Calista Vinton Luther (September 1841 – July 1924) was an American missionary and medical doctor, born in

Burma Myanmar, officially the Republic of the Union of Myanmar; and also referred to as Burma (the official English name until 1989), is a country in northwest Southeast Asia. It is the largest country by area in Mainland Southeast Asia and ha ...

(Myanmar). She was a physician after completing her medical degree in 1885, and ran a small sanitarium in New Jersey.

Early life

Calista Vinton was born in Burma, the daughter of American Baptist missionaries Justus Vinton and

Calista Vinton Calista H. Vinton (19 April 1807 – 18 December 1864) was an American Baptist missionary who labored for 30 years in Burma (now known as Myanmar) preaching, teaching and caring amongst the Karen people. Both Calista and her husband Justus Vi ...

. Her parents had been working in Burma for seven years when she was born. She was educated at

Suffield Academy Suffield Academy is a private preparatory school located in Suffield, Connecticut. It was founded in 1833 to train young men for ministry in the Baptist Church. The tuition fees for students are currently $71,500 for boarding students and $49, ...

in Connecticut from 1854 to 1858.

Career

From 1864 to 1872, she and her husband continued her parents' work and ran the Kemmerdine Mission schoolSlater Memorial Museum website, ''The Muse'' newsletter (Summer 2009)
/ref> and clinic in Kyimyintaing, three miles from

Rangoon Yangon, formerly romanized as Rangoon, is the capital of the Yangon Region and the largest city of Myanmar. Yangon was the List of capitals of Myanmar, capital of Myanmar until 2005 and served as such until 2006, when the State Peace and Dev ...

(Yangon). Calista Luther wrote an algebra textbook in the

Karen language The Karen () or Karenic languages are tonal languages spoken by some 4.5 million Karen people. They are of unclear affiliation within the Sino-Tibetan languages. The Karen languages are written using the Karen script. The three main branches a ...

. Rev. Luther's health suffered, and they moved to the United States. In Philadelphia, Calista V. Luther trained as a physician at the

Woman's Medical College of Pennsylvania Founded in 1850, The Woman's Medical College of Pennsylvania (WMCP), formally known as The Female Medical College of Pennsylvania, was the first American medical college dedicated to teaching women medicine and allowing them to earn the Doctor ...

, graduating in 1885, and practiced in that city. She, Marie K. Formad, and two other women doctors ran an evening dispensary for working women to receive medical care and advice at a convenient time. She ran a small summer sanitarium for women in

South Orange, New Jersey South Orange is a historic suburban Village (New Jersey), village located in Essex County, New Jersey. It was formally known as the Township of South Orange Village from October 1978 until April 25, 2024. As of the 2020 United States census, ...

and

Old Saybrook, Connecticut Old Saybrook is a New England town, town in Middlesex County, Connecticut, United States. The town is part of the Lower Connecticut River Valley Planning Region, Connecticut, Lower Connecticut River Valley Planning Region. The population was 10, ...

. She spoke on women's medical education, and modern treatments for

insanity Insanity, madness, lunacy, and craziness are behaviors caused by certain abnormal mental or behavioral patterns. Insanity can manifest as violations of societal norms, including a person or persons becoming a danger to themselves or to other ...

. Among her patients was Viscountess de Suzannet, the former Margaret Knower. Luther retired from medical work in 1917. Luther wrote a biography of her parents, ''The Vintons and the Karens'' (1880). She also contributed a chapter on Karen children to ''Child Life in Many Lands'' (1903). She was president of the Woman's Baptist Foreign Mission Society in

Newark, New Jersey Newark ( , ) is the List of municipalities in New Jersey, most populous City (New Jersey), city in the U.S. state of New Jersey, the county seat of Essex County, New Jersey, Essex County, and a principal city of the New York metropolitan area. ...

, and of the Alumnae Association of the Woman's Medical College of Pennsylvania. In 1903, she spoke at the annual meeting of the New Jersey Woman Suffrage Association.

Personal life

In 1864, Calista Vinton married a fellow missionary, Robert Morris Luther, an ordained minister trained at

Princeton Theological Seminary Princeton Theological Seminary (PTSem), officially The Theological Seminary of the Presbyterian Church, is a Private university, private seminary, school of theology in Princeton, New Jersey, Princeton, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. Establish ...

. They had two daughters, Edith and Agnes, both born in Burma. Calista Vinton Luther was widowed in 1903 and died in July 1924, in

Brooklyn Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...

. Her brother's grandson was surgeon

Gordon Seagrave Gordon Stifler Seagrave (18 March 1897 – 28 March 1965) was a Burmese-born American missionary, physician and author. Life and career Born in Rangoon, he was the son of American Baptist missionaries Rev. Albert Ernest Seagrave and Alice Vin ...

. Gordon Seagrave was the father of historian Sterling Vinton Seagrave, and grandfather of actress

Jocelyn Seagrave Jocelyn Seagrave is an American film and television actress, best known for playing Julie Camaletti on ''Guiding Light'' and Jessica Mitchell on Fox's '' Pacific Palisades''. Early life Seagrave's father was American author and historian Sterli ...

References

External links

The Gutenberg Project website, ''The Vintons And The Karens - Memorials of Rev. Justus H. Vinton and Calista H. Vinton''
Calista V. Luther's biography of her parents, Justus and Calista (online copy). {{DEFAULTSORT:Luther, Calista V. 1841 births 1924 deaths Baptist missionaries in Myanmar Baptist missionaries from the United States Female Christian missionaries American expatriates in Myanmar American women physicians 19th-century Baptists