History

Women Dentists: The Origins

John M. Hyson, Jr., DDS, MS, MA

Copyright 2002 Journal of the California Dental Association.

About the Author:

John M. Hyson, Jr., DDS, MS, MA is the director of curatorial affairs at the Dr. Samuel D. Harris National Museum of Dentistry. He is also an associate professor of oral health care delivery at Baltimore College of Dental Surgery, Dental School, University of Maryland.

The pioneer women in dentistry are worthy of recognition and admiration. They broke the traditional barriers for their sex and set the standards for those who followed in their path as dental professionals. As medicine has its Elizabeth Blackwell, nursing its Florence Nightingale, so dentistry has its Lucy Taylor Hobbs and Henriette Hirschfeld. In 1884, Lucy Hobbs wrote: "People were amazed when they learned that a young girl had so far forgotten her womanhood as to want to study dentistry." Today, women represent almost 50 percent of the dental students in some dental schools. It is projected that by the year 2020, 20 percent of all dental practitioners in the United States will be women.1 This article details a timeline of women’s place in dental history by highlighting prominent women dentists and various opinions on women in dentistry.

Reportedly, the first dental extraction forceps were made for Sen-Hopet, a beautiful Egyptian society matron, in 2000 B.C.² In the year A.D. 300, Apollonia was canonized by the Church of Rome for refusing to renounce her Christian faith after being tortured by having her teeth extracted one by one. Since then, she has been the saint whose intercession has been sought for the relief of dental pain and suffering.³ As early as 1523, the earliest known dental engraving, by Lucas van Leyden in copper, depicts an itinerant dentist and his female assistant. While the dentist extracts the tooth, the assistant extracts the contents of the patient’s pocket.⁴ Therefore, women have been associated with dentistry ever since its beginning. It is only fitting that women belong to this ancient profession. This paper will present a selective history of women in U.S. dental history.

Women have made up about 1 percent of dental students from the beginning of the profession; but in the late 1960s and 1970s, a significant number of women and minorities began entering the ranks of organized dentistry in the United States. By contrast, in Europe and South America, women dominate the field. There were two major reasons for this dramatic change in the United States. First, dental schools received federal financial incentives for each female and minority student matriculated. Secondly, the dental schools began to actively recruit these students. The federal plan was to address the imbalances in educational opportunities for women and minorities. By providing federal support, it was thought that the barriers of discrimination and lack of finances would get across the message that dentistry was available as a career to these students. Low-interest loans and scholarships were provided by the Health Professions Educational Assistance Program. Also during this period, the women’s movement was becoming an active force for change in the role of women in the workplace. Two incomes were sometimes necessary to maintain the middle-class family lifestyle.⁵

One of the earliest references to the "lady dentist" occurred in 1821 when Levi S. Parmly published in London the second edition of his book, Natural History of the Teeth, in which he offers to instruct both ladies and gentlemen of "liberal education for dental practice." The ladies who availed themselves of this offer are unknown; however, in 1870 the U.S. census lists 24 women as "dentists" and in 1871, 116 women were listed in the British census when occupations were classified. Sixty-three of the English women were younger than 20.⁶

In 1847, Madame H. of Brussels, Belgium, had obtained a diploma to practice dentistry from the Medical Commission, but was refused permission to practice. She continued practicing and was prosecuted for "illegally exercising the art of healing." The court ruled that she could not be refused registration and that she had "complied with the forms required by law"; therefore, no punishment was due her and she was acquitted.⁷

Emeline Roberts Jones: 1859

The first woman to establish herself in a regular dental practice in the United States was Emeline Roberts Jones (Figure 1) of Connecticut. In 1854, at age 17, she married a dentist, Daniel Albion Jones, and became "intensely interested" in his work. After watching her husband work, she began filling extracted teeth. She filled a two-quart jar with her work and then showed her husband what she had done. Reluctantly, in May 1855, he agreed to allow her to practice with him in his Danielsonville office. Finally, in 1859, he took her in as his partner. She enjoyed a reputation as "a skillful dentist."⁸

In 1864, Daniel Jones died, leaving Emeline with two children, a 3 1/2-year-old son and a 6-year-old daughter. Bravely, she carried on independently to support her family. In 1876, she moved to New Haven, Conn., and established one of the largest and most lucrative practices in the state. At the time, "a woman in business or professional ranks was almost a curiosity." She continued to work until her 78th year. Emeline Jones was recognized by her peers in 1896 as "the pioneer woman dentist" of the United States, if not the world. Although there may have been other women who worked in dental offices prior to 1855, she was the first woman to open her own office independently and offer her services to the public "as a competent dentist."⁹

