HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Cora Eliza Smith Eaton King (September 7, 1867 – November 21, 1939) was an American
suffragist Suffrage, political franchise, or simply franchise, is the right to vote in public, political elections and referendums (although the term is sometimes used for any right to vote). In some languages, and occasionally in English, the right to v ...
,
physician A physician (American English), medical practitioner (Commonwealth English), medical doctor, or simply doctor, is a health professional who practices medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring health through th ...
and
mountaineer Mountaineering or alpinism, is a set of outdoor activities that involves ascending tall mountains. Mountaineering-related activities include traditional outdoor climbing, skiing, and traversing via ferratas. Indoor climbing, sport climbing, an ...
. She was the first woman in North Dakota licensed to practice medicine.


Early life

Cora Eliza Smith was born on September 7, 1867, in Rockford, Illinois, to Colonel Eliphaz Smith and Sara Barnes. Her family moved to the
Dakota Territory The Territory of Dakota was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from March 2, 1861, until November 2, 1889, when the final extent of the reduced territory was split and admitted to the Union as the states of ...
and settled in
Grand Forks Grand Forks is the third-largest city in the state of North Dakota (after Fargo and Bismarck) and the county seat of Grand Forks County. According to the 2020 census, the city's population was 59,166. Grand Forks, along with its twin city o ...
. She attended the
National School of Elocution and Oratory National School of Elocution and Oratory (later, Shoemaker School of Speech and Drama) was an American school for speech arts, focused on rhetoric and elocution. It was established by Jacob and Rachel H. Shoemaker in Philadelphia, 1873. Attentio ...
in
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, largest city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the List of United States cities by population, sixth-largest city i ...
, where she took up the cause of
women's suffrage Women's suffrage is the women's rights, right of women to Suffrage, vote in elections. Beginning in the start of the 18th century, some people sought to change voting laws to allow women to vote. Liberal political parties would go on to gran ...
. After her graduation in 1886, she returned to the Dakota Territory to study at the
University of North Dakota The University of North Dakota (also known as UND or North Dakota) is a public research university in Grand Forks, North Dakota. It was established by the Dakota Territorial Assembly in 1883, six years before the establishment of the state of N ...
. While studying at the university, she taught arithmetic, geography, spelling and handwriting. She was also the first woman to teach physical education at the University of North Dakota, as she taught a course on girl’s
calisthenics Calisthenics (American English) or callisthenics (British English) ( /ˌkælɪsˈθɛnɪks/) is a form of strength training consisting of a variety of movements that exercise large muscle groups (gross motor movements), such as standing, graspi ...
. She graduated in 1889 with a
Bachelor of Science A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University o ...
as a member of the university's first graduating class.


