award named for Lucy Hobbs Taylor, which is given 438 00:25:44,040 --> 00:25:47,399 Speaker 1: by the American Association of Women Dentists. It is their 439 00:25:47,480 --> 00:25:51,119 Speaker 1: highest honor and is given in recognition of outstanding women 440 00:25:51,119 --> 00:25:54,359 Speaker 1: in dentistry. So we've talked a bunch about doctor Lucy 441 00:25:54,359 --> 00:25:58,640 Speaker 1: Hobbs Taylor, who really was an impressive woman, but it's 442 00:25:58,680 --> 00:26:01,320 Speaker 1: also important to talk about the way she's almost always 443 00:26:01,320 --> 00:26:04,560 Speaker 1: framed in write ups about her. She was absolutely the 444 00:26:04,600 --> 00:26:08,000 Speaker 1: first woman in the US to receive a dental degree 445 00:26:08,640 --> 00:26:12,440 Speaker 1: and the US was the first country with formal dental schools, 446 00:26:12,920 --> 00:26:14,800 Speaker 1: so it's fair to say that she was the first 447 00:26:14,800 --> 00:26:18,720 Speaker 1: woman in the world with a dental degree. She wasn't 448 00:26:18,800 --> 00:26:22,160 Speaker 1: the first woman to practice dentistry, not even in the US. 449 00:26:23,359 --> 00:26:26,560 Speaker 1: Some of this leaving out of other practitioners may come 450 00:26:26,600 --> 00:26:29,320 Speaker 1: down a little bit to semantics. If you only consider 451 00:26:29,359 --> 00:26:32,240 Speaker 1: someone with a dental degree a dentist, then yes, she 452 00:26:32,280 --> 00:26:35,160 Speaker 1: would technically be the first woman, but we know lots 453 00:26:35,240 --> 00:26:38,879 Speaker 1: of people were working as dentists with that job title, 454 00:26:39,119 --> 00:26:44,040 Speaker 1: including Lucy Hobbs, without the degree. While researching, Holly found 455 00:26:44,080 --> 00:26:47,639 Speaker 1: a newspaper syndicated article from eighteen seventy two was in 456 00:26:47,680 --> 00:26:52,439 Speaker 1: the Frostburg Mining Journal of Maryland. It opens with quote 457 00:26:52,600 --> 00:26:56,600 Speaker 1: alluding to lady dentists. The Cincinnati commercial does not want 458 00:26:56,600 --> 00:26:59,320 Speaker 1: the honor of being the first lady graduate with a 459 00:26:59,400 --> 00:27:02,639 Speaker 1: dental college to be carried off by a Russian countess, 460 00:27:03,160 --> 00:27:07,359 Speaker 1: but claims that honor for a Cincinnati lady, missus Lucy B. Hobbs, 461 00:27:07,400 --> 00:27:10,919 Speaker 1: who graduated in eighteen sixty five. So Russia is not 462 00:27:11,000 --> 00:27:14,760 Speaker 1: ahead of America after all, and enterprising women. So this 463 00:27:14,960 --> 00:27:17,399 Speaker 1: is just a tiny little blurb in a paper and 464 00:27:17,440 --> 00:27:21,359 Speaker 1: It probably wasn't intended to be especially serious, but it 465 00:27:21,359 --> 00:27:23,560 Speaker 1: does kind of show how easy it is for facts 466 00:27:23,640 --> 00:27:26,600 Speaker 1: to get a bit distorted when it comes to national pride. 467 00:27:27,000 --> 00:27:29,200 Speaker 1: I actually tried to hunt down the Russian woman who 468 00:27:29,240 --> 00:27:31,880 Speaker 1: was apparently being put forth as the first woman dentist 469 00:27:32,440 --> 00:27:34,560 Speaker 1: the avenues. I went down all kind of dead ended. 