In 1893, Dr. Jones served on the Woman’s Advisory Council of the World’s Columbian Dental Congress. Dr. Jones was elected to an honorary membership in the Connecticut State Dental Society in 1912 and, in 1914, to a complimentary membership in the National Dental Association. Dr. Jones died in 1916 at age 80.¹⁰

Lucy Beaman Hobbs Taylor: 1866

Lucy Beaman Hobbs (Figure 2) was the first woman in the world to graduate from a recognized dental college. Lucy was born in Ellenberg, N.Y., on March 14, 1833, the seventh of 10 children. Orphaned at age 12, she worked as a seamstress to support herself through school and taught school for 10 years before starting her dental career. Teaching was one of the few "honorable careers" available to women in 1849. Originally, she wanted to study medicine at the Electric Medical College in Cincinnati, Ohio, but was informed that "women were not admitted as students." Therefore, she turned to dentistry. In 1859, she unsuccessfully tried to get an apprenticeship in a Cincinnati dental office before applying to dental college (a requirement at the time). Fortunately, Dr. Jonathan Taft, dean of the Ohio College of Dental Surgery, allowed her to study and work in his office while she looked for a preceptor.¹¹

Finally, Dr. Samuel Wardle, who had just graduated in February 1859 from the Ohio college, took her on as an apprentice in his office. Later, she credited Dr. Wardle with "the honor of making it possible for women to enter the profession." She was still forced to work at night with needle and thread in her tiny attic room earning a few pennies for the morning meal. Many months later in March 1861, she made application to the Ohio College of Dental Surgery but was rejected. Dr. Wardle advised her to begin practice without a diploma, since the majority of her male colleagues were not graduates of a dental college.¹²

Dr. Hobbs opened an office in a room in a little building on Fourth Street in Cincinnati and was not left with much after the rent was paid, "only 25 cents per week at times kept her from starvation." In April 1861, the Civil War broke out, and her meager business was ruined. She borrowed some money from a friend and moved to Bellevue, Iowa, seeking a better location. She opened an office and the first year made enough money to buy a new dental chair. She then moved to McGregor, Iowa, and people were curious to see the "woman who pulled teeth." Dr. Hobbs’ reputation grew throughout Iowa. In July 1865, the Iowa State Dental Society invited her to attend their meeting in Dubuque; and she was elected to active membership, the first woman to be so honored. Its historian called the admission of a woman to the society a "chivalrous" act.¹³

Dr. Hobbs attended the American Dental Convention meeting in Chicago with the Iowa delegation and met some of the dental school faculty professors. The Iowa dentists made a formal appeal for her admission to dental college and threatened to boycott any college that refused her admission. Finally, the Ohio College of Dental Surgery relented and allowed her to matriculate. She closed her office in McGregor; entered the college in November 1865; and, because of her practice experience, graduated on Feb. 21, 1866, after only one session. She was the first woman to receive the DDS degree. Following graduation, Lucy opened an office in Chicago and in April 1867 married James M. Taylor, a Civil War veteran. The same year, the couple moved to Lawrence, Kan., where her husband began to study dentistry under her guidance.¹⁴

In July 1866, Dr. Hobbs read a paper, "The Use of the Mallet," before the Iowa State Dental Society and became the first woman to address the members of a state dental society. Her paper was published in the Dental Register, which was edited by her old friend, Dr. Taft.¹⁵ On Jan. 7, 1868, Dr. Hobbs advertised in the Kansas Daily Tribune:

"‘To the Citizens of Lawrence!’ Those wishing anything done in the Dental line will find the parlor comfortable and the Operating Room always pure, and well provided with every instrument and article necessary to the successful practice of the Art, together with all useful modern improvements known to the profession."¹⁶

In 1893, Dr. Hobbs served on the Woman’s Advisory Committee for the World’s Columbian Congress held in Chicago. She died at her home in Lawrence on Oct. 3, 1910, at age 78. In 1993, the American Association of Women Dentists established the Lucy Hobbs Taylor Award to recognize "significant service to dentistry and contribution to society." In 1998, Dr. Hobbs was honored with a New York State historic marker.¹⁷