Career

While completing her degree at the University of North Dakota, Smith became involved in suffrage work. She helped to form the Grand Forks Woman Suffrage Association in 1888 with her mother and was elected as the first secretary. During the Constitutional Convention for
North Dakota North Dakota () is a U.S. state in the Upper Midwest, named after the indigenous Dakota Sioux. North Dakota is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Saskatchewan and Manitoba to the north and by the U.S. states of Minnesota to the east, S ...
in July 1889, Henry Blackwell asked Smith to speak in his place to advocate for the state constitution to provide for women's suffrage. The following year, she and her mother were among the first women to vote in Grand Forks, as the newly-incorporated North Dakota allowed women to vote in special school elections. She subsequently studied at the
Boston University School of Medicine The Boston University Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine, formerly the Boston University School of Medicine, is one of the graduate schools of Boston University. Founded in 1848, the medical school was the first institution in the world t ...
and graduated in 1892 with her
M.D. Doctor of Medicine (abbreviated M.D., from the Latin ''Medicinae Doctor'') is a medical degree, the meaning of which varies between different jurisdictions. In the United States, and some other countries, the M.D. denotes a professional degree. T ...
After returning to Grand Forks, she became the first woman in the state licensed to practice medicine. In 1893, she married attorney Robert A. Eaton. While in North Dakota, Smith became president of the Grand Forks Woman Suffrage Association and later the North Dakota Equal Suffrage Association. She also represented the state at the annual
National American Woman Suffrage Association The National American Woman Suffrage Association (NAWSA) was an organization formed on February 18, 1890, to advocate in favor of women's suffrage in the United States. It was created by the merger of two existing organizations, the Nationa ...
meeting in January 1896 and would later serve as the organization's second auditor twice. Later that year, she and her husband moved to Minneapolis, Minnesota. She joined the American Association of Orificial Surgeons as it was one of the first medical organizations that would allow women and practice
homeopathic medicine Homeopathy or homoeopathy is a pseudoscientific system of alternative medicine. It was conceived in 1796 by the German physician Samuel Hahnemann. Its practitioners, called homeopaths, believe that a substance that causes symptoms of a dise ...
. Smith trained with Edwin Hartley Pratt and performed female circumcisions on women suffering from chronic conditions such as
headache Headache is the symptom of pain in the face, head, or neck. It can occur as a migraine, tension-type headache, or cluster headache. There is an increased risk of depression in those with severe headaches. Headaches can occur as a resul ...
s and
epilepsy Epilepsy is a group of non-communicable neurological disorders characterized by recurrent epileptic seizures. Epileptic seizures can vary from brief and nearly undetectable periods to long periods of vigorous shaking due to abnormal electrical ...
. In 1906, Smith moved to
King County, Washington King County is located in the U.S. state of Washington (state), Washington. The population was 2,269,675 in the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the most populous county in Washington, and the List of the most populous counties ...
, after divorcing her first husband. She established a medical practice in
Seattle Seattle ( ) is a port, seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the county seat, seat of King County, Washington, King County, Washington (state), Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in bo ...
. There, she took up mountain climbing, and was a founding member as well as the first secretary of The Mountaineers. In 1907, she became the first woman to summit the East Peak of
Mount Olympus Mount Olympus (; el, Όλυμπος, Ólympos, also , ) is the highest mountain in Greece. It is part of the Olympus massif near the Thermaic Gulf of the Aegean Sea, located in the Olympus Range on the border between Thessaly and Macedonia, be ...
, and she eventually climbed all six of
Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...
's major mountains. Smith was active in the women's movement in Washington and was the treasurer of the Washington Equal Suffrage Association. She co-authored a chapter of the organization's book, ''Washington Women's Cook Book'', which was published in 1908. In 1909, she was responsible for carrying a pennant that read "Votes For Women" to the summit of
Mount Rainier Mount Rainier (), indigenously known as Tahoma, Tacoma, Tacobet, or təqʷubəʔ, is a large active stratovolcano in the Cascade Range of the Pacific Northwest, located in Mount Rainier National Park about south-southeast of Seattle. With a ...
on a Mountaineers expedition. By the end of her career, Smith was licensed to practice medicine in several U.S. states. She was married to Dr. Robert A. Eaton and also to
Judson King Judd King (1872–1958) was a 20th-century American historical lecturer, writer, and political consultant at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, best known for serving as director of the National Popular Government League (1933–1958). Back ...
.


Death and legacy

She died on November 21, 1939, in
Hollywood, California Hollywood is a neighborhood in the Central Los Angeles, central region of Los Angeles, California. Its name has come to be a metonymy, shorthand reference for the Cinema of the United States, U.S. film industry and the people associated with i ...
. Cora Smith Hall at the University of North Dakota was named for her in 1964.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Smith Eaton, Cora 1867 births 1939 deaths American suffragists American mountain climbers American women physicians Physicians from Washington (state) Physicians from Seattle American female climbers University of North Dakota alumni Boston University School of Medicine alumni American sportswomen Women's suffrage in Minnesota People of Dakota Territory