Ellis Reynolds Shipp MD FAAP (January 20, 1847 – January 31, 1939) was one of the first female doctors in

Utah Utah ( , ) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. Utah is a landlocked U.S. state bordered to its east by Colorado, to its northeast by Wyoming, to its north by Idaho, to its south by Arizona, and to it ...

and west of the Mississippi. She founded the School of Nursing and Obstetrics in 1879, and was on the board of the Deseret Hospital Association. Shipp successfully combined motherhood and a medical practice, saying, "It is to me the crowning joy of a woman’s life to be a mother." In her 50-year medical career, she delivered more than 5000 babies and led the School of Nursing and Obstetrics to train more than 500 women as licensed midwives.

Biography

Born Ellis Reynolds, she emigrated with her family to

Utah Territory The Territory of Utah was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from September 9, 1850, until January 4, 1896, when the final extent of the territory was admitted to the Union as the State of Utah, the 45th state ...

in 1852. Her family was among the early

Mormon pioneer The Mormon pioneers were members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church), also known as Latter Day Saints, who migrated beginning in the mid-1840s until the late-1860s across the United States from the Midwest to the S ...

settlers of

Pleasant Grove, Utah Pleasant Grove, originally named Battle Creek, is a city in Utah County, Utah, United States known as "Utah's City of Trees". It is part of the Provo– Orem Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 37,726 at the 2020 Census. Hist ...

. In 1866, Ellis Reynolds married Milford Shipp. She bore a total of ten children, six of whom survived infancy. Shipp began studying at the

University of Deseret The University of Utah (U of U, UofU, or simply The U) is a public research university in Salt Lake City, Utah. It is the flagship institution of the Utah System of Higher Education. The university was established in 1850 as the University of D ...

, and later in Philadelphia at the

Women's Medical College of Pennsylvania A woman is an adult female human. Prior to adulthood, a female human is referred to as a girl (a female child or adolescent). The plural ''women'' is sometimes used in certain phrases such as "women's rights" to denote female humans regardl ...

in 1875. She left her children behind in Utah Territory in the care of her husband's three other wives.

Brigham Young Brigham Young (; June 1, 1801August 29, 1877) was an American religious leader and politician. He was the second president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church), from 1847 until his death in 1877. During his time as ch ...

sponsored her education in the eastern United States and she later did further medical studies at 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 ...

. When she returned to Utah, Ellis Shipp worked with Eliza R. Snow to start an obstetrics school, eventually training 660 midwives. In 1910, she published a book of her own poems, ''Life Lines''. Shipp served as a member of the General Board of the

Relief Society The Relief Society is a philanthropic and educational women's organization of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church). It was founded in 1842 in Nauvoo, Illinois, United States, and has more than 7 million members in over 18 ...

from 1898 to 1907. She also served on the general board of the Young Women's Mutual Improvement Association. Shipp died at age 92 in Salt Lake City on January 31, 1939, of cancer.

Honors

A neighborhood park in

Salt Lake City, Utah Salt Lake City (often shortened to Salt Lake and abbreviated as SLC) is the Capital (political), capital and List of cities and towns in Utah, most populous city of Utah, United States. It is the county seat, seat of Salt Lake County, Utah, Sal ...

, is named in Shipp's honor; it is located near where she lived and practiced medicine. A public health center in

West Valley, Utah West Valley City is a city in Salt Lake County and a suburb of Salt Lake City in the U.S. state of Utah. The population was 140,230 at the 2020 census, making it the second-largest city in Utah. The city incorporated in 1980 from a large, quic ...

, is also named in her honor. Ellis Reynolds Shipp Hall (Building 11) of the women's dormitories in the old Heritage Halls at

Brigham Young University Brigham Young University (BYU, sometimes referred to colloquially as The Y) is a private research university in Provo, Utah. It was founded in 1875 by religious leader Brigham Young and is sponsored by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-d ...

was named after Shipp. Shipp is honored with a display room in the

Daughters of Utah Pioneers The International Society Daughters of Utah Pioneers (ISDUP, DUP) is a women's organization dedicated to preserving the history of the original settlers of the geographic area covered by the State of Deseret and Utah Territory, including Mormon pi ...

Pioneer Memorial Museum in Salt Lake City.

Notes

References

*. *. *. *. *. {{DEFAULTSORT:Shipp, Ellis Reynolds 1847 births 1939 deaths American Latter Day Saint hymnwriters American women physicians Drexel University alumni Mormon pioneers People from Pleasant Grove, Utah Relief Society people University of Michigan Medical School alumni University of Utah alumni Young Women (organization) people American leaders of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints Physicians from Utah American women poets Deaths from cancer in Utah American women hymnwriters Latter Day Saints from Utah American women non-fiction writers