Florence Rena Sabin (November 9, 1871 – October 3, 1953) was an American medical scientist. She was a pioneer for
women in science
The presence of women in science spans the earliest times of the history of science wherein they have made significant contributions. Historians with an interest in gender and science have researched the scientific endeavors and accomplishments ...
; she was the first woman to hold a full professorship at
Johns Hopkins School of Medicine
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 ...
, the first woman elected to the
National Academy of Sciences
The National Academy of Sciences (NAS) is a United States nonprofit, non-governmental organization. NAS is part of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, along with the National Academy of Engineering (NAE) and the Nati ...
, and the first woman to head a department at the
Rockefeller Institute for Medical Research
The Rockefeller University is a private biomedical research and graduate-only university in New York City, New York. It focuses primarily on the biological and medical sciences and provides doctoral and postdoctoral education. It is classif ...
. During her years of retirement, she pursued a second career as a
public health
Public health is "the science and art of preventing disease, prolonging life and promoting health through the organized efforts and informed choices of society, organizations, public and private, communities and individuals". Analyzing the det ...
activist in Colorado, and in 1951 received the
Albert Lasker Public Service Award
The Lasker-Bloomberg Public Service Award, known until 2009 as the Mary Woodard Lasker Public Service Award, is awarded by the Lasker Foundation to honor an individual or organization whose public service has profoundly enlarged the possibilities f ...
for this work.
Early life
On November 9, 1871, Serena Sabin gave birth to her youngest daughter, Florence Rena Sabin, in
Central City, Colorado
The historic City of Central, commonly known as Central City, is a home rule municipality located in Gilpin and Clear Creek counties, Colorado, United States. Central City is the county seat and the most populous municipality of Gilpin County. ...
. Florence's mother was a schoolteacher who later died from
puerperal fever
Postpartum infections, also known as childbed fever and puerperal fever, are any bacterial infections of the female reproductive tract following childbirth or miscarriage. Signs and symptoms usually include a fever greater than , chills, lower ab ...
(sepsis) in 1878. Her father, George K. Sabin, was a mining engineer living and working on site with his family.
[Smith College n.d.] Shortly after her mother's death, Florence and her sister (Mary) moved in with their Uncle Albert in Chicago before relocating to Vermont with their paternal grandparents.
Uncle Albert was a tremendous influence on Florence, and from her relationship with him, she developed a love of nature and a keen interest in books and music. The Sabin girls soon moved with their uncle to an old family farm in Vermont.
Florence became very interested in the life story of Levi Sabin, an ancestor who had graduated from medical school in 1798. Florence’s father had always wanted to be a doctor, but the obligations of mining overwhelmed him, and his thoughts of a medical career slowly disappeared. But Florence began to secretly harbor her father’s dream. In 1885 Florence enrolled at
Vermont Academy
Vermont Academy (VA) is a private, co-educational, college preparatory, boarding and day school in Saxtons River, Vermont, serving students from ninth through twelfth grade, as well as postgraduates. Founded in 1876, the campus was listed on the ...
(and graduated in 1889), where her scientific interests were finally allowed to develop.
Throughout her childhood Sabin had intentions of becoming a pianist, however, she was never musically talented, causing her to shift her focus on a future in science during her time at
Vermont Academy
Vermont Academy (VA) is a private, co-educational, college preparatory, boarding and day school in Saxtons River, Vermont, serving students from ninth through twelfth grade, as well as postgraduates. Founded in 1876, the campus was listed on the ...
, Saxtons River, Vermont.
Higher education
Sabin earned her bachelor's degree from
Smith College
Smith College is a Private university, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts Women's colleges in the United States, women's college in Northampton, Massachusetts. It was chartered in 1871 by Sophia Smith (Smith College ...
in 1893. For two years she taught high school mathematics in Denver followed by one year of zoology at Smith as a means to finance her first year of graduate school.
[National Library of Medicine, 1923]
In 1896, Sabin enrolled at the
Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine
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 ...
as one of fourteen women in her class. The school opened in 1893 and was co-ed from the beginning because of an early donor's contingency which required the admittance of female students.
While at Hopkins, Sabin’s observational skills and perseverance in the laboratory caught anatomist
Franklin P. Mall
Franklin Paine Mall (September 28, 1862 – November 17, 1917) was an American anatomist and pathologist known for his research and literature in the fields of anatomy and embryology. Mall was granted a fellowship for the Department of Pathol ...
