In England Mrs. Booth was the first woman preacher, and if she had done nothing else but vindicate the right of woman to speak in public and preach the Gospel, she would have done great work. But she did far more than this. By making her whole life, and every thought and action subservient to the cause of the Salvation Army, she brought comfort and happiness to many thousands of poor souls.
The work of this “Mother of the Army” was continued by her daughter, Evangeline Booth, known in the history of the organization as “The Commander”; by Emma Booth-Tucker, known as “The Consul”; by Mrs. W. Branwell Booth, “The General,” and by Elizabeth Swift Brengle, known as “The Colonel.”
The first woman in the Christian world to be ecclesiastically ordained was Antoinette Brown Blackwell, an American woman who had graduated from Oberlin, Ohio. She was ordained in 1852 in South Butler, N. Y., by a council called by the First Congregational Church. Rev. Olympia Brown was the next woman ordained ten years later. In December, 1863, the Rev. Augusta J. Chapin was the first woman to receive the title of Doctor of Divinity.
Since the ordination of these women the number of female “clergymen” in the various denominations has increased rapidly. According to the Census of 1910 their number within the United States was 7395 in that year. The success of woman in the pulpit is no longer a question but an affirmation. This is what Rev. Phebe A. Hanford said on the subject:
“Other things being equal, why may not a woman preach and pray and perform pastoral duty as well as a man? Why should she not preside at the Lord’s table, consecrate in baptism the child whose parents would dedicate their choicest possessions to God, or the adult who would thus express his faith in Christ and his determination that “whatever others may do he will serve the Lord”? When two loving hearts desire to join hands and walk the earthly pathway side by side, why should not a woman minister pronounce the sacred formula and convey the sanction of the Law and the Gospel to their matrimonial purpose? And when the voice of consolation is sorely needed, and the solemn words are to be spoken which consign the silent dust to its last resting-place, why should not a womanly woman officiate as well as any tender-hearted and eloquent man? Surely woman is proverbially compassionate; and that she is often eloquent with voice and pen, and with poetic expression and the fervor of truth which can reach the heart, who can deny?”
WOMAN IN THE MEDICAL PROFESSION.
It is hard to realize in these days of professional equality between the sexes that only half a century ago a woman who desired to study medicine was considered such a phenomenon that her morality and the purity of her motives were questioned. And yet this desire is only natural, as the life of every woman has moments when she has to call for medical help. There are especially the transition to womanhood, all the experiences of motherhood, and the many ailments peculiar to women. To be compelled to consult in these cases a male physician, is for many bashful girls and women such a repellant thought, that they quite often postpone it from week to week, until too late.
No doubt such were the reasons and experiences which caused Agnodice, an Athenian girl, born about 300 B. C., to disguise her sex in order that she might study medicine. Like Dr. Mary Walker in the 19th Century, she donned male attire and became a disciple of Herophilus, an eminent physician and anatomist of the Alexandrian School. Her specialty was midwifery and women’s diseases, and when she started to practice herself, she met with such great success that her male colleagues became jealous and tried to prevent her from practicing by accusing her of corruption before the Areopagus. But the result of the proceedings was quite contrary to their expectations, as a law was immediately passed allowing all freeborn women to learn midwifery.
Since then female physicians practiced in Hellas as well as in Alexandria and in Rome. And when in the 9th Century after Christ the famous Schola Salernitana was established at Salerno, a department for women’s diseases was included, with a number of female professors as teachers. The names of several of these professors are still known; the most noted was the celebrated Tortula, who lived in the 11th Century. Abella, Constanza, Calendas, and Hildegarde too have been praised for their great ability.