Dr. Christine E. Haycock (January 7, 1924 – January 23, 2008) was an American nurse and surgeon who served as a

colonel Colonel (abbreviated as Col., Col or COL) is a senior military officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, a colonel was typically in charge o ...

in the

United States Army Reserve The United States Army Reserve (USAR) is a reserve force of the United States Army. Together, the Army Reserve and the Army National Guard constitute the Army element of the reserve components of the United States Armed Forces. Since July 2020 ...

, and as a professor of surgery and Director of Emergency Services at the

New Jersey Medical School New Jersey Medical School (NJMS)—also known as Rutgers New Jersey Medical School—is a medical school of Rutgers University, a public research university in Newark, New Jersey. It has been part of the Rutgers Division of Biomedical and Healt ...

Background and education

Born in Mount Vernon, New York, Haycock was raised in Richmond, Virginia, and Nutley, New Jersey, where she graduated from

Nutley High School Nutley High School is a four-year comprehensive public high school in the Township of Nutley, in Essex County, New Jersey, United States, serving students in ninth through twelfth grades as the lone secondary school of the Nutley Public Sch ...

. She attended the Presbyterian Hospital School of Nursing and earned a bachelor's degree from the

University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, U of C, or UChi) is a private university, private research university in Chicago, Illinois. Its main campus is located in Chicago's Hyde Park, Chicago, Hyde Park neighborhood. The University of Chic ...

. She served in the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land warfare, land military branch, service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight Uniformed services of the United States, U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army o ...

during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

in the Cadet Nurse Corps. After the war, she earned her medical degree from the Downstate Medical School of the State University of New York in 1952, and went on to become the first woman

intern An internship is a period of work experience offered by an organization for a limited period of time. Once confined to medical graduates, internship is used practice for a wide range of placements in businesses, non-profit organizations and gove ...

Walter Reed Army Medical Center The Walter Reed Army Medical Center (WRAMC)known as Walter Reed General Hospital (WRGH) until 1951was the United States Army, U.S. Army's flagship medical center from 1909 to 2011. Located on in the Washington, D.C., District of Columbia, it se ...

. in 1952 she became the first woman officer to serve as a physician in the U.S. Army Medical Corps. Following the

Korean War , date = {{Ubl, 25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953 (''de facto'')({{Age in years, months, weeks and days, month1=6, day1=25, year1=1950, month2=7, day2=27, year2=1953), 25 June 1950 – present (''de jure'')({{Age in years, months, weeks a ...

, Haycock became the first woman to hold a major command in New Jersey, as head of the Army's 322nd General Hospital. She completed her surgical

residency Residency may refer to: * Domicile (law), the act of establishing or maintaining a residence in a given place ** Permanent residency, indefinite residence within a country despite not having citizenship * Residency (medicine), a stage of postgra ...

in New York before returning to

New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...

, where she opened a private practice in general surgery. During the course of her time with the Army Medical Corps, she would graduate from the

US Army Command and General Staff College The United States Army Command and General Staff College (CGSC or, obsolete, USACGSC) at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, is a graduate school for United States Army and sister service officers, interagency representatives, and international military ...

and the

US Army War College The United States Army War College (USAWC) is a U.S. Army educational institution in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, on the 500-acre (2 km2) campus of the historic Carlisle Barracks. It provides graduate-level instruction to senior military officer ...

. She also earned a master's degree in

political science Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and power, and the analysis of political activities, political thought, political behavior, and associated constitutions and la ...

from

Rutgers University Rutgers University (; RU), officially Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is a public land-grant research university consisting of four campuses in New Jersey. Chartered in 1766, Rutgers was originally called Queen's College, and was ...

Career and professional associations

Haycock joined the faculty of the

University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey The University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey (UMDNJ) was a state-run health sciences institution of New Jersey, United States. It was founded as the Seton Hall College of Medicine and Dentistry in 1954, and by the 1980s was both a majo ...

(now New Jersey Medical School) as associate professor of surgery and director of emergency services in 1968 and helped establish the trauma center at

University Hospital A university hospital is an institution which combines the services of a hospital with the education of medical students and with medical research. These hospitals are typically affiliated with a medical school or university. The following i ...

in Newark. She became known as an expert on

uterine cancer Uterine cancer, also known as womb cancer, includes two types of cancer that develop from the tissues of the uterus. Endometrial cancer forms from the lining of the uterus, and uterine sarcoma forms from the muscles or support tissue of the ut ...

and in

sports medicine Sports medicine is a branch of medicine that deals with physical fitness and the treatment and prevention of injuries related to sports and exercise. Although most sports teams have employed team physicians for many years, it is only since the ...