Dr. George Barker: The Opposition

Dr. George T. Barker, one of the editors of Dental Times, in July 1865, perhaps in response to Lucy Hobbs’ election to active membership in the Iowa State Dental Society, published an article, "Dental Surgery: Should Females Practice It, " in opposition to the emergence of women in the dental profession. He wrote that women did not have the "mental and physical equipment" to practice dentistry. The "very form and structure of woman unfit her for its duties." He also cited pregnancy and family neglect. In rebuttal, the editor of the Dental Register commented: "Filling a tooth requires less effort of mind and body than getting up a dinner; and the whole of dental practice is mere play, both of mind and body, when compared with housekeeping."¹⁸

Dr. James Truman: An Advocate

Dr. James Truman in his March 1866 valedictory address to the graduating class of the Pennsylvania College of Dental Surgery declared:"Talent is of no sex, color or clime; but it is an inheritance from the Creator, given to be fully cultivated in the direction that it leads."¹⁹

On Aug. 6, 1869, Dr. Truman proposed a resolution at the American Dental Association meeting at Saratoga, N.Y., that, as the "National Delegated Body," the organization should ensure the rights of "any woman duly qualified" as full members of organized dentistry. The resolution was "laid on the table" and not acted on, a major setback for the admission of women to the profession.²⁰

Dr. Truman believed that to say to "one-half of the human family, stitch, stitch, darn stockings, make shoes for a shilling, stand behind counters for two or three dollars a week, do anything, but don’t enter the sacred precinct that we have marked out for our particular benefit," was morally wrong and needed change. He was the "first to begin the contest" for the admission of women to dentistry."²¹

Henriette Hirschfeld: 1869

Henriette Pagelsen Hirschfeld (Figure 3) was born in 1836 at Sylt, a small island on the West Coast of Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. At 19, she married but was separated before she was 30 because of her husband’s mental condition. He was committed to an asylum and her marriage annulled. While in Berlin, she was impressed with the great need of German children for dental care. However, there were no dental schools in Germany at the time, and therefore all dental training was through preceptorships. This approach did not satisfy her desires. Her only recourse was to come to the United States.²²

Dr. Hirschfeld arrived in Philadelphia in 1867 alone and unknown for the purpose of studying dentistry at the Pennsylvania College of Dental Surgery. However, the dean refused to admit her. One anatomy professor stated that he "would not teach anatomy to a woman." The faculty rejected her by "a majority vote, but two voting in her favor." Fortunately for Dr. Hirschfeld, Dr. James Truman interceded and arrangements were made to have her study anatomy at the Woman’s Medical College of Philadelphia. On her first visit to the dental college, she was greeted "with a storm of hisses" from the male students.²³

Dr. Hirschfeld had received a written promise from the Prussian government before she left that she would be allowed to practice in Germany if she obtained a diploma from an accredited American dental college. She graduated on Feb. 27, 1869, after taking the entire course of instruction (the first woman to do so as Lucy Hobbs had received credit for her practice time), and returned to Berlin and opened her office. Society matrons first sent their servants, then their children, and finally themselves as patients. When the crown princess engaged Dr. Hirschfeld for her nursery, Dr. Hirschfeld’s success was assured.²⁴

Dr. Hirschfeld noted:"I don’t think many of my professional brethren like it much that the females have crept into their privileges, but I can’t help the poor fellows, they will have to get used to it." Mothers were delighted to have her treat their children as "they place their little ones with confidence under my charge." In 1872, Henriette remarried and had two children. In 1874, she took in Dr. Louise Jacobi, an 1874 graduate of the Baltimore College of Dental Surgery, as a partner in her busy practice. In 1893, she returned to the United States to attend the World’s Columbian Congress as one of the 41 women dentists to serve on the Woman’s Advisory Council with Emeline R. Jones and Lucy B. Hobbs Taylor. After establishing a woman’s clinic and hospital, Dr. Hirschfeld retired in 1899. She died on Aug. 24, 1911, at age 77.²⁵