470 00:27:34,600 --> 00:27:37,840 Speaker 1: There are some possible candidates, but it was never very 471 00:27:37,880 --> 00:27:40,879 Speaker 1: clear to me. This reminds me of when everyone on 472 00:27:40,920 --> 00:27:44,399 Speaker 1: Twitter is responding to something and you can't find what 473 00:27:44,560 --> 00:27:48,880 Speaker 1: it is that people are responding to. It's very much 474 00:27:48,920 --> 00:27:52,160 Speaker 1: that I'm like, well, there is this woman who might 475 00:27:52,200 --> 00:27:56,520 Speaker 1: have been practicing in the early eighteen hundreds and maybe 476 00:27:56,640 --> 00:27:59,000 Speaker 1: was certified, but didn't go to a dental school, Like 477 00:27:59,000 --> 00:28:01,520 Speaker 1: there's it's a lot of guesswork. Yeah, yeah. And the 478 00:28:01,560 --> 00:28:04,679 Speaker 1: real kicker there is that there were definitely women practicing 479 00:28:04,760 --> 00:28:08,240 Speaker 1: some sort of dentistry way before any of these folks, 480 00:28:08,600 --> 00:28:12,320 Speaker 1: before Lucy b. Hobbes, before this Russian countess whoever. That 481 00:28:12,440 --> 00:28:16,080 Speaker 1: might have been the first woman to practice dentistry in 482 00:28:16,119 --> 00:28:20,080 Speaker 1: the US that we know of was Emmeline Roberts Jones, 483 00:28:20,440 --> 00:28:22,680 Speaker 1: who would have been a contemporary of Lucy's, but she 484 00:28:22,800 --> 00:28:26,119 Speaker 1: started working with her husband. Several years before Miss Hobbs 485 00:28:26,119 --> 00:28:30,280 Speaker 1: went from teaching to dentistry, a woman named Madeline Francoise 486 00:28:30,440 --> 00:28:34,720 Speaker 1: Calais was practicing dentistry in France back in the seventeen forties, 487 00:28:35,480 --> 00:28:38,960 Speaker 1: and centuries before any of them, there were women treating 488 00:28:39,000 --> 00:28:42,040 Speaker 1: people for dental issues all over the world. Much of 489 00:28:42,080 --> 00:28:45,560 Speaker 1: it is likely undocumented, some of it is probably documented 490 00:28:45,600 --> 00:28:47,720 Speaker 1: and just has not made its way to availability for 491 00:28:47,760 --> 00:28:50,800 Speaker 1: English speakers. But we know that there were people like 492 00:28:50,880 --> 00:28:54,960 Speaker 1: prior podcast subject Hildegarde of being in writing about oral 493 00:28:54,960 --> 00:28:58,520 Speaker 1: health all the way back to the eleventh century, and 494 00:28:58,640 --> 00:29:02,040 Speaker 1: a woman named hoto Keahey worked with an entire set 495 00:29:02,080 --> 00:29:04,920 Speaker 1: of dental tools and made dentures in Japan in the 496 00:29:04,920 --> 00:29:09,400 Speaker 1: fourteenth century. And women were in various medical roles in 497 00:29:09,480 --> 00:29:13,640 Speaker 1: ancient Greece and Rome. So though we definitely honor Lucy 498 00:29:13,760 --> 00:29:17,719 Speaker 1: Hobbs Taylor as a trailblazer, it's important just remember that 499 00:29:17,760 --> 00:29:21,120 Speaker 1: she was making her strides in the context of many 500 00:29:21,160 --> 00:29:24,440 Speaker 1: others having gone before her. Just want to be very 501 00:29:24,480 --> 00:29:28,080 Speaker 1: clear that we're not erasing any of the other history 502 00:29:28,160 --> 00:29:36,920 Speaker 1: of women in dentistry, because there's plenty. Thanks so much 503 00:29:36,920 --> 00:29:39,680 Speaker 1: for joining us on this Saturday. If you'd like to 504 00:29:39,720 --> 00:29:42,960 Speaker 1: send us a note, our email addresses History Podcast at 505 00:29:43,000 --> 00:29:46,720 Speaker 1: iHeartRadio dot com, and you can subscribe to the show 506 00:29:46,760 --> 00:29:50,160 Speaker 1: on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen 507 00:29:50,200 --> 00:29:54,080 Speaker 1: to your favorite shows.