Laura Gladys Smithwick (May 28, 1898 – December 28, 1964) was an American physician. She served as a Presbyterian

medical missionary Medical missions is the term used for Christian missionary endeavors that involve the administration of medical treatment. As has been common among missionary efforts from the 18th to 20th centuries, medical missions often involves residents of th ...

in China and the

Belgian Congo The Belgian Congo (french: Congo belge, ; nl, Belgisch-Congo) was a Belgian colony in Central Africa from 1908 until independence in 1960. The former colony adopted its present name, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), in 1964. Colo ...

Early life

Smithwick was born in

Warren County, North Carolina Warren County is a county located in the northeastern Piedmont region of the U.S. state of North Carolina, on the northern border with Virginia, made famous for a landfill and birthplace of the environmental justice movement. As of the 2020 cen ...

, one of the eight children of James Walter Smithwick and Laura S. Fort Smithwick. She completed a bachelor's degree at Oxford College in North Carolina in 1919. She earned a medical degree the

Medical College of Virginia The VCU Medical Center is Virginia Commonwealth University's medical campus located in downtown Richmond, Virginia, in the Court End neighborhood. VCU Medical Center used to be known as the Medical College of Virginia (MCV), which merged with the ...

in 1925, where she was a member of the

Alpha Epsilon Iota Alpha Epsilon Iota () was a professional fraternity for women in the field of medicine. History Alpha Epsilon Iota was established as a medical fraternity for women on February 26, 1890 at the University of Michigan. Its Founders were: * Lotta ...

professional society. She later earned a master's degree in public health at

Tulane University Tulane University, officially the Tulane University of Louisiana, is a private university, private research university in New Orleans, Louisiana. Founded as the Medical College of Louisiana in 1834 by seven young medical doctors, it turned into ...

, and studied

anesthesiology Anesthesiology, anaesthesiology, or anaesthesia is the medical specialty concerned with the total perioperative care of patients before, during and after surgery. It encompasses anesthesia, intensive care medicine, critical emergency medicine, ...

at Massachusetts Memorial Hospital in Boston.

Career

After medical school, Smithwick worked at the Catawba Sanatorium in Virginia, and the Rhode Island State Sanatorium. She spent much of her career as a medical missionary with the

American Southern Presbyterian Mission American Southern Presbyterian Mission was an American Presbyterian missionary society of the Southern Presbyterian Church that was involved in sending workers to countries such as China during the late Qing Dynasty,American Presbyterian Mission ...

. She was posted in China from 1929 to 1935, where she was co-director of a women's hospital at

Suzhou Suzhou (; ; Suzhounese: ''sou¹ tseu¹'' , Mandarin: ), alternately romanized as Soochow, is a major city in southern Jiangsu province, East China. Suzhou is the largest city in Jiangsu, and a major economic center and focal point of trade ...

. She was an anesthesiologist and an active

clubwoman The woman's club movement was a social movement that took place throughout the United States that established the idea that women had a moral duty and responsibility to transform public policy. While women's organizations had always been a part ...

Lexington, Kentucky Lexington is a city in Kentucky, United States that is the county seat of Fayette County, Kentucky, Fayette County. By population, it is the List of cities in Kentucky, second-largest city in Kentucky and List of United States cities by popul ...

, in the 1930s and 1940s. Smithwick hoped to return to China after

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 ...

; instead, she studied French in Belgium, and worked at a

leprosarium A leper colony, also known by many other names, is an isolated community for the quarantining and treatment of lepers, people suffering from leprosy. '' M. leprae'', the bacterium responsible for leprosy, is believed to have spread from East Af ...

in the

Kasai Province Kasai or Kasaï may refer to: Places Congo * Congo-Kasaï, one of the four large provinces of Belgian Congo * Kasaï District, in the Kasai-Occidental province of the Democratic Republic of the Congo * Kasai Province, one of the provinces ...

of the Belgian Congo, from 1949 to 1963. On furloughs in the United States, she spoke about her work at Presbyterian churches.

Personal life

Smithwick died in 1964, aged 66 years, at a hospital in

Charlotte, North Carolina Charlotte ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of North Carolina. Located in the Piedmont region, it is the county seat of Mecklenburg County. The population was 874,579 at the 2020 census, making Charlotte the 16th-most populo ...

. There is a file of her letters in the Presbyterian Historical Society archives.

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Smithwick, Gladys 1898 births 1964 deaths People from Warren County, North Carolina 20th-century American women physicians 20th-century American physicians Medical missionaries Medical College of Virginia alumni Tulane University alumni Presbyterian missionaries in Asia Presbyterian missionaries in Africa 20th-century American people