Emilie Foeking: 1873

Emilie Foeking (Figure 4) of Prussia was the first woman to receive a degree in medicine or dentistry in Baltimore when she graduated from the Baltimore College of Dental Surgery in 1873, after attending two full courses of lectures and demonstrations and passing the final examination. She had forst been refused admission to the Pennsylvania College of Dental Surgery, but was taken to Baltimore to meet Dr. Ferdinand J.S. Gorgas, the dean of the Baltimore College of Dental Surgery, by the aforementioned Dr. James Truman, who seemed to be the primary advocate for women in the dental profession. Dr. Foeking’s thesis was appropriately titled, "Is Woman adapted to the Dental profession?" Her paper was published in the American Journal of Dental Science in April 1873. The Missouri Dental Journal commented on her article that women were "by nature much better fitted" for "cooking, tailoring, etc." and would be unable to achieve the "highest honors as professionals." After graduation, Dr. Foeking returned to Berlin, Germany to practice.²⁶

Annie Ramburger: 1874

Annie D. Ramburger of Philadelphia was the second American woman and the first American woman to graduate from the Pennsylvania College of Dental Surgery on Feb. 28, 1874. Her thesis was titled, "Teeth, their Diseases and Treatment." After graduation she opened her office treating only women and children. The Dental Register commented that she had some "prejudice" to meet, which she overcame. Furthermore, the editor surmised, "Three-fourths of all operations upon the natural teeth of ladies and children, could be just as well done, and in a great many cases far better, by lady operators, than by men."²⁷

Dr. Ramburger stated in 1884, that she had not missed a day because of illness in her 10 years of practice at her Philadelphia office. She felt that dentistry had given her the freedom from the "humiliating restraints" that many female occupations imposed on women.²⁸

Nellie E. Pooler Chapman: 1870s

Nellie E. Pooler Chapman, born in 1847, was the first woman to practice dentistry in California. Her husband, Dr. Allen Chapman, trained her as an apprentice in his office at Nevada City, Calif., before he left in 1861 to join the Nevada silver rush. This arrangement covered his office while he was away on trips to the Comstock Lode. She died in 1906. Their two sons followed them into dentistry.²⁹

Journal Debate: 1873-76

From 1873 to 1876, various articles appeared in the dental press about the merits of women as dentists. The American Journal of Dental Science commented in 1873 that at the Baltimore College of Dental Surgery, "the experiment of receiving female students, inaugurated last session, has proven so successful, and the effect upon the male students is so beneficial, that faculty are perfectly satisfied with their action in this respect." It added that the male members of the class behaved like gentlemen. At the Pennsylvania College of Dental Surgery, apparently things did not run as smoothly in 1873. Three female 1872 students had been refused admission to the 1873 session on the basis that they were women and therefore, "not desirable students." A newspaper article, "Woman’s True Rights," told of "a state of great internal commotion" and the "dissatisfaction of the male students." It contrasted this experience with the Baltimore College experience and concluded that the Northern students were not the same "gentlemen" the Baltimore school had in its student body since its enrollment was primarily from the South. Finally, the Pennsylvania situation reached the board of trustees, who decided that "a faculty once receiving a student could not cast said student out without due cause, and, done, an action in court would be the proper remedy." Any expulsion because of sex would not be considered. Therefore, the faculty must "retain the women and fulfil the contract implied on matriculation"³⁰

In 1874, a courageous Dr. J.S. Lattimer proposed a resolution at the First District Dental Society of New York that dental schools accept students "without regard to the sex" of the applicant. Some opposed him on the grounds that women could be "better taught in separate schools." The resolution was tabled indefinitely.³¹

Jennie D. Spurrier: 1876

Jennie D. Spurrier of Springfield, Ohio, opened her office in January 1876. She was the first female dentist in Illinois. Her first patient needed an extraction, for which she was paid 50 cents. She had it engraved with the date and "My First."³²

The Debate Continues: 1883-87

On Nov. 7, 1883, Dr. Norman Kingsley of New York City, dean of the New York College of Dentistry, delivered a speech titled, "What is a woman? And what [are] her characteristics and capabilities?" before the American Academy of Dental Science in Boston. He referred to the "exceptional few" women who had graduated from dental college. He considered that there was "much in dentistry which is not within the scope of the average woman" and that women were not adapted "by nature" to the mental and physical aspects of the profession.³³

However, he did believe that there was "a field in dentistry for women." They were doing well in school and their record was "equal to the best" male students at his college. In some cases, the clinic patients were requesting to be assigned to "one of the ladies to have their teeth treated or filled." In his opinion, women should enter the profession through the role of a dental assistant and then go for a degree if they liked it.³⁴

