Agnes Nininger Saunders Kemp (November 4, 1823 – 1908) was a 19th-century American physician who was a national leader in the

temperance movement The temperance movement is a social movement promoting Temperance (virtue), temperance or total abstinence from consumption of alcoholic beverages. Participants in the movement typically criticize alcohol intoxication or promote teetotalism, and ...

as well as the first woman to practice medicine in

Harrisburg, Pennsylvania Harrisburg ( ; ) is the capital city of the U.S. commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the seat of Dauphin County. With a population of 50,099 as of 2020, Harrisburg is the ninth-most populous city in Pennsylvania. It is the larger of the two pr ...

Family and education

She was born Agnes Ninninger in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, the daughter of Antoine 'Anthony' Ninninger (1787–1866), from

Alsace Alsace (, ; ) is a cultural region and a territorial collectivity in the Grand Est administrative region of northeastern France, on the west bank of the upper Rhine, next to Germany and Switzerland. In January 2021, it had a population of 1,9 ...

, France, who had emigrated to America in 1816, and Catharine (May) Ninninger (1800–1833), who was of Pennsylvania Dutch (Swiss-German) descent. Her mother died when Agnes was nine. She first married William Saunders, an army colonel, but was widowed after a few years. In 1857 she married Joseph Kemp (d. 1875) of Hollidaysburg; they had one surviving daughter, Marie Antoinette, who became a professor of German at

Swarthmore College Swarthmore College ( , ) is a Private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Swarthmore, Pennsylvania, United States. Founded in 1864, with its first classes held in 1869, Swarthmore is one of the e ...

Career

Early in her first marriage, she had health issues that resulted in a trip to New York state for treatment, where she met and was inspired by the social reformers

Lucretia Mott Lucretia Mott (née Coffin; January 3, 1793 – November 11, 1880) was an American Quakers, Quaker, Abolitionism in the United States, abolitionist, women's rights activist, and social reformer. She had formed the idea of reforming the position ...

William Lloyd Garrison William Lloyd Garrison (December , 1805 – May 24, 1879) was an Abolitionism in the United States, American abolitionist, journalist, and reformism (historical), social reformer. He is best known for his widely read anti-slavery newspaper ''The ...

Abby Kelly Foster Abby Kelley Foster (January 15, 1811 – January 14, 1887) was an American Abolitionism in the United States, abolitionist and radical social Reform movement#United States reform movements of the 1840s – 1930s, reformer active from the 1830s ...

, and

Ralph Waldo Emerson Ralph Waldo Emerson (May 25, 1803April 27, 1882), who went by his middle name Waldo, was an American essayist, lecturer, philosopher, minister, abolitionism, abolitionist, and poet who led the Transcendentalism, Transcendentalist movement of th ...

. On her return to Harrisburg, she began to advocate for temperance reform and was instrumental in establishing a chapter of the

Women's Christian Temperance Union The Woman's Christian Temperance Union (WCTU) is an international temperance organization. It was among the first organizations of women devoted to social reform with a program that "linked the religious and the secular through concerted and far ...

. She also advocated for prison reform and public education for children, among other issues. By her mid-forties she was recognized nationally as a reform leader, and

Lucy Stone Lucy Stone (August 13, 1818 – October 18, 1893) was an American orator, Abolitionism in the United States, abolitionist and Suffrage, suffragist who was a vocal advocate for and organizer of promoting Women's rights, rights for women. In 1847, ...

Julia Ward Howe Julia Ward Howe ( ; May 27, 1819 – October 17, 1910) was an American author and poet, known for writing the "Battle Hymn of the Republic" as new lyrics to an existing song, and the original 1870 pacifist Mothers' Day Proclamation. She w ...

, and

were among the influential speakers who came to Harrisburg at her invitation. Kemp was convinced that ignorance of hygiene was at the root of many women's illnesses and determined to study medicine. She entered the Woman's Medical College in Philadelphia, and when she graduated in 1879 she was, at 56, the oldest member of her class. She set up practice in Harrisburg, becoming the first woman in

Dauphin County Dauphin County (; Pennsylvania Dutch: Daffin Kaundi) is a county in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. As of the 2020 census, the population was 286,401. The county seat is Harrisburg, Pennsylvania's state capital and ninth-most populous city. ...

to practice medicine as well as the first (in 1880) to be invited into the county medical society. She continued to advocate for temperance reform both in the United States and during several extended visits to France. She retired in 1903 and went to live with her daughter, who died in 1907. Kemp then helped to raise her grandson until she died the following year. She is buried in Harrisburg Cemetery.

Family and education

Career

References

Further reading