Minnie Frances Howard (August 23, 1872 – September 2, 1965) was "Pocatello's pioneer woman physician" and a dedicated historian. She was also active in building the town of

Pocatello, Idaho Pocatello () is the county seat of and largest city in Bannock County, with a small portion on the Fort Hall Indian Reservation in neighboring Power County, in the southeastern part of the U.S. state of Idaho. It is the principal city of the ...

through her work with various civic and religious organizations.

Early life

Minnie Frances Hayden Howard was born August 23, 1872 in

Memphis, Missouri Memphis is a city in and the county seat of Scotland County, Missouri, Scotland County, on the northern border of Missouri, United States. As of the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census, its population was 1,731. U.S. Route 136, U.S. Highway 13 ...

to Jacob and Carina Jane Wood Hayden. She studied first to become a teacher. After her marriage to a young medical student, William Forrest Howard, on August 23, 1894 in

Larned, Kansas Larned is a city in and the county seat of Pawnee County, Kansas, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population of the city was 3,769. History Larned was laid out in 1873. The first post office was established at Larned in 1872. The c ...

, she attended and graduated from Kansas University Women's Medical School. She accompanied her husband while he studied surgical procedures in

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

, Austria.

Life in Pocatello

Howard moved to Pocatello with her husband in 1902. They established medical practices and became active, respected members of the community. They had four sons, all of whom went on to become doctors themselves. Howard was an early president of the Southeast Idaho Historical Society, the first co-chairman of the

Red Cross The International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement is a Humanitarianism, humanitarian movement with approximately 97 million Volunteering, volunteers, members and staff worldwide. It was founded to protect human life and health, to ensure re ...

for both

Bannock Bannock may mean: * Bannock (food), a kind of bread, cooked on a stone or griddle * Bannock (Indigenous American), various types of bread, usually prepared by pan-frying * Bannock people, a Native American people of what is now southeastern Oregon ...

and

Caribou Reindeer (in North American English, known as caribou if wild and ''reindeer'' if domesticated) are deer in the genus ''Rangifer''. For the last few decades, reindeer were assigned to one species, ''Rangifer tarandus'', with about 10 subspe ...

Counties, and put together other civic organizations such as the Art and Travel Club and the County Social Welfare Board. Guided by pioneer

Ezra Meeker Ezra Morgan Meeker (December 29, 1830December 3, 1928) was an American pioneer who traveled the Oregon Trail by ox-drawn wagon as a young man, migrating from Iowa to the Pacific Coast. Later in life he worked to memorialize the Trail, repeated ...

and native Jim Broncho, Howard verified the original location of

Fort Hall Fort Hall was a fort in the western United States that was built in 1834 as a fur trading post by Nathaniel Jarvis Wyeth. It was located on the Snake River in the eastern Oregon Country, now part of present-day Bannock County in southeastern Ida ...

and drove the effort to erect a monument there, also taking part in the organization and direction of the

Oregon Trail Memorial Association The Oregon-California Trails Association is an interdisciplinary organization based at Independence, Missouri, United States. OCTA is dedicated to the preservation and protection of overland emigrant trails and the emigrant experience. OCTA Chapter ...

. Howard chaired, served as president of, or was a member of

Daughters of the American Revolution The Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) is a lineage-based membership service organization for women who are directly descended from a person involved in the United States' efforts towards independence. A non-profit group, they promote ...

, Descendants of Mayflower Association, Scientific Temperance Investigation,

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 ...

, Women's Study League, Federated Women's Club, Department of Indian Welfare, and Pocatello Women's Club. She was also an active member of the First Congregational Church, Pocatello, writing a history of the church in November 1928. Marshall Public Library February 2020

Howard was crucial in the campaign to secure funding from

Andrew Carnegie Andrew Carnegie (, ; November 25, 1835August 11, 1919) was a Scottish-American industrialist and philanthropist. Carnegie led the expansion of the American steel industry in the late 19th century and became one of the richest Americans i ...

and Pocatello city council support to build the Pocatello Public Library, a Carnegie library later renamed the Marshall Public Library. Two years after the library opened, the Howard family built and inhabited a home next door. Howard was an avid writer, penning numerous columns in ''The Pocatello Tribune'', a portion of which were collected into a published history of Bannock County.

Death

After a lifetime of leadership, service, and scholarship, Howard died at the Bannock Nursing Home on September 2, 1965, at the age of 93.

References

External links

About Minnie Howard
* Minnie Frances Hayden Howardbr>Pocatello
{{DEFAULTSORT:Howard, Minnie 1872 births 1965 deaths Physicians from Idaho 20th-century American physicians 20th-century American women physicians American columnists American women columnists People from Memphis, Missouri University of Kansas School of Medicine alumni Urban historians American expatriates in Austria American Red Cross personnel American women historians 20th-century American historians Historians of Idaho