In England in 1887, the editor of the Dental Record commented that only the "exceptional woman" would be capable of pursuing the "necessary curriculum" required for a dental degree. It was beyond the limit that the "‘higher education’ of women, taken as a class, could safely go." However, the Dentists’ Act of 1878 did not exclude women from registering.³⁵

Jennie Kollock Hilton, DDS, of Fort Atkinson, Wis., stated in 1887 that it was "the work per se, not the work per sex," that was commanding the "attention of an educated and discriminating public." She pointed out that not all women nor men were qualified "by nature" or "by virtue of a diploma" to become dental practitioners. Then too, since the majority of dental patients were women and children, was it not fitting that "a skillful, sympathetic, and conscientious woman" dentist should treat them.³⁶

Mrs. R.B. Ramsay, DDS, of Pittsburgh, Pa., in 1887, spoke of women having the "legal right to practice" in America mainly through "the efforts of a few men." The dental colleges were "open to them."³⁷

The 1889 Controversy

Dr. Thomas B. Welch (1825-1903), the editor of the dental journals Items of Interest and later the Dental Brief and proprietor of the Welch Dental Mfg. Co., and discoverer of how to produce unfermented grape juice, became involved in the controversy toward the end of the 19th century. Welch’s opinion, which he stressed to the point of some readers’ distraction, was that women had "a legitimate place in dentistry."³⁸

Dr. Kate C. Moody, at the banquet of the Illinois State Dental Society at Quincy, Ill., in May 1889 at the Newcomb House, responded to the toast, "Women in Dentistry," that the men "need not fear that the ladies will create a monopoly" in the profession and that there was no need of "legislation against them, crying for men’s rights. There will be plenty of room for the stronger sex."³⁹

In 1889, the Boston Herald reported that a woman graduated first in her class at the Boston Dental College out of between 30 and 40 students. The same year, Dr. Taft said that women were "always above the men in their classes" and that women would be "a means of elevating the profession." A woman dentist, Dr. C.W. McNaughton, the vice president of the Michigan Dental Society, called the female dentists "pioneers."⁴⁰

In 1889, the problem for women in dentistry resurfaced when Dr. W.R. Spencer of West Point, Va., wrote to the editor of Items of Interest that there seemed to be "a growing tendency among women of the present day to undertake what may be called man’s work." The dental profession had been "invaded" by women dentists. "Lord deliver me from one of these professional women." Spencer claimed that women placed a lower value on their labor and that women in the workplace "would compel men and women to live separately. None but the ‘born rich’ will dare to marry."⁴¹ Spencer could not accept the role of women in dentistry, thinking them "depraved." He argued that women took "no thought for the future" and made "no provision for a family"; therefore, they did not "charge enough," and they "depress fees."⁴²

In rebuttal, Dr. Jennie Hilton in the 1890 Items hoped that when he was "filling his last cavity" it would be written on his tombstone, "Here lies the last obstruction to woman dentists."⁴³

Dr. George W. Warren of Philadelphia, in an 1892 article in Items of Interest, said that "Education, social position, business responsibilities, or even professional duties do not unsex the woman; they rather give self-control and balance and breadth in the practical affairs of life." The same year, Dr. J. Holland stated that "it has been proved that a woman can become as good a dentist as a man." He praised the work of Dr. C.G. Turner, the only woman to pass the New Jersey State Board as "a skilful dentist" and "a remarkable woman."⁴⁴

Ida Gray Rollins: 1890

Ida Gray Rollins (Figure 5) was the first African American woman to receive a dental degree in the United States. She was born sometime from 1865 to 1867 in Tennessee but grew up and attended school in Cincinnati, Ohio, graduating from high school in 1887. She matriculated at the University of Michigan Dental School in 1887 and graduated in 1890. She practiced in Cincinnati but married James S. Nelson, an accountant and attorney, in 1895 and moved to Chicago. Her husband, a Spanish-American and World War I veteran, died in 1926; and she remarried in 1929 to become Mrs. William A. Rollins, but was better known as Dr. Ida N. Rollins. She was still practicing in the 1930s and died on May 3, 1953. Her tombstone read: " Dr. Ida Gray Nelson Rollins, 1^st Negro Woman Dentist in America."⁴⁵

