Lucy Hobbs Taylor (March 14, 1833 – October 3, 1910) was an American dentist, known for being the first woman to graduate from dental school (
Ohio College of Dental Surgery in 1866).
She was originally denied admittance to the Eclectic Medical College in
Cincinnati, Ohio
Cincinnati ( ; colloquially nicknamed Cincy) is a city in Hamilton County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. Settled in 1788, the city is located on the northern side of the confluence of the Licking River (Kentucky), Licking and Ohio Ri ...
, owing to her gender. Due to this, a professor in the college agreed to tutor her and encouraged her to practice
dentistry
Dentistry, also known as dental medicine and oral medicine, is the branch of medicine focused on the Human tooth, teeth, gums, and Human mouth, mouth. It consists of the study, diagnosis, prevention, management, and treatment of diseases, dis ...
.
Once again, she applied to a dentistry school, this time Ohio College of Dentistry. She was once again refused admittance due to her gender. From there, a college graduate agreed to tutor her, allowing her to continue her studies towards dentistry.
In 1861, she decided to open her own practice instead of attempting to get into a college once again. After a year, she moved to
Iowa
Iowa ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the upper Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west; Wisconsin to the northeast, Ill ...
and opened a dentistry practice. This allowed her to be accepted as a dentist without the diploma and become part of the Iowa State Dental Society.
As part of this she was also serving as the group's delegate to the American Dental Associate Convention, only three years after moving to Iowa. With great coincidence, that same year (1865) the Ohio College of Dentistry decided to waive the policy prohibiting women being admitted to the institution.
Instantly, Taylor enrolled as a senior student thanks to her dentistry experience she had accumulated over the years. She graduated in 1866, becoming the first woman in the world to graduate from a dental college,
and to receive a doctorate in dentistry.
Early life
Lucy Beaman Hobbs was born on March 14, 1833, in Constable, New York. She was seventh out of ten children total. When she was 12 she obtained a job as a seamstress to support her siblings. Hobbs subsequently attended school and eventually graduated from Franklin Academy in New York
and began
teaching
Teaching is the practice implemented by a ''teacher'' aimed at transmitting skills (knowledge, know-how, and interpersonal skills) to a learner, a student, or any other audience in the of an educational institution. Teaching is closely related ...
for ten years in
Michigan
Michigan ( ) is a peninsular U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, Upper Midwestern United States. It shares water and land boundaries with Minnesota to the northwest, Wisconsin to the west, ...
. In 1859, she moved to
Cincinnati
Cincinnati ( ; colloquially nicknamed Cincy) is a city in Hamilton County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. Settled in 1788, the city is located on the northern side of the confluence of the Licking River (Kentucky), Licking and Ohio Ri ...
and applied to medical school at Eclectic Medical College.
Hobbs was denied entrance because of her gender, but she was able to study privately under the supervision of a teacher from Eclectic.
Subsequently, Hobbs applied to the Ohio College of Dentistry. When she was refused admission to
dental school
A dental school (school of dental medicine, school of dentistry, dental college) is a tertiary educational institution—or part of such an institution—that teaches dental medicine to prospective dentists and potentially other dental auxiliari ...
, she began a private program of study with a professor, Jonathan Taft,
from the
Ohio College of Dental Surgery.
["Lucy Hobbs Taylor, First Female Dentist"](_blank)
Accessed May 25, 2006. Hobbs applied once more to the dentistry program, but was again rejected. As a response, she opened up her own practice, allowing her to practice dentistry without having to obtain a diploma.
Dental career
After studying dentistry, she started her own practice in Cincinnati in 1861. She soon moved to
Bellevue Bellevue means "beautiful view" in French.
Bellevue or Belle Vue may refer to:
Places
Australia
* Bellevue, Queensland
* Bellevue, Western Australia
* Bellevue Hill, New South Wales
Canada
* Bellevue, Alberta
* Bellevue, Newfoundlan ...
and then
McGregor, Iowa, where she spent three years. In 1865, she finally gained professional recognition and was allowed to join the Iowa State Dental Society, and was sent as a delegate to the American Dental Association convention in Chicago.
That November, she entered the Ohio College of Dental Surgery as a senior, where on February 21, 1866,
she earned her doctorate in dentistry,
becoming the first woman in the world to graduate from a dental college,
and to receive a doctorate in dentistry.
She later wrote, "People were amazed when they learned that a young girl had so far forgotten her womanhood as to want to study dentistry."
Later life
Hobbs next moved to Chicago, where she met James M. Taylor, whom she married in April 1867. Taylor then convinced her husband to also enter dentistry. The two then moved to
Lawrence, Kansas
Lawrence is a city in and the county seat of Douglas County, Kansas, United States, and the sixth-largest city in the state. It is in the northeastern sector of the state, astride Interstate 70 in Kansas, Interstate 70, between the Kansas River ...
, where they had a large and successful practice. Hobbs was involved in several fraternal organizations including
Daughters of Rebekah
The Daughters of Rebekah, also known as the Rebekahs and the International Association of Rebekah Assemblies, is an international service-oriented organization and a branch of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. As the Independent Order of Odd ...
, the auxiliary to the
Independent Order of Odd Fellows
The Independent Order of Odd Fellows (IOOF) is a non-political, non-sectarian international fraternal order of Odd Fellowship. It was founded in 1819 by Thomas Wildey in Baltimore, Maryland, United States. Evolving from the Odd Fellows, Order ...
and
Order of the Eastern Star
The Order of the Eastern Star (OES) is a Freemasonry, Masonic List of fraternal auxiliaries and side degrees, appendant Masonic bodies, body open to both men and women. It was established in 1850 by lawyer and educator Rob Morris (Freemason), R ...
, auxiliary to
Freemasonry
Freemasonry (sometimes spelled Free-Masonry) consists of fraternal groups that trace their origins to the medieval guilds of stonemasons. Freemasonry is the oldest secular fraternity in the world and among the oldest still-existing organizati ...
.
After her husband's death in 1886, she ceased to be an active dentist, but became more active in politics, campaigning for greater women's rights, until her own death on October 3, 1910.
In her time as a dentist, Lucy Hobbs Taylor opened up brand new doors to many women in the future, especially in the medical field. She believed that her journey was complete by "making it possible for women to be recognized in the dental profession on equal terms with men. Lucy Hobbs Taylor is buried at historic Oak Hill Cemetery in Lawrence, Kansas."
Legacy
By 1900, almost one thousand women had followed Lucy Taylor into dentistry, an increase many attribute largely to her accomplishments.
["Lucy Hobbs Taylor"](_blank)
''Celebrating Women's History Month''. Accessed May 25, 2006. In 1983, the American Association of Women Dentists honored Taylor by establishing the Lucy Hobbs Taylor Award, which it now presents annually to AAWD members in recognition of professional excellence and achievements in advancing the role of women in dentistry.
See also
*
Amalia Assur
Amalia Assur (June 8, 1803 – 1889) was the first female dentist in Sweden.
Amalia Assur was born in Stockholm as the daughter of the Jewish dentist Joel Assur (1753–1837), the Dentist of the Royal Family, who has been referred to as one of th ...
*
Rosalie Fougelberg
*
Emma Gaudreau Casgrain
References
Further reading
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hobbs, Taylor Lucy
1833 births
1910 deaths
People from Franklin County, New York
19th-century American dentists
20th-century American dentists
Members of the Odd Fellows
American women dentists