's attention. Mall inspired Sabin by helping narrow her focus onto two projects well regarded by scientists
[Parkhurst 1930] and foundational to her future research and consequent legacy. The first project was to produce a three-dimensional model of a newborn baby’s brain stem which became the focus of the textbook, ''An Atlas of the
Medulla
Medulla or Medullary may refer to:
Science
* Medulla oblongata, a part of the brain stem
* Renal medulla, a part of the kidney
* Adrenal medulla, a part of the adrenal gland
* Medulla of ovary, a stroma in the center of the ovary
* Medulla of th ...
and Midbrain'' (1901). The second project involved the embryological development of the lymphatic system which asserted that the lymphatic system is formed from the embryo’s blood vessels and not other tissues.
Sabin graduated from Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in 1900.
Professional life
Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine (1902-1925)
Upon graduation, Sabin obtained an internship at
Johns Hopkins Hospital
The Johns Hopkins Hospital (JHH) is the teaching hospital and biomedical research facility of the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, located in Baltimore, Maryland, U.S. It was founded in 1889 using money from a bequest of over $7 million (1873 mo ...
under physician Sir
William Osler
Sir William Osler, 1st Baronet, (; July 12, 1849 – December 29, 1919) was a Canadian physician and one of the "Big Four" founding professors of Johns Hopkins Hospital. Osler created the first Residency (medicine), residency program for spec ...
. Following a one-year internship with Osler, she won a research fellowship in the Department of Anatomy at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine where she continued to work with Mall.
[National Library of Medicine n.d.] Shortly thereafter, a Fellowship in the Department of Anatomy at Johns Hopkins was created for her.
In 1902 she began to teach in the Department of Anatomy at Johns Hopkins. By 1905 she was promoted to associate professor and finally appointed professor of embryology and histology in June 1917, the first woman to become a full professor at a medical college.
She continued her research on the origins of blood, blood vessels, blood cells, the histology of the brain, and the pathology and immunology of tuberculosis at Hopkins.
In 1924, Sabin’s work on the origins of blood vessels earned her presidency of the American Association of Anatomists.
In 1925, Sabin left Johns Hopkins after completing her research amidst institutional discrimination and her desire to research full time.
Rockefeller Institute for Medical Research (1925-1938)
In September 1925 she became head of the Department of Cellular Studies at the
Rockefeller Institute for Medical Research in
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
. Her research focused on the
lymphatic system
The lymphatic system, or lymphoid system, is an organ system in vertebrates that is part of the immune system, and complementary to the circulatory system. It consists of a large network of lymphatic vessels, lymph nodes, lymphatic or lymphoid o ...
, blood vessels and cells, and
tuberculosis
Tuberculosis (TB) is an infectious disease usually caused by '' Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can also affect other parts of the body. Most infections show no symptoms, in ...
.
In 1925, she was voted into the
National Academy of Sciences
The National Academy of Sciences (NAS) is a United States nonprofit, non-governmental organization. NAS is part of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, along with the National Academy of Engineering (NAE) and the Nati ...
. She was the first woman to gain membership in this prestigious body and would remain the lone female member for the next 20 years.
In 1926, she joined the research committee of the
National Tuberculosis Association
National may refer to:
Common uses
* Nation or country
** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen
Places in the United States
* National, Maryland, ce ...
. The committee's purpose was to consolidate all of the tuberculosis research taking place with the hope of controlling the disease proactively. While here, Sabin devoted her research to immune cells, monocytes in particular, which developed into other cells. Sabin spent her final years at the institute determining the effects imposed by foreign substances and their consequent formation of antibodies.
In 1938, Sabin left her position at Rockefeller Institute and moved back to Colorado for retirement.
Final years & legacy
After six years of quiet retirement, Sabin accepted Colorado Governor
John Vivian's request to chair a subcommittee on health beginning in 1944. She presented her findings asserting that the state was “backward in regard to public health” in a letter to the Governor in April 1945. Knowing that health care legislation had been voted down consistently in the past due to uninterested politicians, she was relentless in her demand for reform.
While she was in her early seventies, Sabin refused to let a snowstorm prevent her from making it to a speech in support of her cause despite public travel concerns. Beginning with this speech, Sabin worked to have politicians who opposed health reform defeated by those in support of it. These efforts resulted in the passing of a set of laws in her name. The “Sabin Health Laws” modernized public health in Colorado by providing more hospital beds to treat tuberculosis, resulting in significant reductions in cases.