Theresa Hunt-Tyler: 1901

Dr. Theresa Hunt Tyler, born in 1878, was a 1901 graduate of the Western Dental College in Kansas City. She became the first resident dentist in the Oklahoma Territory. Dr. Tyler earned $18 her first day in practice. She also provided dental services to the residents of Eagle City, an overnight trip, where she used a barber’s chair. Dr. Tyler also treated the Native Americans in the area’s reservations. She retired in 1941 and died in 1972.⁴⁶

The Women’s Dental Association of the United States: 1892

In 1892, Dr. Mary Stillwell-Kuedsel founded the Women’s Dental Association of the United States with 12 charter members. The secretary listed 32 members in her report of March 4, 1893, which stated, "The women interested in dentistry in Philadelphia met in March 1892 to organize a society by which they could strengthen themselves by trying to help one another."⁴⁷ In 1921, the Federation of American Women Dentists was founded at the ADA meeting in Milwaukee, Wis. The name changed to American Association of Women Dentists. Dr. Evangeline Jordan was the AAWD’s first president. By 1988, the roster had grown to 2,000 out of an estimated 9,000 women dentists in the United States.⁴⁸

In 1870, there were 24 female dentists in the United States; in 1880, there were 61; in 1890, there were 337; and by 1900, there were 807 women dentists practicing in the United States.⁴⁹ As late as 1905, of 25 dental schools surveyed by Dr. Edwin T. Darby of Philadelphia, 19 replied and only 12 of those took women students. Dr. Darby concluded from his study that there was "a place for women in dental practice."⁵⁰

Other Accomplishments: 1911

In 1911, Jennie M. Taylor was the first person to go to a foreign land as a dental missionary. Dr. Uterpe Manta Thunis became the royal dentist for the Sultan of Turkey and received as a gift the island of Scio. By 1911, one-half of the dental students in Germany were women. By 1911, many women were dental school faculty members, such as Anna M. Thrane, operative dentistry, Buffalo Dental College; Mrs. W.T. Eckley, Northwestern University Dental School; Alice Stevens, oral surgery, Northwestern University Dental School; Mary J. Metzger, Columbian Dental College, Chicago; and Charlotte E. Benton, dental surgeon for the New York Institute for the Deaf and Dumb.⁵¹

M. Evangeline Jordon: Pioneer in Pediatric Dentistry

"There is an increasing need and demand for good dentistry for young Children; not children in groups in school clinics, or other public bureaus, but Children in private practice, where advantage of every device at hand should be taken to promote the highest welfare of the little children." -- M. Evangeline Jordon, 1927⁵²

Dr. M. Evangeline Jordon was born in Illinois in 1865. In 1885, her family moved to San Bernardino County, Calif., where she taught school. In 1897, after working as a dental assistant during her summer vacations, she decided to enter the School of Dentistry at the University of California. She graduated in 1898. She went into general practice, but soon began to limit her practice to children. She thus became the first pediatric dentist in the United States.⁵³

In 1900, Dr. Jordon was selected by the dean of the University of Southern California’s dental department to develop a lecture course on children’s dentistry. She also started a clinical program for the dental students at the Orphan’s Home in Los Angeles. In 1923, Dr. Jordon began publishing her book on pediatric dentistry as articles in Dental Items of Interest. It was published in 1927. In her introduction, Dr. Jordon stated: "Dental caries is a preventable disease of childhood, due to incorrect diet and lack of hygiene." She predicted that caries could be eradicated in a generation.⁵⁴

In 1921, Dr. Jordon was instrumental in the organization of the Federation of American Women Dentists (renamed the Association of Women Dentists in 1928) and was its first president. She also encouraged Dr. Samuel D. Harris to form a pediatric dental society, the American Society of Dentistry for Children, in 1927. Dr. Jordon retired in 1928 and died in 1952\.⁵⁵

Helen E. Myers: 1951, The First Woman Army Dental Officer

Helen E. Myers of Lancaster, Pa., a 1941 graduate of Temple University, was commissioned as the Army Dental Corps’ first woman dental officer in 1951. The exigencies of the Korean War made it necessary for the U.S. government to resort to this method of filling up the Army’s medical staff to care for its casualties and expanded strength. Capt. Myers reported for duty to Fort Lee, Va., on March 21, 1951, the first of her sex to be so commissioned. She was a member of the AWD. Her War Department orders stated: "As officers on active duty, women dentists appointed in the Reserve will be given the same opportunities for clinical practice and advancement now available to male officers in comparable grades. The pay, allowances, and retirement benefits which accrue to male officers also apply to women dental reservists."⁵⁶

Conclusion

On July 1, 1975, Dr. Jeanne C. Sinkford became the first woman dean of a dental school when she was appointed the dean of Howard University, School of Dentistry.⁵⁷ In 1991, Dr. Geraldine T. Morrow became the first woman president of the American Dental Association.⁵⁸ In 1997, Dr. Hazel J. Harper became president of the National Dental Association.⁵⁹ Despite these achievements, women dentists’ income ranges "from 58 percent to 75 percent of male dentists."⁶⁰ Therefore, there is still room for progress for women in dentistry, and the future is now.

