Mary Harley (December 20, 1865 – May 31, 1962) was an American physician. She taught physiology and hygiene at

Sweet Briar College Sweet Briar College is a private women's college in Sweet Briar, Virginia. It was established in 1901 by Indiana Fletcher Williams in memory of her deceased daughter, Daisy. The college formally opened its doors in 1906 and granted the B.A. deg ...

from 1906 to 1935. The student health center at Sweet Briar is named for her.

Early life

Harley was born in

Newark, New Jersey Newark ( , ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of New Jersey and the seat of Essex County and the second largest city within the New York metropolitan area.New York Medical College for Women New York Medical College (NYMC or New York Med) is a private medical school in Valhalla, New York. Founded in 1860, it is a member of the Touro College and University System. NYMC offers advanced degrees through its three schools: the School o ...

Career

Mary Harley went to Florida as a medical volunteer during the

Spanish–American War , partof = the Philippine Revolution, the decolonization of the Americas, and the Cuban War of Independence , image = Collage infobox for Spanish-American War.jpg , image_size = 300px , caption = (clock ...

in 1898. She was on the staff of the

Hudson River State Hospital The Hudson River State Hospital is a former New York state psychiatric hospital which operated from 1873 until its closure in the early 2000s. The campus is notable for its main building, known as a "Kirkbride," which has been designated a National ...

and school physician at

Vassar College Vassar College ( ) is a private liberal arts college in Poughkeepsie, New York, United States. Founded in 1861 by Matthew Vassar, it was the second degree-granting institution of higher education for women in the United States, closely follo ...

after medical school. She also spent time as a clinic physician at the Penn School in South Carolina. For most of her career, Harley was on the faculty of Sweet Briar College, where she was the school physician, and taught physiology and hygiene classes, from the school's first term in 1906 to her retirement in 1935. During the

1918 influenza 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 ...

, she oversaw the campus quarantine and treated students who became ill. She and Anna S. Thatcher chaperoned a student trip to Iceland, Norway, and Germany in 1922. Harley was a member of the

Medical Society of Virginia The Medical Society of Virginia (MSV), is a professional association of more than 11,000 Virginia physicians, medical students, residents, physician assistants and physician assistant students. It was founded in December 1820, and incorporated ...

. She spoke at an international conference of physicians in New York City in 1919. In 1927, she presented the prize at a "baby contest" for

Amherst County Amherst County is a county, located in the Piedmont region and near the center of the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. The county is part of the Lynchburg Metropolitan Statistical Area, and its county seat is also named Amherst. ...

Personal life

In retirement after 1935, Harley traveled internationally, and studied

paleontology Paleontology (), also spelled palaeontology or palæontology, is the scientific study of life that existed prior to, and sometimes including, the start of the Holocene epoch (roughly 11,700 years before present). It includes the study of fossi ...

for six months at a museum in Pretoria, South Africa. To celebrate her 88th birthday in 1954, Harley donated autographed volumes on paleontology to the Sweet Briar library. Harley died in 1962, aged 96 years, in

Lynchburg, Virginia Lynchburg is an independent city (United States), independent city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. First settled in 1757 by ferry owner John Lynch (1740–1820), John Lynch, the city's populati ...

. The Mary Harley Health and Wellness Center at Sweet Briar College is named for her.

References

External links

"Dr. [Mary
Harley and some Patients, 1906"">ary">"Dr. [Mary
Harley and some Patients, 1906" a photograph in the Penn School Papers, University of North Carolina Libraries. * {{DEFAULTSORT:Harley, Mary 1865 births 1962 deaths Physicians from Newark, New Jersey American women physicians Vassar College staff Sweet Briar College faculty New York Medical College alumni American women academics