Harriet Lawrence (1883-1974) was physician and among the earliest pathologists in the United States, being the first woman known to practicce pathology in Oregon.

Life and education

Harriet Jane Lawrence was born on September 13, 1883, in Kingsbury, Maine. While paying her tuition by teaching, Lawrence attended college and medical school. She was one of six women graduated from

Boston University School of Medicine The Boston University Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine, formerly the Boston University School of Medicine, is one of the graduate schools of Boston University. Founded in 1848, the medical school was the first institution in the world ...

in 1912. She later received the 1963 Distinguished Alumni Award from

Boston University Boston University (BU) is a private research university in Boston, Massachusetts. The university is nonsectarian, but has a historical affiliation with the United Methodist Church. It was founded in 1839 by Methodists with its original campu ...

in acknowledgment of her contributions to medicine and work to advance women in the field. Census records from 1920, 1930, and 1940 show Lawrence by her birth name and those records indicate that she had a daughter named Elizabeth.

Work in Portland

She moved to

Portland, Oregon Portland (, ) is a port city in the Pacific Northwest and the largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon. Situated at the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers, Portland is the county seat of Multnomah County, the most populous co ...

, in 1912 and began to work with Ralph Matson, who was a tuberculosis specialist. The next year, Lawrence opened her own laboratory in the Selling Building, where she worked for the next 50 years as a “microbe hunter". Lawrence lived on

Peacock Lane Peacock Lane is a four-block street in southeast Portland, Oregon, in the United States. It is known for its elaborately decorated homes during the Christmas and holiday season. During this time of year, thousands of people come to view the disp ...

in Portland, Oregon, where at one point she kept more than 200 guinea pigs for use in experimentation with serums. Lawrence became a fellow with the newly formed American Society of Clinical Pathologists in 1927. The goal of the organization was to advance the field of clinical pathology and to ensure it was on equal ground with other specialized areas of medicine. She was a member of the Medical Club of Portland and the Philanthropic Educational Organization (P.E.O.) Sisterhood, which was an international organization that worked to provide educational opportunities for women. She helped Dr. Alan L. Hart in his 1917 transition to male and provided a professional recommendation for him for a position as a physician at the Albuquerque Sanatorium.

Work on the 1918 Influenza Pandemic

She successfully created a serum therapy to treat those infected with the

1918 Flu Pandemic The 1918–1920 influenza pandemic, commonly known by the misnomer Spanish flu or as the Great Influenza epidemic, was an exceptionally deadly global influenza pandemic caused by the H1N1 influenza A virus. The earliest documented case was ...

and helped distribute it. She used an influenza culture provided by the Oregon State Board of Health that had been obtained from a navy yard in

Bremerton, Washington Bremerton is a city in Kitsap County, Washington. The population was 37,729 at the 2010 census and an estimated 41,405 in 2019, making it the largest city on the Kitsap Peninsula. Bremerton is home to Puget Sound Naval Shipyard and the Bremerto ...

. It wasn't known at the time that influenza was caused by a virus. Lawrence's serum targeted the secondary bacterial infection instead.

President Woodrow Wilson Thomas Woodrow Wilson (December 28, 1856February 3, 1924) was an American politician and academic who served as the 28th president of the United States from 1913 to 1921. A member of the Democratic Party, Wilson served as the president of P ...

honored Lawrence for her work.

Death

She retired in 1967 and died in Portland on February 28, 1974.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lawrence, Harriet Jane American women scientists American pathologists 1974 deaths 1883 births Boston University School of Medicine alumni Physicians from Portland, Oregon People from Piscataquis County, Maine