References

1. Taylor LH, The early women in dentistry. Dent Register 48:31, 1894; Kaplis NA, Women in dentistry: in the forefront. Diamond (Temple Univ. School of Dentistry Alumnae) 1:10, 1992.

2. First woman who got up her nerve to go to a dentist: dental forceps, made 2000 B.C. for beautiful Sen-Hopet and found in Egyptian ruins, are being displayed in the Field Museum. Am Dent J 10:np, (15 November), 1912.

3. Taylor JA, History of dentistry:A practical treatise for the use of dental students and practitioners. Lea & Febiger, Philadelphia, 1922, p 28.

4. A double extraction. Dent Student 46:154, 1967.

5. Kaplis, Women in dentistry, pp 9-10.

6. Federation of American Women Dentists, Women in dentistry: 1855-1880. J Am Dent Assoc 15:1735, 1928.

7. Bebb W, Early record of a woman dentist (Gazette Medical Belge.). Quoted in Pacific Dent Gazette 30:664, 1922.

8. Federation of American Women Dentists, Women in dentistry, p 1736.

9. Ibid, 1736-37; Street EA, Emelene Roberts Jones: Pioneer woman dentist. Dent Cosmos 65:991, 1923.

10. Federation of American Women Dentists, Women in dentistry, pp 1736-37.

11. Kinsler MS, The American woman dentist: A brief historical review from 1855 through 1968. Bull Hist Dent 17:28-29, 1969; Luz C, New York honors Dr. Lucy Hobbs Taylor. ADA News 30:14, 1999.

12. Adair WG, Sketch of Lucy Hobbs Taylor, DDS. J Ohio State Dent Assoc 23:89, 1949; Federation of American Women Dentists, Women in dentistry, p 1737.

13. Federation of American Women Dentists, Women in dentistry, 1738; Cooke TF, Iowa State Dental Association, in History of Dental Surgery, edited by Charles R.E. Koch, vol. 2. National Art Publishing Co, Fort Wayne, Ind, 1910, p 905.

14. Federation of American Women Dentists, Women in dentistry, p 1739; Adair, sketch of Lucy Hobbs Taylor, p 89.

15. Adair, Sketch of Lucy Hobbs Taylor, 89; Hobbs LB, The use of the mallet. Dent Register 20:483-86, 1866.

16. Armitage KH, Dr. Lucy Hobbs Taylor, Lawrence dentist, 1868-1910. np, (February 1993).

17. Federation of American Women Dentists, Women in dentistry, pp 1739-40; Obituary, Dr. Lucy B. Taylor. Dent Cosmos 52:1315, 1910; Luz, New York honors Dr. Lucy Hobbs Taylor, p 14.

18. Federation of American Women Dentists, Women in dentistry, pp 1745-47.

19. Ibid, p 1747.

20. Ibid, p 1748; Park E, Minutes of the transactions, in Trans Am Dent Assoc, Chicago, Rand, McNally & Co, 1870, p 23.

21. Dr. James Truman, and lady dentists. Items of Interest 11:530, 1889.

22. Truman J, Henriette Hirschfeld (Henriette Tiburtius) DDS, and the women dentists of 1866-73. Dent Cosmos 53:1380-1, 1911.

23. Federation of American Women Dentists, Women in dentistry, p 1740; Women in dentistry. (Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Susan B. Anthony, and Matilda Joslyn Gage, History of Woman Suffrage, vol 3 [New York, Charles Mann, 1886?]), quoted in Odontographic J 7:41, 1886.

24. Federation of American Women Dentists, Women in dentistry, p 1741.

25. Ibid, p 1742.

26. Federation of American Women Dentists, Women in dentistry, 1753; Stanton, et al, Women in Dentistry, pp 41-42; Baltimore College of Dental Surgery. Dent Cosmos 15:247, 1873; Journalistic. Mo Dent J 5:230-1, 1873.

