Ida Sophia Scudder (December 9, 1870 – May 24, 1960) was a third-generation American medical missionary in

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

. She sought to improve the plight of Indian women by fighting against

bubonic plague Bubonic plague is one of three types of Plague (disease), plague caused by the Bacteria, bacterium ''Yersinia pestis''. One to seven days after exposure to the bacteria, flu-like symptoms develop. These symptoms include fever, headaches, and ...

cholera Cholera () is an infection of the small intestine by some Strain (biology), strains of the Bacteria, bacterium ''Vibrio cholerae''. Symptoms may range from none, to mild, to severe. The classic symptom is large amounts of watery diarrhea last ...

and

leprosy Leprosy, also known as Hansen's disease (HD), is a Chronic condition, long-term infection by the bacteria ''Mycobacterium leprae'' or ''Mycobacterium lepromatosis''. Infection can lead to damage of the Peripheral nervous system, nerves, respir ...

. In 1918, she started a

teaching hospital A teaching hospital or university hospital is a hospital or medical center that provides medical education and training to future and current health professionals. Teaching hospitals are almost always affiliated with one or more universities a ...

, the

Christian Medical College & Hospital Christian Medical College, Vellore, widely known as CMC, Vellore, is a private, Christian minority community-run medical college and hospital in Vellore, Tamil Nadu, India. This institute includes a network of primary, secondary and tertiary c ...

, in Vellore, India.

Early life

Ida was born to John Scudder and Sophia (née Weld), in a line of medical missionaries that started with her grandfather, John Scudder Sr. They were members of the

Reformed Church in America The Reformed Church in America (RCA) is a mainline Reformed Protestant denomination in Canada and the United States. It has about 82,865 members. From its beginning in 1628 until 1819, it was the North American branch of the Dutch Reformed ...

. Growing up as a child in India, Ida witnessed famine, poverty and disease. She was invited by Dwight Moody to study at his

Northfield Seminary Northfield Mount Hermon School (abbreviated as NMH), is a co-educational College-preparatory school, college-preparatory school in Gill, Massachusetts. It educates boarding and day students in grades 9–12, as well as post-graduate students. It ...

Massachusetts Massachusetts ( ; ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Maine to its east, Connecticut and Rhode ...

, where she earned a reputation for pranks.Wilson, Dorothy Clark. ''The Story of Dr. Ida Scudder of Vellore'', McGraw-Hill Book Company, Inc
Full text
(1959), p. 18 In 1890, she returned to India to help her father when her mother was ailing at the mission bungalow at

Tindivanam Tindivanam is a municipality in Viluppuram district in the Indian States and territories of India, state of Tamil Nadu. It is the second largest town in Villupuram District after the headquarters town Villupuram. Important roads from north to s ...

in the

Madras Province The Madras Presidency or Madras Province, officially called the Presidency of Fort St. George until 1937, was an administrative subdivision (province) of British India and later the Dominion of India. At its greatest extent, the presidency in ...

. During her stay, she witnessed three women die in childbirth in one night and resolved to go into medicine.The Scudder Association Foundation website, ''Ida Scudder Story''
/ref> Scudder graduated from Cornell Medical College, New York City, in 1899, a member of the first class that accepted women as medical students. She then headed back to India and started a tiny medical dispensary and clinic for women at Vellore, 75 miles from Madras. Her father died in 1900, soon after she arrived in India. In two years, she treated 5,000 patients.

Christian Medical College, Vellore

Scudder opened the Mary Taber Schell Hospital in 1902. She decided to open a girls-only medical school and received 151 applications the first year (1918) and had to turn many away subsequently. In 1928, ground was broken for the "Hillsite" medical school campus on 200 acres (0.8 km²) at Bagayam, Vellore. In 1928,

Mahatma Gandhi Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (2October 186930January 1948) was an Indian lawyer, anti-colonial nationalism, anti-colonial nationalist, and political ethics, political ethicist who employed nonviolent resistance to lead the successful Indian ...

visited the medical school. Scudder traveled a number of times to the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

to raise funds for the college and hospital. In 1945, the college was opened to men as well as women. In 2003 the Vellore Christian Medical Center was the largest

Christian A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a Monotheism, monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the wo ...

hospital in the world, with 2000 beds, and its medical school is now one of the premier medical colleges in India. In 2023, the center was ranked the number three college by the National Institute Ranking Framework (NIRF). The Center was later headed by Scudder's niece,

Ida Belle Scudder Ida or IDA may refer to: People *Ida (given name), including people so named * Ida (surname), a list of people so named Astronomy * Ida Facula, a mountain on Amalthea, a moon of Jupiter *243 Ida, an asteroid *International Docking Adapter, a do ...

