Elizabeth Hughes Gossett
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Elizabeth Evans Hughes Gossett (August 19, 1907 April 21, 1981), the daughter of U.S. statesman
Charles Evans Hughes Charles Evans Hughes Sr. (April 11, 1862 – August 27, 1948) was an American statesman, politician and jurist who served as the 11th Chief Justice of the United States from 1930 to 1941. A member of the Republican Party, he previously was the ...
, was the first American, and one of the first people in the world, treated with
insulin Insulin (, from Latin ''insula'', 'island') is a peptide hormone produced by beta cells of the pancreatic islets encoded in humans by the ''INS'' gene. It is considered to be the main anabolic hormone of the body. It regulates the metabolism o ...
for
type 1 diabetes Type 1 diabetes (T1D), formerly known as juvenile diabetes, is an autoimmune disease that originates when cells that make insulin (beta cells) are destroyed by the immune system. Insulin is a hormone required for the cells to use blood sugar for ...
. She received over 42,000 insulin shots over her lifetime.


Early life

Elizabeth Evans Hughes was born August 19, 1907, in the
New York State Executive Mansion The New York State Executive Mansion is the official residence of the governor of New York. Located at 138 Eagle Street in Albany, New York, it has housed governors and their families since 1875. History The building was constructed in 1856 as ...
in
Albany, New York Albany ( ) is the capital of the U.S. state of New York, also the seat and largest city of Albany County. Albany is on the west bank of the Hudson River, about south of its confluence with the Mohawk River, and about north of New York City ...
, to Antoinette (Carter) and
Charles Evans Hughes Charles Evans Hughes Sr. (April 11, 1862 – August 27, 1948) was an American statesman, politician and jurist who served as the 11th Chief Justice of the United States from 1930 to 1941. A member of the Republican Party, he previously was the ...
, who was
Governor of New York The governor of New York is the head of government of the U.S. state of New York. The governor is the head of the executive branch of New York's state government and the commander-in-chief of the state's military forces. The governor has ...
at the time. Elizabeth developed
diabetes Diabetes, also known as diabetes mellitus, is a group of metabolic disorders characterized by a high blood sugar level ( hyperglycemia) over a prolonged period of time. Symptoms often include frequent urination, increased thirst and increased ap ...
in 1918 at age 11. At the time, the life expectancy of a Type 1 diabetic without treatment was usually no more than a few months. Since it was unable to metabolize sugars, the diabetic body would instead begin to burn fats. The dependence on fat would eventually lead to
acidosis Acidosis is a process causing increased acidity in the blood and other body tissues (i.e., an increase in hydrogen ion concentration). If not further qualified, it usually refers to acidity of the blood plasma. The term ''acidemia'' describes t ...
, followed by coma and death. The only known treatment was a starvation diet, in which the caloric intake was reduced to a level that the patient could tolerate without showing sugar in the urine. If the diet was followed religiously, a diabetic could expect to live for a couple of years before eventually succumbing to an infectious disease in their malnourished state. In spring 1919, Elizabeth Hughes was brought to Dr. Frederick M. Allen at his special clinic, the Physiatric Institute in
Morristown, New Jersey Morristown () is a town and the county seat of Morris County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. ...
. Allen put her on a strict diet and continued to monitor her condition over the next three years while she lived at home with a private nurse. She was and when she developed diabetes. Under diets that averaged 800 calories per day, her weight fell to by August 1922. From summer 1921 to spring 1922, a team at the University of Toronto succeeded in isolating the hormone
insulin Insulin (, from Latin ''insula'', 'island') is a peptide hormone produced by beta cells of the pancreatic islets encoded in humans by the ''INS'' gene. It is considered to be the main anabolic hormone of the body. It regulates the metabolism o ...
, which type 1 diabetics are unable to produce on their own. Hughes' mother contacted Canadian doctor
Frederick Banting Sir Frederick Grant Banting (November 14, 1891 – February 21, 1941) was a Canadian medical scientist, physician, painter, and Nobel laureate noted as the co-discoverer of insulin and its therapeutic potential. In 1923, Banting and J ...
, who agreed to take her as a private patient. Hughes arrived in
Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...
with her mother on August 15, 1922, and began receiving
insulin Insulin (, from Latin ''insula'', 'island') is a peptide hormone produced by beta cells of the pancreatic islets encoded in humans by the ''INS'' gene. It is considered to be the main anabolic hormone of the body. It regulates the metabolism o ...
from Dr. Banting. She recovered rapidly, and she was placed on a 2200–2400 calorie weight-gain diet within two weeks. She returned home to Washington, D.C., on Thanksgiving Day 1922.