In an address to the Illinois Statewide Health Committee in 1947, Sabin said that she was chosen as committee chair because the Governor had no interest in public health and appointed “an old lady” because he did not think she would be able to accomplish anything. In 1948 she became manager of health and charities for
Denver
Denver () is a consolidated city and county, the capital, and most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Its population was 715,522 at the 2020 census, a 19.22% increase since 2010. It is the 19th-most populous city in the Unit ...
, donating her salary over the next three years to medical research.
In 1951 Sabin retired for a second and final time, continuing to advocate for public health issues. Sabin's lifetime of service resulted in the
University of Colorado
The University of Colorado (CU) is a system of public universities in Colorado. It consists of four institutions: University of Colorado Boulder, University of Colorado Colorado Springs, University of Colorado Denver, and the University of Co ...
’s Department of Medicine being named the Florence R. Sabin Building for Research in Cellular Biology.
Sabin died of a heart attack on October 3, 1953 (she was 81). She was cremated and her ashes were interred in the
Fairmount Mausoleum
Fairmount Mausoleum is a public mausoleum at Fairmount Cemetery in Denver, Colorado. The building was designed by architects Frederick E. Mountjoy and Francis W. Frewan. Constructed in 1929 and opened in 1930, the Fairmount Mausoleum contains th ...
at
Fairmount Cemetery in Denver, Colorado.
In 1959, the state of Colorado donated a
statue of Sabin to the
National Statuary Hall Collection
The National Statuary Hall Collection in the United States Capitol is composed of statues donated by individual states to honor persons notable in their history. Limited to two statues per state, the collection was originally set up in the old ...
. In 1973, Sabin was inducted into the
National Women's Hall of Fame
The National Women's Hall of Fame (NWHF) is an American institution incorporated in 1969 by a group of men and women in Seneca Falls, New York, although it did not induct its first enshrinees until 1973. As of 2021, it had 303 inductees.
Induc ...
, In 1985, Sabin was inducted into the
Colorado Women's Hall of Fame
The Colorado Women's Hall of Fame is a non-profit, volunteer organization that recognizes women who have contributed to the history of the U.S. state of Colorado. As of 2020, 170 women have been inducted.
History
There was a short-lived recogniti ...
. In 2005, the
Johns Hopkins University
Johns Hopkins University (Johns Hopkins, Hopkins, or JHU) is a private university, private research university in Baltimore, Maryland. Founded in 1876, Johns Hopkins is the oldest research university in the United States and in the western hem ...
School of Medicine honored Sabin's legacy by naming one of its four colleges after her.
Research projects and papers
In the Johns Hopkins Medical Institutes Archives, Sabin's collection of papers and medical records from 1903 - 1941 are stored and some even released upon request. The Sophia Smith Collection at
Smith College
Smith College is a Private university, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts Women's colleges in the United States, women's college in Northampton, Massachusetts. It was chartered in 1871 by Sophia Smith (Smith College ...
holds many of Dr. Sabin’s papers. Other collections are located in the American Philosophical Society Library in Philadelphia,
Florence Rena Sabin Papers
American Philosophical Society. Accessed April 24, 2019. the University of Colorado Medical School, the Colorado State Historical Society’s Division of Museums, the Rockefeller Institute, and in the Alan Mason Chesney Papers at Johns Hopkins University.
See also
*Timeline of women in science
This is a timeline of women in science, spanning from ancient history up to the 21st century. While the timeline primarily focuses on women involved with natural sciences such as astronomy, biology, chemistry and physics, it also includes women f ...
References
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External links
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Find a Grave (burial site)
Florence_Rena_Sabin_Papers_American_Philosophical_Society
.html" ;"title="American Philosophical Society">Florence Rena Sabin Papers American Philosophical Society
">American Philosophical Society">Florence Rena Sabin Papers American Philosophical Society
br>The Florence R. Sabin Papers
- Profiles in Science, National Library of Medicine
Florence Rena Sabin Papers
at the Sophia Smith Collection, Smith College Special Collections
Philip D. Mcmaster and Michael Heidelberger, "Florence Rena Sabin", Biographical Memoirs of the National Academy of Sciences (1960)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sabin, Florence R.
1871 births
1953 deaths
People from Central City, Colorado
American health activists
American anatomists
Smith College alumni
Johns Hopkins School of Medicine alumni
Johns Hopkins University faculty
American women physicians
Members of the United States National Academy of Sciences
American medical researchers
20th-century American scientists
20th-century American women scientists
Vermont Academy alumni
American women academics