Esther Silveus (January 14, 1903 – April 27, 1980) was an American

radiologist Radiology ( ) is the medical discipline that uses medical imaging to diagnose diseases and guide their treatment, within the bodies of humans and other animals. It began with radiography (which is why its name has a root referring to radiatio ...

and medical researcher based at the

Lahey Clinic The Lahey Hospital & Medical Center, formerly known as the Lahey Clinic, is a physician-led nonprofit teaching hospital of Tufts University School of Medicine based in Burlington, Massachusetts. The hospital was founded in Boston in 1923 by sur ...

in Boston from 1942 to 1967.

Early life and education

Silveus was born in

Swissvale, Pennsylvania Swissvale is a borough in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, east of downtown Pittsburgh. Named for a farmstead owned by James Swisshelm, during the industrial age it was the site of the Union Switch & Signal, Union ...

, near Pittsburgh, the daughter of John G. Silveus and Ura Malnor Williams Silveus. She completed teacher training at Slippery Rock State Normal School in 1921, and graduated from

Bryn Mawr College Bryn Mawr College ( ; Welsh: ) is a women's liberal arts college in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania. Founded as a Quaker institution in 1885, Bryn Mawr is one of the Seven Sister colleges, a group of elite, historically women's colleges in the United St ...

in 1926, and earned her medical degree at the

University of Pittsburgh The University of Pittsburgh (Pitt) is a public state-related research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The university is composed of 17 undergraduate and graduate schools and colleges at its urban Pittsburgh campus, home to the universit ...

in 1932. She was president of the Pittsburgh chapter of

Zeta Phi Zeta (, ; uppercase Ζ, lowercase ζ; grc, ζῆτα, el, ζήτα, label=Demotic Greek, classical or ''zē̂ta''; ''zíta'') is the sixth letter of the Greek alphabet. In the system of Greek numerals, it has a value of 7. It was derived fr ...

, a medical sorority.

Career

Silveus had a medical practice in

Mercer, Pennsylvania Mercer is a borough (Pennsylvania), borough in and the county seat of Mercer County, Pennsylvania, Mercer County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 1,982 at the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census. It is part of the Mahoning Vall ...

after medical school. From 1939 to 1941, she served a residency in radiology at the

Western Pennsylvania Hospital The Western Pennsylvania Hospital, commonly referred to as "West Penn Hospital", is located at 4800 Friendship Avenue in the Bloomfield neighborhood of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The 317-bed hospital is part of the Allegheny Health Network. It serv ...

. She was chief of the x-ray department at Good Samaritan Hospital in Lebanon, Pennsylvania in 1941 and 1942, when male specialists were called away to serve in

World War II 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 opposin ...

. In 1942 Silveus joined the Lahey Clinic in Boston, and continued there as a radiologist until her retirement in 1967. She had staff privileges at several Boston hospitals, and was president and secretary of the Boston chapter of the

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

. She was a member of the

American College of Radiology The American College of Radiology (ACR), founded in 1923, is a professional medical society representing nearly 40,000 diagnostic radiologists, radiation oncologists, interventional radiologists, nuclear medicine physicians and medical physicists. ...

and the

Radiological Society of North America The Radiological Society of North America (RSNA) is a non-profit organization and an international society of radiologists, medical physicists and other medical imaging professionals representing 31 radiologic subspecialties from 145 countries a ...

. In 1973, she was honored as an Outstanding Alumna of Slippery Rock State College.

Publications

Silveus published her medical research in academic journals including ''

Radiology Radiology ( ) is the medical discipline that uses medical imaging to diagnose diseases and guide their treatment, within the bodies of humans and other animals. It began with radiography (which is why its name has a root referring to radiat ...

,'' ''Surgical Clinics of North America'', ''

JAMA Internal Medicine ''JAMA Internal Medicine'' is a monthly peer-reviewed medical journal published by the American Medical Association. It was established in 1908 as the ''Archives of Internal Medicine'' and obtained its current title in 2013. It covers all aspects ...

'', and ''

The Journal of Clinical Investigation The ''Journal of Clinical Investigation'' is a twice-monthly peer-reviewed medical journal covering biomedical research. It was established in 1924 and is published by the American Society for Clinical Investigation. Articles focus on the mechanism ...

''.Thompson, Willard Owen, Phebe K. Thompson, Esther Silveus, and Mary Elizabeth Dailey. "The protein content of the cerebrospinal fluid in myxedema." ''The Journal of Clinical Investigation'' 6, no. 2 (1928): 251-255. * "The protein content of the cerebrospinal fluid in myxedema" (1928, with Willard Owen Thompson, Phebe K. Thompson, and Mary Elizabeth Dailey) * "The Cerebrospinal Fluid in Myxedema" (1929, with Willard Owen Thompson, Phebe K. Thompson, and Mary Elizabeth Dailey) * "Benign mediastinal tumors; a report of six cases with analysis of diagnostic criteria and advocation of surgical removal" (1947, with Ralph Adams) * "Esophageal and Gastric Varices, with Report of a Case" (1948, with Hugh F. Hare and F. A. Ruoff) * "Roentgenologic Diagnosis of Pituitary Tumors" (1949, with Hugh F. Hare and Magnus I. Smedal) * "Hysterosalpingography and Tubal Insufflation" (1956) * "Late changes in spleen and liver due to thorotrast and their significance" (1958)

Personal life

Esther Silveus married Elmer S. Carlson in 1948. They restored a farm in

Groton, Massachusetts Groton is a town in northwestern Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States, within the Greater Boston metropolitan area. The population was 11,315 at the 2020 census. It is home to two prep schools: Lawrence Academy at Groton, founded in 17 ...

, and gave much of the farm's produce to her colleagues at the Lahey Clinic. She died at a hospital in

Cambridge, Massachusetts Cambridge ( ) is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. As part of the Boston metropolitan area, the cities population of the 2020 U.S. census was 118,403, making it the fourth most populous city in the state, behind Boston, ...

in 1980, aged 77 years.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Silveus, Esther 1903 births 1980 deaths 20th-century American women physicians 20th-century American physicians American radiologists People from Swissvale, Pennsylvania Slippery Rock University alumni University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine alumni Bryn Mawr College alumni American medical researchers