(especially for women). She was elected a Fellow of the American College of Surgeons. 1980 saw the publication of the book ''Sports Medicine for the Athletic Female'', which she edited. Haycock spent a term (1981–82) as president of the

American Medical Women’s Association The American Medical Women's Association (AMWA) is a professional advocacy and educational organization of women physicians and medical students. Founded in 1915 by Bertha Van Hoosen, the AMWA works to advance women in medicine and to serve as a ...

, having been active in that organization as president of the New Jersey branch. In 1984 she retired from the Army Medical Corps as a colonel, having served as a reservist since her time in World War II and Korea, totaling 38 years of military service. In 2004, Haycock was awarded the Alma Dea Morani Renaissance Woman Award by the Women in Medicine Legacy Foundation. In 2011, a

Women's History Month Women's History Month is an annual declared month that highlights the contributions of women to events in history and contemporary society. It is celebrated during March in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia, corresponding with ...

exhibit by the

National Guard Militia Museum of New Jersey The National Guard Militia Museum of New Jersey is headquartered in Sea Girt, with a second museum located in Lawrenceville, New Jersey, and operates under the auspices of the New Jersey Department of Military and Veterans Affairs. The not-for ...

in Lawrenceville centered around Haycock's role as a pioneer for women in Army medical service.

Private life

Haycock was active in women's fencing in the late 1940s (having been on the school team while at the University of Chicago), participating in the 1949 national championships in the foil, and even gave an exhibition with another woman fencer at a 1954 Japanese fencing tournament. In a later interview, she recalled ruefully that her time in fencing gave her considerable practical knowledge of

breast The breast is one of two prominences located on the upper ventral region of a primate's torso. Both females and males develop breasts from the same embryological tissues. In females, it serves as the mammary gland, which produces and sec ...

injuries, and that she was black-and-blue "all the time". She found the existing protection (padded jackets) inadequate for female fencers, and wore a metal protector. She also pitched for several

softball Softball is a game similar to baseball played with a larger ball on a smaller field. Softball is played competitively at club levels, the college level, and the professional level. The game was first created in 1887 in Chicago by George Hanc ...

teams, and while studying medicine in 1957 was pitching for the Linden, New Jersey Arians of the National Girls' Softball League. She told a reporter that she'd taken up baseball because in her all-boy neighborhood, "it was either play ball or be lonesome." She tried out for her high school

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding t ...

team, but the coach wouldn't let her play; so at age 15, she became the first female player for the Essex County

Semi-Pro ''Semi-Pro'' is a 2008 American sports comedy film. The film was directed by Kent Alterman in his directorial debut, written by Scot Armstrong, and produced by Jimmy Miller. It stars Will Ferrell, Woody Harrelson, André Benjamin and Maura Tier ...

League. She was a photographer (elected a Fellow of the

Photographic Society of America The Photographic Society of America (PSA) is one of the largest, non-profit organizations of its kind. Established in 1934, it has expanded to include members of over 60 countries. The mission of this association is to promote and enhance the ar ...

), videographer,

ham radio operator An amateur radio operator is someone who uses equipment at an amateur radio station to engage in two-way personal communications with other amateur operators on radio frequencies assigned to the amateur radio service. Amateur radio operators ha ...

and dog breeder. An active member of

science fiction fandom Science fiction fandom or SF fandom is a community or fandom of people interested in science fiction in contact with one another based upon that interest. SF fandom has a life of its own, but not much in the way of formal organization (although ...

(she served as treasurer of the Lunarians), Haycock was married to fellow fan

Sam Moskowitz Sam Moskowitz (June 30, 1920 – April 15, 1997) was an American writer, critic, and historian of science fiction. Biography As a child, Moskowitz greatly enjoyed reading science fiction pulp magazines. As a teenager, he organized a branch o ...

; they were Guests of Honor at Disclave 9. She died January 23, 2008, at a hospice in Nutley."Dr. Christine Haycock" obituary; legacy.com
excerpted from ''

The Star-Ledger ''The Star-Ledger'' is the largest circulated newspaper in the U.S. state of New Jersey and is based in Newark. It is a sister paper to '' The Jersey Journal'' of Jersey City, ''The Times'' of Trenton and the '' Staten Island Advance'', all of ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Haycock, Christine E. 1924 births 2008 deaths American women nurses American female foil fencers Physicians from New Jersey American surgeons Women surgeons Fellows of the American College of Surgeons United States Army personnel of World War II Semi-professional baseball players United States Army Command and General Staff College alumni United States Army War College alumni Bloomfield College alumni Rutgers University alumni University of Chicago alumni SUNY Downstate Medical Center alumni University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey faculty American military doctors American military nurses Nutley High School alumni People from Mount Vernon, New York People from Nutley, New Jersey American sports physicians 20th-century American women American women academics 21st-century American women Military personnel from New Jersey United States Army colonels