Harriet Schneider French (1824 – September 5, 1906) was an American physician and

temperance movement The temperance movement is a social movement promoting temperance or complete abstinence from consumption of alcoholic beverages. Participants in the movement typically criticize alcohol intoxication or promote teetotalism, and its leaders emph ...

activist. She was one of

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

's pioneer women in the medical profession, and one of the earliest women in the United States to obtain a diploma as a physician. When she died in 1906, she was the oldest woman physician in the country.

Early life and education

French was born in Philadelphia, 1824. She was a member of the Schneider family, a representative of whom was for several generations grand tyler at the Masonic Temple in Philadelphia, and well known to Allentown Masons. She received her early education in the public schools of her city. Sources vary regarding her medical school education. French's obituary in ''The Allentown Leader'' states that she was the second woman to receive the degree of M.D. from Hahnemann College. Kirschmann (2004) offers a footnotes that French may have attended Hahnemann College (now known as

Drexel University College of Medicine Drexel University College of Medicine is the medical school of Drexel University, a private research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The medical school represents the consolidation of two medical schools: the first U.S. medical school ...

. Drexel University College of Medicine indicates that French received her medical degree in 1864 but doesn't name the institution, only that it was in

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

. However, ''The Woman's Medical Journal'' (1907) states that French received her Medical Degree (M.D.) from

Penn Medical University Penn Medical College was founded by Dr. Joseph S. Longshore in 1853,Gardner, Martha N. (2002)''Midwife, Doctor, or Doctress? The New England Female Medical College and Women's Place in Nineteenth-century Medicine and Society.''Doctoral dissertation ...

Career

French began her career as a public school teacher. After completing medical school, she first practiced

Allopathic medicine Allopathic medicine, or allopathy, is an archaic term used to define science-based modern medicine. Citing: ''Gale Encyclopedia of Medicine'' (2008) and ''Mosby's Medical Dictionary'', 8th ed. (2009). There are regional variations in usage of th ...

, but changed to

Homeopathy Homeopathy or homoeopathy is a pseudoscientific system of alternative medicine. It was conceived in 1796 by the German physician Samuel Hahnemann. Its practitioners, called homeopaths, believe that a substance that causes symptoms of a dis ...

. French spoke about the relation of alcohol to medicine during the

First Woman's National Temperance Convention The First Woman's National Temperance Convention was a founding event in the establishment of the Woman's Christian Temperance Union (WCTU). In November, 1874, a Woman's National Temperance Convention was held in Cleveland, Ohio, at which Jennie F ...

. She served as president of the Women's Homeopathic Society of

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Wester ...

, and for 50 years of the

Philadelphia County Philadelphia County is a county in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. It is the most populous county in Pennsylvania. As of the 2020 census, Philadelphia County had a population of 1,603,797. The county is the second smallest county in Pennsyl ...

branch of the

Woman's Christian Temperance Union The Woman's Christian Temperance Union (WCTU) is an international temperance organization, originating among women in the United States Prohibition movement. It was among the first organizations of women devoted to social reform with a program th ...

(WCTU). In 1871, she was admitted into the

American Institute of Homeopathy The American Institute of Homeopathy (AIH), established in 1844, is the oldest extant national physician’s organization in the United States. The founding president of the AIH was Constantine Hering. Past AIH presidents include Royal S. Cope ...

. In addition to her work against alcohol consumption, French called on the WCTU to fight the

cigarette A cigarette is a narrow cylinder containing a combustible material, typically tobacco, that is rolled into thin paper for smoking. The cigarette is ignited at one end, causing it to smolder; the resulting smoke is orally inhaled via the opp ...

habit. Around 1900, while crossing a street in the vicinity of her home, she was knocked down by a bicycle and severely injured. A year later, heart trouble had aggravated her physical condition. French died at her home in Philadelphia, from

cerebral hemorrhage Intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH), also known as cerebral bleed, intraparenchymal bleed, and hemorrhagic stroke, or haemorrhagic stroke, is a sudden bleeding into the tissues of the brain, into its ventricles, or into both. It is one kind of bleed ...

, September 5, 1906, aged 83.

References

Attribution

* *

Bibliography

* {{DEFAULTSORT:French, Harriet Schneider 1824 births 1906 deaths Woman's Christian Temperance Union people Physicians from Philadelphia