Dr. Eliza Cook (February 5, 1856 – October 2, 1947) was an American

physician A physician, medical practitioner (British English), medical doctor, or simply doctor is a health professional who practices medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring health through the Medical education, study, Med ...

and female state-licensed medical doctor in the U.S. state of

Nevada Nevada ( ; ) is a landlocked state in the Western United States. It borders Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. Nevada is the seventh-most extensive, th ...

. She also worked as a

pharmacist A pharmacist, also known as a chemist in English in the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth English, is a healthcare professional who is knowledgeable about preparation, mechanism of action, clinical usage and legislation of medications in ...

and wrote articles about health issues for magazines and

medical journals Medical literature is the scientific literature of medicine: articles in journals and texts in books devoted to the field of medicine. Many references to the medical literature include the health care literature generally, including that of denti ...

Biography

Cook was born on February 5, 1856, in

Salt Lake City, Utah Salt Lake City, often shortened to Salt Lake or SLC, is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of cities and towns in Utah, most populous city of the U.S. state of Utah. It is the county seat of Salt Lake County, Utah, Salt ...

to John and Margaretta Gratrix Cook. Her mother, Margaretta, left her father due to his stinginess and his belief in

polygamy Polygamy (from Late Greek , "state of marriage to many spouses") is the practice of marriage, marrying multiple spouses. When a man is married to more than one wife at the same time, it is called polygyny. When a woman is married to more tha ...

. In 1870, Eliza, her mother, and Eliza’s sister Rebecca moved to

Sheridan, Nevada Sheridan is an unincorporated community in Douglas County, Nevada, United States. Sheridan is located on Nevada State Route 206 southwest of Minden Minden () is a middle-sized town in the very north-east of North Rhine-Westphalia, German ...

. Without a school to attend, Eliza was educated by her mother and whatever books she could find. One book, the title of which is unknown, was about home remedies and got her interested in medicine. Dr. H. W. Smith hired Cook to help nurse his wife when she had

puerperal fever The postpartum (or postnatal) period begins after childbirth and is typically considered to last for six to eight weeks. There are three distinct phases of the postnatal period; the acute phase, lasting for six to twelve hours after birth; the ...

. Cook’s skills impressed him so much that he hired her as his assistant. This gave her access to his medical library, where she read everything she could read. In 1884, Cook earned her Medical Degree from

Cooper Medical College The Stanford University School of Medicine is the medical school of Stanford University and is located in Stanford, California, United States. It traces its roots to the Medical Department of the University of the Pacific, founded in San Fran ...

Stanford University Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a Private university, private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford (the eighth ...

San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

. In 1891, she attended the Women's Medical College of Philadelphia, and the following summer, took a post graduate course at the Medical College in New York City. She earned her Nevada

medical license A medical license is an occupational license that permits a person to legally practice medicine. In most countries, a person must have a medical license bestowed either by a specified government-approved professional association or a government ...

in April 1899, the first year that they were issued by the state. As a doctor, Cook performed surgeries, set broken limbs, and delivered many babies. She also worked as a pharmacist and wrote articles about health issues for magazines and medical journals. Cook was a member of the

American Woman Suffrage Association The American Woman Suffrage Association (AWSA) was a single-issue national organization formed in 1869 to work for women's suffrage in the United States. The AWSA lobbied state governments to enact laws granting or expanding women's right to vot ...

and 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 was a founding member of the Nevada Women’s Equal Suffrage League and was elected the inaugural vice president of the organization in October of 1895. After her term was over, she became president of the Douglas County Equal Suffrage League, and continued to serve both organizations by circulating

petitions A petition is a request to do something, most commonly addressed to a government official or public entity. Petitions to a deity are a form of prayer called supplication. In the colloquial sense, a petition is a document addressed to an officia ...

, writing to legislators, and publishing letters in the newspapers. She served as Vice President of the Nevada Equal Suffrage Association. Never married, Cook resided in Mottsville,

Carson Valley Douglas County is a county in the northwestern part of the U.S. state of Nevada. As of the 2020 census, the population was 49,488. Its county seat is Minden. Douglas County comprises the Gardnerville Ranchos, NV Micropolitan Statistical Area ...

, and Douglas County. She died on October 2, 1947 and is buried in Mottsville Cemetery in Douglas, Nevada.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cook, Eliza 1856 births 1947 deaths Health professionals from Salt Lake City Activists from Salt Lake City Stanford University School of Medicine alumni Physicians from Nevada American suffragists People from Douglas County, Nevada 19th-century American physicians 19th-century American women physicians People from Utah Territory American women pharmacists