Mary Augusta Wood-Allen (October 19, 1841 – January 21, 1908) was an American doctor, social reformer, lecturer, and writer of books on health and self-improvement for women and children. Through her lectures and writings she was a voice for the

social purity movement The social purity movement was a late 19th-century social movement that sought to abolish prostitution and other sexual activities that were considered immoral according to Christian morality. The movement was active in English-speaking nations fr ...

Biography

Mary Augusta Wood was born in

Delta Delta commonly refers to: * Delta (letter) (Δ or δ), a letter of the Greek alphabet * River delta, at a river mouth * D (NATO phonetic alphabet: "Delta") * Delta Air Lines, US * Delta variant of SARS-CoV-2 that causes COVID-19 Delta may also re ...

Ohio Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...

, the daughter of George Wood and Sarah (Seely) Wood. She attended

Ohio Wesleyan Female College Ohio Wesleyan Female College was founded in 1853 in Delaware, Ohio. In 1877, the Ohio Wesleyan Female College merged with Ohio Wesleyan University. History It is one of the oldest institutions of higher education for women in the United States, ...

, graduating in 1862. After teaching for a time at the Battleground Collegiate Institute in Battle Ground, Indiana, she married Chillon Brown Allen, a lawyer, and took the surname Wood-Allen. After three years studying in Vienna, Austria, Wood-Allen earned a medical degree from the

University of Michigan , mottoeng = "Arts, Knowledge, Truth" , former_names = Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania (1817–1821) , budget = $10.3 billion (2021) , endowment = $17 billion (2021)As o ...

Ann Arbor Anne, alternatively spelled Ann, is a form of the Latin female given name Anna (name), Anna. This in turn is a representation of the Hebrew Hannah (given name), Hannah, which means 'favour' or 'grace'. Related names include Annie (given name), ...

in 1875. She went into practice 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.Women'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 ...

at the suggestion of

Frances Willard Frances Elizabeth Caroline Willard (September 28, 1839 – February 17, 1898) was an American educator, temperance reformer, and women's suffragist. Willard became the national president of Woman's Christian Temperance Union (WCTU) in 1879 an ...

and lectured widely on these subjects. In 1892 she became superintendent of the WCTU's Purity Department, and in 1897 she became Superintendent of Purity for the World WCTU. In 1895, through her family's Wood-Allen Publishing Company in Ann Arbor, Wood-Allen started a series of monthly leaflets titled ''Mother's Friend'', which was co-edited by

Estelle M. H. Merrill Estelle M. H. Merrill (, Hatch; pen name, Jean Kincaid; September 30, 1858 – July 29, 1908) was an American journalist and editor of the long nineteenth century. She lectured on various subjects, especially on educational and sociological questi ...

. It later became a monthly magazine titled ''The New Crusade'' and was edited by Wood-Allen alone with her daughter as assistant editor. Studies in Education, February 1897, ed. Earl Barnes, Stanford University, "Books and Pamphlets Intended to Give Sex-Information", Earl Barnes, p. 305 This later became ''The American Mother'' and then ''American Motherhood'' and continued publication until 1919. Wood-Allen published the magazine herself with the assistance of her son and daughter. She also published a number of books. Her poem "Motherhood" was well known in its day. The Wood-Allen Publishing Company also published at least one book by

Delos Franklin Wilcox Delos Franklin Wilcox (April 22, 1873 in Ida, Michigan – April 4, 1928) was a United States expert on municipal government. Biography He graduated from the University of Michigan in 1894, having been strongly influenced by John Dewey. He took the ...

(''Ethical Marriage'' (1900)).

Family

Wood-Allen and Chillon Brown Allen married on April 15, 1863, and had separated by 1880. Wood-Allen's children were Mario Chillon Wood-Allen (1870–1936) and Rose Wood-Allen Chapman (1875–1923). Rose wrote articles and books of advice on child-rearing and in 1907 took her mother's place as the National Superintendent of Purity for the WCTU. Wood-Allen died in

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

, in 1908.

Publications

*''The man wonderful in the house beautiful: an allegory teaching the principles of physiology and hygiene, and the effects of stimulants and narcotics'' (1883; with her husband Chilion B. Allen) *''Teaching Truth'' (1892) *''The Birth Chamber'' (1895) *''The Man Wonderful: The Marvels of Our Bodily Dwelling'' (1895) *''What a Young Woman Ought to Know'' (1898; with Sylvanus Stall) *''Marriage: Its Duties and Privileges'' (1901) *''Child-Confidence Rewarded'' (1903) *''What a Young Girl Ought to Know'' (1905) *''Almost a Man'' (1907) *''Almost a Woman'' (1907) *''Making the Best of Our Children'' (2 vols, 1909)

References

Attribution

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Wood-Allen, Mary 1841 births 1908 deaths 19th-century American writers 19th-century American physicians 19th-century American women writers 20th-century American non-fiction writers 20th-century American physicians 20th-century American women writers People from Fulton County, Ohio Ohio Wesleyan Female College alumni University of Michigan Medical School alumni American magazine publishers (people) American sex educators American family and parenting writers Physicians from Ohio American medical writers Women medical writers Writers from Ohio American women non-fiction writers 20th-century American women physicians 19th-century American women physicians 19th-century American businesspeople Wikipedia articles incorporating text from A Woman of the Century