,Boston University website, ''Scudder, Ida Sophia (1870-1960), Medical missionary in India''
/ref> and fellow medical missionary Paul Brand worked there for a time.

Last years

In 1952, Scudder received the Elizabeth Blackwell Citation from the

New York Eye and Ear Infirmary New York Eye and Ear Infirmary of Mount Sinai (NYEE) is located at East 14th Street and Second Avenue in lower Manhattan, New York City. Founded on August 14, 1820, NYEE is America's first specialty hospital and one of the most prominent in t ...

, as one of 1952's five outstanding women doctors. She died on May 23, 1960, at her bungalow. In 1960,

Rajendra Prasad Rajendra Prasad (3 December 1884 – 28 February 1963) was an Indian politician, lawyer, journalist and scholar who served as the first president of India from 1950 to 1962. He joined the Indian National Congress during the Indian independen ...

, then President of India, hailed Scudder as a “great lady, whose dedication and planned working are exemplary”.

Legacy

* The

Ida Scudder School Ida Scudder School is a private, non-residential, co-educational school located at Kalinjur in Vellore, Tamil Nadu, India. The school is affiliated with Council for the Indian School Certificate Examinations (CISCE), and has classes from Std ...

in Viruthampet,

Vellore Vellore ( ), also spelled Velur, is a sprawling city and the administrative headquarters of Vellore district in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is located on the banks of the Palar River and surrounded by the Javadi Hills in the northeastern ...

, is named in her honour *On January 9, 2020, the

American Heritage Girls The American Heritage Girls (AHG) is a Christian Scouting-like organization for Americans. The organization has more than 52,000 members (2020) with troops or individuals ("trailblazers") in all 50 states of the United States and for American ...

announced that she would be included as a Level Award namesake, replacing

Lewis and Clark Lewis may refer to: Names * Lewis (given name), including a list of people with the given name * Lewis (surname), including a list of people with the surname Music * Lewis (musician), Canadian singer * " Lewis (Mistreated)", a song by Radiohe ...

as the Explorer Level Award namesake in their 2020 Handbook *A commemorative stamp was released by the

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on August 12, 2000, as part of the centenary celebrations of the Christian Medical College. The

First-day cover A first day of issue cover or first day cover (FDC) is a postage stamp on a cover, postal card or stamped envelope franked on the first day the issue is authorized for useBennett, Russell and Watson, James; ''Philatelic Terms Illustrated'', Sta ...

portrays Dr. Ida Scudder

Biographies

* Graves Dan (2005) Glimpses, issue #113, Christian History Institute, retrieved 9/8/200
''Ida Scudder, A Woman Who Changed Her Mind''
*''Legacy and Challenge: The Story of Dr. Ida B. Scudder'', published by the Scudder Associatio

*''Ida S. Scudder of Vellore: The Life Story of Ida Sophia Scudder'' by Dr. M. Pauline Jeffery, Wesley Press 1951 *''With: Ida S. Scudder and her gleam'' : memorial supplement, 1960–1961, by M. Pauline Jeffery. Vellore : Christian Medical College of Vellore, 1961 *''Dr. Ida'' by

Dorothy Clarke Wilson Dorothy Clarke Wilson (May 9, 1904 – March 26, 2003) was an American writer, perhaps best known for her novel ''Prince of Egypt'' (1949), which was a primary source for the Cecil B. DeMille film, '' The Ten Commandments'' (1956). Early life ...

1959 *''The Doctor Who Never Gave Up'' by Carolyn Scott 1975 *''A Thousand Years In Thy Sight'' by Dorothy Jealous Scudder (1984) Chapters 25-27 *''Ida Scudder: Healing Bodies Touching Hearts'' by Janet Benge and Geoff Benge 2003 *''Dr. Ida Skudder'' by Veena Gavhankar, Raj Hans Prakashan, 1983

Marathi Marathi may refer to: *Marathi people, an Indo-Aryan ethnolinguistic group of Maharashtra, India **Marathi people (Uttar Pradesh), the Marathi people in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh *Marathi language, the Indo-Aryan language spoken by the Mar ...

References

External links

Vellore Christian Medical College and HospitalVellore Christian Medical College Board (USA), Inc.The Scudder Association

Ida Sophia Scudder Papers.Schlesinger Library
, Radcliffe Institute, Harvard University.
10th Ida S. Scudder Humanitarian Oration given by Azim Premji in December 2021

Other sources

''From Mission to Church: The Reformed Church in America Mission to India''
By Eugene P. Heideman, Published by Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing, 2001, , , 512 pages. {{DEFAULTSORT:Scudder, Ida S. American Protestant missionaries Protestant missionaries in India Weill Cornell Medical College alumni 1870 births 1960 deaths Female Christian missionaries Christian medical missionaries American expatriates in India Northfield Mount Hermon School alumni