Amanda E. Taylor Norris (February 6, 1849 – April 27, 1944) 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 ...

, the first woman physician in the state of

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean to ...

. After graduating from the Woman's Medical College of Pennsylvania in 1880, she worked in private practice in the

Baltimore Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...

area, spending nearly two decades teaching at coeducational and women's medical schools there.

Early life

Amanda Taylor Norris was born in 1849 in

Harford County, Maryland Harford County is located in the U.S. state of Maryland. As of the 2020 census, the population was 260,924. Its county seat is Bel Air. Harford County is included in the Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD Metropolitan Statistical Area, which is al ...

. Her family was well-off, and she was largely educated at home by a private tutor. A plan for her to stay with relatives and study at a nearby school was abandoned when she became homesick. When she was seventeen, she spent a year studying at a girls' seminary in

Carroll County, Maryland Carroll County is located in the U.S. state of Maryland. As of the 2020 census, the population was 172,891. Its county seat is Westminster. Carroll County is included in the Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD Metropolitan Statistical Area, which is ...

. As a young woman, she married one of her cousins, with whom she had one child.

Medical career

Norris' brother attended

medical school A medical school is a tertiary educational institution, or part of such an institution, that teaches medicine, and awards a professional degree for physicians. Such medical degrees include the Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery (MBBS, M ...

, and after attending his graduation in 1875, she read an article about Woman's Medical College of Pennsylvania in

Philadelphia 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 became interested in attending. Her father agreed to support her in attending the college. He assumed she would drop out before completing the program, but she graduated in 1880 and moved back to Maryland, establishing a private practice in Baltimore. With this, she became the first woman physician in Maryland. While working in private practice as a general practitioner, Norris worked as a professor for 18 years. She was hired to teach anatomy at Maryland Medical College, a coeducational school that operated briefly until the opening of

Johns Hopkins Medical School The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine (JHUSOM) is the medical school of Johns Hopkins University, a private research university in Baltimore, Maryland. Founded in 1893, the School of Medicine shares a campus with the Johns Hopkins Hospi ...

. She then taught at the newly founded Women's Medical College of Baltimore, which opened in 1882. After two years in the school's Throat and Chest Clinic, she became a lecturer and then a professor of pharmaceutical science. After five years in that department, she transitioned to teaching

obstetrics Obstetrics is the field of study concentrated on pregnancy, childbirth and the postpartum period. As a medical specialty, obstetrics is combined with gynecology under the discipline known as obstetrics and gynecology (OB/GYN), which is a surgi ...

in 1891. In 1894, after nearly two decades of simultaneously teaching and practicing medicine, Norris left her position at the medical college and focused solely on her practice, which she moved from Baltimore to

Baltimore County Baltimore County ( , locally: or ) is the third-most populous county in the U.S. state of Maryland and is part of the Baltimore metropolitan area. Baltimore County (which partially surrounds, though does not include, the independent City of ...

. Having joined the Medical Chirurgical Faculty of Maryland, now the Maryland State Medical Society, in 1886, she was also a member of the Women's Medical Society from 1914 onward.

Death and legacy

Norris became partially paralyzed after a stroke in 1939. A lifelong resident of Maryland, she died in 1944, at age 95. The Women's Medical Society had honored her for her work over nearly half a century in 1929, emphasizing her accomplishments as unrelated to her gender. In 1995, she was posthumously added to the Maryland Women's Hall of Fame.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Norris, Amanda Taylor 1849 births 1944 deaths American women physicians Physicians from Maryland People from Harford County, Maryland American women medical researchers American medical researchers