In 1881, plans were made for having a nurse always on duty at the Dispensary to respond to calls in the out-practice, but these plans did not materialize until 1883, the New England Hospital thereby becoming the leader in establishing the service of District Nursing. This form of service has since additionally expanded, under other auspices, into an organization which on a large scale renders valuable assistance to patients at their homes.
The year 1884 was marked by the setting up of another milestone along the upward path of the medical woman, this being that the Massachusetts Legislature not only permitted but directed the appointment of medical women in the State Hospitals for insane patients.
In February, 1886, Dr. Zakrzewska writes to Dr. Sewall, who was then in Europe:
... In ten weeks from to-day, I shall start on my Western tour, and I suppose you will start by that time for the United States.
My health is very good. I am better than I have been for thirty years and a great deal better than when I went to Europe five years ago. Nevertheless, I look forward to a five months’ vacation with a great deal of pleasure and feel sure that it will add years of health to my life.
The Hospital work goes on well. I suppose Dr. Call informs you of the different legacies we have received. Even if they are not yet handed over to the treasurer, we can now be sure of the solidity of the institution as far as money is concerned.
Now comes the professional standard and the question as to whether in the course of time women as physicians will prove themselves to be organizers and creators or simply handmaids. So far we cannot boast of much originality among our corps of women. However, we can feel sure that all the women physicians of the Hospital are above the average of the men physicians. Genius, after all, is rare.
Apropos of sister Rosalie. It occurred to me that you with your usual generosity might think of her and bring with you some present for her. Now I honestly beg of you not to do any such thing, because the poor thing is sick and tired of all the bric-a-brac and vases which she has received, in spite of our not sending out invitations.
Last Sunday morning when I called, she showed me a whole closet full of stuff which she had packed away in the attic because it is beyond human thought and possibility to place these things and take care of them in her little house. When I told her in consolation that she might use these things as presents again in the course of time, she replied in her usual way, “No, I shall never inflict them on people. If I make presents, I shall give flatirons.”
My nephew Herman is engaged to be married to a young German-American lady who visited me for a week. She is handsome, an accomplished singer and pianist, a good housekeeper, and a sensible woman. We are very happy about his choice and feel grateful to her that she selected him.
On the 22d at twelve o’clock, I shall give a great lunch party to the students and doctors. About fifty people will come, I hope. The snowdrops in Washington Street are in bloom since the 9th.
In line with her questioning in this letter of the achievements of medical women of the then present date, is her estimate of the quality of the women students of the later times as compared with those of the earlier days. She writes:
I am frequently asked whether the quality of medical students among women is not much better now than formerly. This question is a very subtle one to reply to justly. There is no doubt but that the educational standard among all youths, female and male, has been greatly raised; that accomplishments are not so universally considered all the education that girls need; that the increase of colleges for women alone, as well as the coeducational institutions, has promoted a thoroughness of training which was unknown fifty years ago in the schooling of young girls; and that all these advantages have promoted thought and earnestness of purpose in deciding upon a profession.
But that the student of either sex is in consequence of this education of a better quality and promising more marked ability, especially in the medical profession, by no means follows.
In the early decade of this movement, the woman who entered upon professional study had to possess qualities which no school, college or university can bestow. Originality, perseverance, persistency, self-abnegation, industry in study, and a certain amount of practical knowledge, as well as perception of human nature and social conditions, were absolutely necessary for each and every woman student in order to succeed even in going through the medical colleges then at their disposal, to say nothing of later attempts to enter into general practice.
The help then offered by professional men was not based at all upon the principle of right nor on the suitability of the woman to become a physician. No, it was offered only by such men as stood head and shoulders above their colleagues in the professions. They were men who could afford to make enemies in and out of professional circles and who could afford to be pleased with a talented “exceptional woman”; intellectually to pet her, as it were; to teach her; to indulge her; yes, to speak in high terms of her and compare her with historic women of the past, feeling even proud that they had discovered such an exception to womankind.
They seemed entirely unaware that the woman student perceived their delusions but nurtured in the depth of her heart the conviction, “What I am able to do now, hundreds, yes, thousands, will be able to accomplish after me.” Meanwhile, the women were grateful for all favors, advantages and teachings, utilizing them but industriously aiming higher and higher so as to gain all that could be gained through the qualities enumerated above.
Such a schooling trained the women far better than all the colleges do now, in spite of their excellence; on the other hand, the complaints of the women students of to-day as to the disadvantages yet to be overcome are greater than they were then. Yet at this present time, almost every chance exists for women if it is in them, to become original investigators, workers and practitioners.
CHAPTER XXXVI
Twenty-fifth anniversary of the New England Hospital—Drs. Zakrzewska, Sewall and Morton resign as attending physicians and are appointed advisory physicians—Presentation to the Hospital of portrait of Dr. Zakrzewska painted by Miss Ellen E. Hale—Address by Dr. Zakrzewska before the Moral Education Association—Her reply to the question “Should Women Study Medicine?”—Her opinion on “What’s in a Name?” (1887-1890.)
In 1887, the Hospital celebrated its twenty-fifth anniversary, a pleasant feature of the event being the presentation to the Hospital by the graduates and internes of the portrait of Dr. Zakrzewska. This was painted by Miss Ellen E. Hale and was placed in the directors’ parlor. The occasion was also marked by the resignation of all three of the attending physicians, Drs. Zakrzewska, Sewall, and Morton. So many qualified women were becoming available for hospital service and were asking for opportunities, that these three women who had borne the burden and heat of the earlier years felt they could now stand aside and make room for their younger sisters.
Their resignations were accepted and they were immediately appointed advisory physicians, thus remaining in a position where their knowledge and skill continued to be available to the Hospital and to their successors, those immediately following them being Dr. Emma L. Call[21] and the Drs. Augusta and Emily Pope.[22]