Harriet Clisby
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Harriet Clisby (31 August 1830 – 30 April 1931) was an English physician,
women's rights Women's rights are the rights and Entitlement (fair division), entitlements claimed for women and girls worldwide. They formed the basis for the women's rights movement in the 19th century and the feminist movements during the 20th and 21st c ...
activist, and founder of the
Women's Educational and Industrial Union The Women's Educational and Industrial Union (1877–2006) in Boston, Massachusetts, was founded by physician Harriet Clisby for the advancement of women and to help women and children in the industrial city. By 1893, chapters of the WEIU were esta ...
in Boston.


Early life

Harriet Jemima Winifred Clisby was born in St. James's, London, in 1830, and moved with her parents and two siblings to
Adelaide, South Australia Adelaide ( , ; ) is the list of Australian capital cities, capital and most populous city of South Australia, as well as the list of cities in Australia by population, fifth-most populous city in Australia. The name "Adelaide" may refer to ei ...
, when she was eight years old. She married sailor Henry Edward Walker on 25 February 1848. Clisby was a
vegetarian Vegetarianism is the practice of abstaining from the Eating, consumption of meat (red meat, poultry, seafood, insects as food, insects, and the flesh of any other animal). It may also include abstaining from eating all by-products of animal slau ...
from 1847, the same year in which she became a member of the Swedenborgian New Church.Uglow, Jennifer S; Hendry, Maggy. ''The Northeastern Dictionary of Women's Biography''. Northeastern University Press. p. 130. She also practiced
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.


Career

While in her twenties she moved to
Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...
, where she worked as a magazine editor for the ''Southern Phonographic Harmonia'' and, with
Caroline Dexter Caroline Dexter (; 6 January 1819 – 19 August 1884), later known as Caroline Lynch, was an English-Australian dress reformer, writer, and feminist. Early life Dexter was born Caroline Harper in Nottingham, England on 6 January 1819, in. Her pa ...
co-published ''The Interpreter'', the first Australian magazine published by women. She also organized a community home for the rehabilitation of women prisoners in 1858. Inspired by
Elizabeth Blackwell Elizabeth Blackwell (3 February 182131 May 1910) was an English-American physician, notable as the first woman to earn a medical degree in the United States, and the first woman on the Medical Register of the General Medical Council for the Un ...
's 1852 book on women's health, Clisby decided to study medicine. She traveled to England and studied nursing at
Guy's Hospital Guy's Hospital is an NHS hospital founded by philanthropist Thomas Guy in 1721, located in the borough of Southwark in central London. It is part of Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust and one of the institutions that comprise the Kin ...
, where she met with
Elizabeth Garrett Anderson Elizabeth Garrett Anderson (9 June 1836 – 17 December 1917) was an English physician and suffragist. She is known for being the first woman to qualify in Britain as a physician and surgeon and as a co-founder and dean of the London School o ...
, a prominent woman physician and hospital founder who advised her to train in the United States. With a friend's financial support, Clisby trained at the
New York Medical College and Hospital for Women New or NEW may refer to: Music * New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz * ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013 ** "New" (Paul McCartney song), 2013 * ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator, 1995 * "New" (Daya song), 2017 * "New" (No Doubt song), 19 ...
, graduating in 1865. In 1871, Clisby moved to Boston, where she practiced
homeopathy 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 or homeopathic physicians, believe that a substance that ...
and lectured on hygiene. Clisby wrote a series of travel writings about Australia for the ''
Woman's Journal ''Woman's Journal'' was an American women's rights periodical published from 1870 to 1931. It was founded in 1870 in Boston, Massachusetts, by Lucy Stone and her husband Henry Browne Blackwell as a weekly newspaper. In 1917 it was purchased by ...
'', a Boston-based woman
suffrage 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 ...
newspaper edited by
Lucy Stone Lucy Stone (August 13, 1818 – October 18, 1893) was an American orator, Abolitionism in the United States, abolitionist and Suffrage, suffragist who was a vocal advocate for and organizer of promoting Women's rights, rights for women. In 1847, ...
and Henry B. Blackwell, in 1873. The "Sketches of Australia" reflected on the young Clisby's immigration to and early life in Australia. In 1877, while still living in Boston, Clisby and several friends founded the
Women's Educational and Industrial Union The Women's Educational and Industrial Union (1877–2006) in Boston, Massachusetts, was founded by physician Harriet Clisby for the advancement of women and to help women and children in the industrial city. By 1893, chapters of the WEIU were esta ...
to address the problems of poor women, especially unemployed immigrants. In a large building on
Boylston Street Boylston Street is a major east–west thoroughfare in the city of Boston, Massachusetts, and its western suburbs. The street begins in Boston's Chinatown, Boston, Chinatown neighborhood, forms the southern border of the Public Garden (Boston) ...
, women could take English language lessons, learn millinery, dressmaking, and needlework, and obtain free legal advice. Later the WEIU provided job placement services and training for domestic and retail work, and eventually established a women's credit union. The WEIU remained in operation well into the 20th century, providing many of the same services as a
settlement house The settlement movement was a reformist social movement that began in the 1880s and peaked around the 1920s in the United Kingdom and the United States. Its goal was to bring the rich and the poor of society together in both physical proximity an ...
. Clisby served briefly as the organization's first president before resigning for health reasons, and was vice president from 1882 to 1889.


Later years

After retiring from medicine she moved to
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, where she founded L'Union des Femmes. She remained active for many years, giving lectures on medical and spiritual subjects into her nineties. She died in London in 1931 at the age of 100. In 1930, she was described as the oldest woman doctor in the world. Clisby is remembered in connection with the WEIU on the
Boston Women's Heritage Trail The Boston Women's Heritage Trail is a series of walking tours in Boston, Massachusetts, leading past sites important to Boston women's history. The tours wind through several neighborhoods, including the Back Bay and Beacon Hill, commemorating w ...
. Clisby Close, in the
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suburb of
Cook Cook or The Cook may refer to: Food preparation * Cooking, the preparation of food * Cook (domestic worker), a household staff member who prepares food * Cook (profession), an individual who prepares food for consumption in the food industry * C ...
, is named in her honour.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Clisby, Harriet Jemima Winifred 1830 births 1931 deaths English social workers English feminists Medical doctors from London English women medical doctors Woman's Exchange movement English women centenarians English Swedenborgians English women activists