27. Federation of American Women Dentists, Women in dentistry, 1755; Pennsylvania College of Dental Surgery. Dent Cosmos 16:191, 1874; A lady DDS Dent Register 30:410, 1876.

28 Ramburger AD, Women in the dental profession. Dent Practitioner 2:64, 1884.

29. Giangrego E, AAWD: a voice for women in dentistry. JADA 117:442, 1988.

30. Federation of American Women Dentists, Women in dentistry, pp 1752-3; Truman, Henriette Hirschfeld, pp 1384-85.

31. Federation of American Women Dentists, Women in dentistry, pp 1753-54.

32. Spurrier JS, Pioneer women in dentistry. Dent Office & Laboratory, 4th ser, 19:130-1, 1905.

33. Kingsley NW, Woman: extract from an oration, delivered before the American Academy of Dental Science. Dent Advertiser 15:44-48, 1884; P, CN, Woman [Norman W. Kingsley]. Dent Practitioner 2:28, 1884.

34. P, CN. Woman [Norman W. Kingsley], p 29.

35. Dental education of females. Dent Record 7:517, 1887.

36. Hilton JK, Woman in dentistry. Dent Register 41:525, 27, 1887.

37. Ramsay RB, Women in dentistry. (Items of Interest), quoted in Br J Dent Sci 30:528, 1887.

38. Howard JW, A small skirmish in the battle of the sexes: T.B. Welch and women in dentistry. JADA 90:311-12, 1975.

39. The Banquet. In Trans Illinois State Dent Soc. HD Justi, Chicago, 1889, p 161.

40. A woman dentist. (Boston Herald), quoted in Items of Interest11:470, 1889; Robinson, Woman’s work in the profession, 578; Progress of women in dentistry. Br J Dent Sci 32:771, 1889.

41. Spencer WR, Women dentists. Items of Interest 21:541, 1889.

42. Howard, Women in dentistry, p 312.

43. Ibid, pp 312-13.

44. Warren GW, Women as Dentists. Items of Interest 14:398, 1892; Holland J, A woman dentist. Items of Interest 14:567, 569, 1892.

45. Kidd F, ed, Profile of the Negro in American Dentistry. Howard University Press, Washington, DC, 1979, pp 47-48.

46. Giangrego, AAWD: a voice for women in dentistry, pp 445.

47. Lee JW, Women impact dentistry. J Mass Dent Soc 40:114-15, 1991.

48. Ibid, p 115; AAWD: a voice for women in dentistry. JADA 117:441, 1988.

49. Haag FN, Women in dentistry. Dent Cosmos 53:1146, 1148, 1911.

50. Darby ET, A Field for Women in Dental Practice. (Dent Cosmos), quoted in Pacific Dent Gazette 13:690, 694, 1905.

51. Haag, Women in dentistry, p 1143.

52. Jordon ME. Operative Dentistry for Children. Dental Items of Interest, Brooklyn, NY, 1927, p ix.

53. Loevy HT, M. Evangeline Jordon: pioneer in pedodontics. Bull Hist Dent 32:19, 1984.

54. Loevy, M. Evangeline Jordon, pp 20, 21; Jordon ME, Operative Dentistry for Children, pp vii, x.

55. Loevy M. Evangeline Jordon, p 25

56. US Army, First woman dentist in army to report for duty March 21. Press release, Department of Defense, Office of Public Information, Washington, DC, 1951. For a detailed history of the origin of women in the US Army Dental Corps, see Hyson JM, Female dentists in the US Army: The origins. Mil Med 160:57-62, 1995.

57. Kidd, Profile of the Negro in American Dentistry, p 18; Niessen LC, Kleinman DV, and Wilson AA, Practice characteristics of women dentists. JADA 113:883, 1986.

58. Lee JW, Women impact dentistry. J Mass Dent Society, 40:120, 1991.

59. Dummett CO and Dummett LD, NDII: The Story of America’s Second National Dental Association. National Dental Association Foundation, Washington, DC, 2000, pp 274-75.

60. Kaplis, Women in dentistry, p 10

To request a printed copy of this article, please contact John M. Hyson, Jr., DDS, MS, MA, 31 S. Greene St., Baltimore, MD 21201-1504 or jhyson@dentalmuseum.umaryland.edu.