Almah Jane Frisby (July 8, 1857November 12, 1931) was an American

physician A physician (American English), medical practitioner (Commonwealth English), medical doctor, or simply doctor, is a health professional who practices medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring health through th ...

and professor at the

University of Wisconsin A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, t ...

Early life and education

Almah Jane Frisby was born in West Bend, Wisconsin, the daughter of lawyer Leander F. Frisby and Frances E. Rooker Frisby. Judge

Franklin L. Gilson Franklin Leander Gilson (October 22, 1846June 7, 1892) was an American politician and jurist. He was the 32nd Speaker of the Wisconsin State Assembly, and for the last two years of his life, he was judge of the Milwaukee Superior Court. Earlier ...

was her cousin. She graduated from the

in 1878; at the university's commencement ceremonies that year, both Almah Frisby and her sister Alice Frisby gave speeches. Almah Frisby trained as a physician at the

Boston University School of Medicine The Boston University Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine, formerly the Boston University School of Medicine, is one of the graduate schools of Boston University. Founded in 1848, the medical school was the first institution in the world ...

, earning her medical degree in 1883.Frances Elizabeth Willard, Mary Ashton Rice Livermore
''A Woman of the Century''
(Moulton 1893): 303-304.

Career

Frisby had a private medical practice in

Milwaukee, Wisconsin Milwaukee ( ), officially the City of Milwaukee, is both the most populous and most densely populated city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the county seat of Milwaukee County, Wisconsin, Milwaukee County. With a population of 577,222 at th ...

. In 1886 and 1887, she was resident physician at the Women's Homeopathic Hospital in

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

, and in 1887, she spent a summer as resident physician at a hotel in the Catskills. She presented a paper to the Wisconsin State Homeopathic Medical Association in 1887, titled "Topical vs. Internal Medication in the Treatment of

Uterine Disease The uterus (from Latin ''uterus'', plural ''uteri'') or womb () is the hollow organ, organ in the female reproductive system, reproductive system of most female mammals, including humans that accommodates the embryonic development, embryonic an ...

." She was the first woman appointed to Wisconsin's State Board of Control; she served as a board member from 1905 to 1912, supervising the state's reformatories, prisons, hospitals, and charitable institutions. "She declares the judgment of women is necessary to determine healthful conditions, occupations, proper care, and education of women and girls in state institutions," explained a news report in 1905. From 1889 to 1895, Frisby was a professor of " hygiene and sanitary science" and principal of Ladies' Hall at the University of Wisconsin, teaching and supervising women students. In 1897, she coauthored a report for the

United States Department of Agriculture The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) is the United States federal executive departments, federal executive department responsible for developing and executing federal laws related to farming, forestry, rural economic development, ...

titled "Losses in Boiling Vegetables and the Composition and Digestibility of Potatoes and Eggs". She was the first woman appointed to the university's Board of Regents, a position she held from 1901 to 1906.

Personal life

Almah Jane Frisby died in 1931, in

Santa Barbara, California Santa Barbara ( es, Santa Bárbara, meaning "Saint Barbara") is a coastal city in Santa Barbara County, California, of which it is also the county seat. Situated on a south-facing section of coastline, the longest such section on the West Coas ...

, aged 74 years. Her papers are archived in the

Wisconsin Historical Society The Wisconsin Historical Society (officially the State Historical Society of Wisconsin) is simultaneously a state agency and a private membership organization whose purpose is to maintain, promote and spread knowledge relating to the history of N ...

. There is a railroad station named for Almah J. Frisby in Marshfield, Wisconsin.Robert E. Gard. ''The Romance of Wisconsin Place Names''. Madison: Wisconsin Historical Society, p. 120.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Frisby, Almah Jane 1857 births 1931 deaths Boston University School of Medicine alumni University of Wisconsin–Madison alumni University of Wisconsin–Madison faculty 20th-century American physicians People from West Bend, Wisconsin Physicians from Philadelphia Physicians from Wisconsin 20th-century American women physicians 19th-century American women physicians 19th-century American physicians American women academics