Frances Culbreth Van Gasken (May 24, 1860 – October 24, 1939) was an American physician and suffragist, based in Philadelphia.

Early life and education

Van Gasken was born in

Smyrna, Delaware Smyrna is a town in Kent and New Castle counties in the U.S. state of Delaware. It is part of the Dover metropolitan statistical area. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, as of 2020, the population of the town is 12,883. The international juri ...

, the daughter of John Van Gasken and Harriet Van Gasken. Her mother died in 1863, and she was raised by her stepmother, Rachel English Van Gasken. She graduated from 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 ...

in 1890. She later made postgraduate studies in Vienna. Her brother Joseph practiced medicine in Texas.

Career

Van Gasken was one of the first women interns at Philadelphia General Hospital. In 1893 she was an inspector for the city's Bureau of Health, and addressed the Civic Club of Philadelphia on health conditions in the city's tenement houses. She was resident physician at the College Settlement House in Philadelphia until 1896, when she became physician for the women's department of the

Philadelphia Municipal Court The Philadelphia Municipal Court is a trial court of limited jurisdiction seated in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It has 27 judges elected by the voters of Philadelphia. The Municipal Court has three divisions: the Criminal Division, the Civil Div ...

. She was removed as medical inspector by the mayor in 1899, sparking a protest from her colleagues. She was a professor of clinical medicine at the Woman's Hospital of Philadelphia from 1918 until she resigned as part of a faculty protest over Alice Weld Tallant's dismissal in 1923. Van Gasken was known to wear a "Votes for Women" pin while teaching, and in January 1915 she was part of a delegation of Pennsylvania suffragists who spoke on the subject at the

White House The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. Located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue Northwest (Washington, D.C.), NW in Washington, D.C., it has served as the residence of every U.S. president ...

with

Woodrow Wilson Thomas Woodrow Wilson (December 28, 1856February 3, 1924) was the 28th president of the United States, serving from 1913 to 1921. He was the only History of the Democratic Party (United States), Democrat to serve as president during the Prog ...

. She exhorted women medical students in 1917 to take on professional responsibilities and join in the war effort, saying "Who is there to fill these places but women? Is it not your day? Does opportunity not call to you?"

Personal life and legacy

Van Gasken died in

Drexel Hill, Pennsylvania Drexel Hill is a neighborhood and census-designated place (CDP) located in Upper Darby Township, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 29,181 at the 2020 census, an increase over 28,043 in 2010, and accounting for over one-third of Up ...

, in 1939, at the age of 79. She left money to her sister and Camp Onawa in

Piscataquis County, Maine Piscataquis County ( ) is a county located in the U.S. state of Maine. As of the 2020 census, its population was 16,800, making it Maine's least-populous county. Its county seat is Dover-Foxcroft. The county was incorporated on March 23, 183 ...

, to her nephew; her estate also funded a scholarship in her father's name, at a high school in her hometown.

References

1860 births 1939 deaths People from Smyrna, Delaware Woman's Medical College of Pennsylvania alumni Woman's Medical College of Pennsylvania faculty American physicians American women in World War I {{Authority control