Isabel "Belle" Cobb (October 25, 1858 – August 11, 1947) was a

Cherokee The Cherokee (; , or ) people are one of the Indigenous peoples of the Southeastern Woodlands of the United States. Prior to the 18th century, they were concentrated in their homelands, in towns along river valleys of what is now southwestern ...

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

educator A teacher, also called a schoolteacher or formally an educator, is a person who helps students to acquire knowledge, competence, or virtue, via the practice of teaching. ''Informally'' the role of teacher may be taken on by anyone (e.g. w ...

best known for being the first woman physician in

Indian Territory Indian Territory and the Indian Territories are terms that generally described an evolving land area set aside by the Federal government of the United States, United States government for the relocation of Native Americans in the United States, ...

Early life and education

Cobb was born near Morgantown, Tennessee, the oldest of seven children of Joseph Benson and Evaline Clingman Cobb. She attended school in

Cleveland, Tennessee Cleveland is the county seat of, and largest city in, Bradley County, Tennessee. The population was 47,356 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. It is the principal city of the Cleveland metropolitan area, Tennessee (consisting of Bradle ...

until 1870, when at the age of 12, her family moved to Cooweescoowee District of the

Cherokee Nation The Cherokee Nation ( or ) is the largest of three list of federally recognized tribes, federally recognized tribes of Cherokees in the United States. It includes people descended from members of the Cherokee Nation (1794–1907), Old Cheroke ...

(near modern-day

Wagoner, Oklahoma Wagoner is a city in Wagoner County, Oklahoma, Wagoner County, Oklahoma, United States. The population was 8,323 at the 2010 United States Census, 2010 census,CensusViewer: Population of the City of Wagoner, Oklahoma. Retrieved March 16, 201/ref> ...

). Cobb was a good student, winning awards while attending school in Tennessee. Shortly after arriving in the Cherokee Nation, Cobb's mother gave birth to her youngest sister. It was a very difficult delivery, and the family had to call for a

midwife A midwife (: midwives) is a health professional who cares for mothers and Infant, newborns around childbirth, a specialisation known as midwifery. The education and training for a midwife concentrates extensively on the care of women throughou ...

because there were no doctors in the area at the time. Although her mother survived the delivery, it left a lasting impression on Cobb and motivated her to pursue a career in medicine. Cobb enrolled in the

Cherokee Female Seminary The Cherokee Female Seminary was built by the Cherokee Nation in 1889 near Tahlequah, Oklahoma, Tahlequah, Indian Territory. It replaced their original girls' seminary, the First Cherokee Female Seminary Site, first Cherokee Female Seminary, that ...

Tahlequah, Oklahoma Tahlequah ( ; , ) is a city in Cherokee County, Oklahoma located at the foothills of the Ozark Mountains. It is part of the Green Country region of Oklahoma and was established as a capital of the 19th-century Cherokee Nation in 1839, as p ...

and graduated in 1879. She continued her education at Glendale Female College in

Glendale, Ohio Glendale is a village (United States)#Ohio, village in Hamilton County, Ohio, Hamilton County, Ohio, United States. The population was 2,298 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. It is a northern suburb of Cincinnati, and is the site of t ...

where she graduated in 1881. At this point in her life, Cobb had received more education than most women of her day. Cobb returned to Indian Territory to teach at the Cherokee Female Seminary from 1882 until it was destroyed by fire in 1887. She enrolled in 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 1888. It was only the second institution in the world, at that time, to offer women the opportunity to earn a

Doctor of Medicine A Doctor of Medicine (abbreviated MD, from the Latin language, Latin ) is a medical degree, the meaning of which varies between different jurisdictions. In the United States, and some other countries, the ''MD'' denotes a professional degree of ph ...

degree. Cobb earned her M.D. degree in 1892.

Career

Cobb spent six months in an internship in

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

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Nursery and Child's hospital before returning home in 1893 to open a medical practice in the rural areas of

Wagoner County Wagoner County is a county located in the U.S. state of Oklahoma. As of the 2020 census, the population was 80,981. Its county seat is Wagoner. Wagoner County is included in the Tulsa metropolitan area. History According to archaeological st ...

. She worked out of a farmhouse on her family's homestead, where she treated approximately two hundred patients per year. She focused primarily on women and children. "Dr. Belle" as she was known, performed many surgeries inside the patient's home, traveling many miles in her horse-drawn

carriage A carriage is a two- or four-wheeled horse-drawn vehicle for passengers. In Europe they were a common mode of transport for the wealthy during the Roman Empire, and then again from around 1600 until they were replaced by the motor car around 1 ...

, and often refused to charge anything for her services.

Retirement, personal life and death

Cobb continued her practice until she fell and broke her hip in 1930. She retired soon after as her health deteriorated. Cobb never married, but she did adopt a six-year-old Italian orphan in 1895. She was a member of the

Cumberland Presbyterian church The Cumberland Presbyterian Church is a Presbyterian denomination spawned by the Second Great Awakening. Matthew H. Gore, The History of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church in Kentucky to 1988, (Memphis, Tennessee: Joint Heritage Committee, 2000 ...

, as well as many

literary societies A literary society is a group of people interested in literature. In the modern sense, this refers to a society that wants to promote one genre of writing or a specific author. Modern literary societies typically promote research, publish newslet ...

in Wagoner County. Cobb died from natural causes on August 11, 1947, in Wagoner and was laid to rest at Pioneer Memorial Cemetery.

Posthumous recognition

In 2015, students at

Northeastern State University Northeastern State University (NSU) is a public university with its main campus in Tahlequah, Oklahoma. The university also has two other campuses in Muskogee and Broken Arrow as well as online. Northeastern is the oldest institution of hig ...

, which now sits on the land once occupied by the female and male Cherokee seminaries, voted to name the new student housing after Cobb. She received 43% of the 266 total votes cast. There is only one other building on campus named after a woman. Isabel Cobb Hall was dedicated in a ribbon cutting ceremony held September 19, 2016. On March 26, 2016, Mayor Albert Jones of Wagoner declared the day "Dr. Belle Cobb Day." There was an event at the Wagoner Historical Museum attended by many of Cobb's relatives. The declaration from the mayor read in part, "Today, we celebrate Dr. Belle Cobb and pay tribute to her outstanding leadership, perseverance and giving heart...the city of Wagoner honors and commemorates Dr. Cobb for making a definitive mark on history."

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Cobb, Isabel 1858 births 1947 deaths 19th-century American educators 19th-century American women educators 19th-century American physicians 19th-century American women physicians 20th-century American physicians 20th-century American women physicians 20th-century Native American scientists 20th-century Native American women Cherokee Nation academics Cherokee Nation people (1794–1907) Schoolteachers from Oklahoma People from Wagoner County, Oklahoma Physicians from Oklahoma Educators from Oklahoma People from Loudon County, Tennessee Educators from Tennessee Physicians from Tennessee Woman's Medical College of Pennsylvania alumni Cherokee Nation women