Adult life

Elizabeth returned to school in 1923 and graduated from
Barnard College Barnard College of Columbia University is a private women's liberal arts college in the borough of Manhattan in New York City. It was founded in 1889 by a group of women led by young student activist Annie Nathan Meyer, who petitioned Columbia ...
in 1929. In 1930 she married William T. Gossett, a lawyer who later served as the president of the
American Bar Association The American Bar Association (ABA) is a voluntary bar association of lawyers and law students, which is not specific to any jurisdiction in the United States. Founded in 1878, the ABA's most important stated activities are the setting of acad ...
(1968-69) as well as vice president and general counsel of the Ford Motor Company. They lived in
Bloomfield, Michigan Bloomfield Township, officially the Charter Township of Bloomfield, is a charter township of Oakland County in the U.S. state of Michigan. As of the 2010 census, the township population was 41,070. As a northern suburb of Metro Detroit, Bloomfi ...
, and had two daughters and a son.Family of Gossett
/ref> Elizabeth Gossett was active in civic affairs in the
Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at th ...
area. She was a member of the board of trustees of Barnard College, one of the founding trustees of
Oakland University Oakland University is a public research university in Auburn Hills and Rochester Hills, Michigan. Founded in 1957 through a donation of Matilda Dodge Wilson, it was initially known as Michigan State University-Oakland, operating under the Mi ...
, Rochester, a member of the Detroit Urban League, as well as a volunteer at the Merrill-Palmer Institute and at
Michigan State University Michigan State University (Michigan State, MSU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in East Lansing, Michigan. It was founded in 1855 as the Agricultural College of the State of Michigan, the fi ...
. She was best known as the founder of the
Supreme Court Historical Society The Supreme Court Historical Society (SCHS) is a Washington, D.C.-based private, nonprofit organization dedicated to preserving and communicating the history of the U.S. Supreme Court. The Society was founded in 1974 by U.S. Chief Justice Warren E ...
in 1972 and served as its president until 1979. Gossett died of a heart attack on April 21, 1981, at the age of 73. By the time of her death, she had received approximately 42,000 insulin injections over 58 years. Although her name had been prominently mentioned in the newspaper coverage of insulin in 1922, she later hid her diabetes from her friends and associates. She destroyed most of the material that documented her treatments, and even removed references to diabetes in her father's papers.


Legacy

The Hughes Gossett Awards, presented by the Supreme Court Historical Society, are named in her honor. She was portrayed in the Canadian miniseries on the discovery of insulin, ''
Glory Enough for All ''Glory Enough for All'' is a 1988 Canadian television movie directed by Eric Till and written by Grahame Woods, depicting the discovery and isolation of insulin by Frederick Banting and Charles Herbert Best. It was the winner of nine 1989 Ge ...
''.


See also

* Leonard Thompson, first person treated with insulin


References


External links


Thomas Fisher Rare Book Library
University of Toronto {{DEFAULTSORT:Gossett, Elizabeth Hughes 1907 births 1981 deaths Barnard College alumni People from Albany, New York People from Oakland County, Michigan People with type 1 diabetes Charles Evans Hughes family