MOWRY, Miss Martha H.

Physician, professor, and lecturer Martha H. Mowry hailed from Providence, Rhode Island.  Martha lost her mother when she was an infant, and she was devoted to her father throughout her life.  She attended a variety of schools, including the Green Street Select School, where she was taught by Margaret Fuller.  Martha took an interest in the areas of anatomy and physiology and began discussing medicine with several medical professionals and lecturing on various medical topics.  After working with a variety of physicians in Providence and Boston, and impressing physicians from the Female Medical College of Pennsylvania with her competency, Martha received a medical degree from this new institution.  She was recruited to become Professor of obstetrics and diseases of women and children there, and she taught until her father requested that she return to Providence.  For almost forty years, Martha had a very successful career as a Providence physician.

The History of Providence County, published in 1891 when Martha was in her early seventies, provided a lengthy biographical sketch of Martha which ended by noting: "She is still doing all the professional work it is well for one of her age to do, and is especially interested in educating mothers to a knowledge of the laws of life, physical, mental, and spiritual" (114).

In addition to her work as a physician, Dr. Mowry was a member of the Providence Physiological Society and the Association for the Advancement of Women.

In addition to Margaret Fuller, Martha's vast personal network included Edna Dow Cheney, Lydia Maria Child, Julia Ward Howe, and Lucretia Mott.

Dr. Mowry passed away on August 29, 1899 and was buried in the Mowry Lot in Smithfield, Rhode Island.

• The Yazoo City weekly Whig. (Yazoo City, Miss.), 17 June 1853. Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers. Lib. of Congress. <http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn87065697/1853-06-17/ed-1/seq-1/>

• St. Paul daily globe. (Saint Paul, Minn.), 17 Oct. 1891. Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers. Lib. of Congress. <http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn90059522/1891-10-17/ed-1/seq-1/>

• Bayles, Richard M., ed. History of Providence County, Rhode Island, Volume 1.  New York:  W. W. Preston E Co., 1891, p. 112-114.

• Martha H. Mowry Find A Grave