Elizabeth Gooking Greenleaf (November 11, 1681 – November 11, 1762) was the first female

apothecary ''Apothecary'' () is an Early Modern English, archaic English term for a medicine, medical professional who formulates and dispenses ''materia medica'' (medicine) to physicians, surgeons and patients. The modern terms ''pharmacist'' and, in Brit ...

in the

Thirteen Colonies The Thirteen Colonies were the British colonies on the Atlantic coast of North America which broke away from the British Crown in the American Revolutionary War (1775–1783), and joined to form the United States of America. The Thirteen C ...

. She is considered to be the first female

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 ...

in the United States.

Biography

Elizabeth Gooking was born in

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a List of cities in the United Kingdom, city and non-metropolitan district in the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It is the county town of Cambridgeshire and is located on the River Cam, north of London. As of the 2021 Unit ...

Massachusetts Colony The Province of Massachusetts Bay was a colony in New England which became one of the thirteen original states of the United States. It was chartered on October 7, 1691, by William III and Mary II, the joint monarchs of the kingdoms of Engla ...

in 1681, the daughter of Samuel and Mary Gooking. She married minister, physician, and apothecary Daniel Greenleaf (a

Harvard Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher lear ...

graduate) in 1699. The couple had twelve children. In 1727, Elizabeth moved to

Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

to open an apothecary shop. Though this was a role which had been exclusively performed by men, Massachusetts did not have any laws in place to prevent women from practicing. This made her the only woman among the 32 apothecaries working in New England at the time. Later in 1727, Daniel moved to Boston to join her after resigning his post as pastor of the Congregational Church in Yarmouth. They ran the shop together for several decades. Elizabeth Gooking Greenleaf died in 1762, followed by her husband in 1763. She was one of 17 women to be honored by the

American Pharmacists Association The American Pharmacists Association (APhA, previously known as the American Pharmaceutical Association), founded in 1852, is the first-established professional society of pharmacists in the United States. The association consists of more tha ...

in 2012, for "contributions to the profession and advancement of women in pharmacy."

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Greenleaf, Elizabeth Gooking 1681 births 1762 deaths 18th-century American scientists 18th-century American businesspeople 18th-century American businesswomen American apothecaries People from Cambridge, Massachusetts American women pharmacists People from colonial Massachusetts 18th-century American women scientists 18th-century American pharmacists Women's firsts

Biography

See also

References