Mary Putnam JacobiBorn 31 Aug 1842; died 10 Jun 1906 at age 63.(née Mary Corinna Putnam) American physician, well-respected for her medical abilities, who advocated social reform to expand educational opportunities for women by providing the same training and clinical practice as men. She was awarded Harvard University's Boylston Prize for her 1876 essay, The Question of Rest for Women during Menstruation. In this work, she refuted allegations of the physical limitations of women, such as published by Dr. Edward H. Clarke's in Sex in Education (1873). She supported her position with scientific data including sphygmographic tracings of pulse rate, force, and variations to confirm that a woman maintained vigorous health throughout her monthly cycle. Jacobi became the first female member of the Academy of Medicine.« |
