Mary A. G. Dight (November 7, 1860 – February 8, 1923) was an American

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 ...

. She served as president of the Hempstead Academy of Medicine, had charge of the Woman's Hospital of Philadelphia, and was a pioneer in pursuing the establishment of a woman's medical college in

New Orleans New Orleans (commonly known as NOLA or The Big Easy among other nicknames) is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city-parish located along the Mississippi River in the U.S. state of Louisiana. With a population of 383,997 at the 2020 ...

. During her marriage to

Charles Fremont Dight Charles Fremont Dight (1856–1938) was an American medical professor and promoter of the human eugenics movement in the U.S. state of Minnesota.Collins, Bob"Minnesota’s eugenics past" Minnesota Public Radio News. August 1, 2011. Dight Avenue, a ...

, she was a supporter of the human

eugenics Eugenics is a set of largely discredited beliefs and practices that aim to improve the genetic quality of a human population. Historically, eugenicists have attempted to alter the frequency of various human phenotypes by inhibiting the fer ...

movement.

Biography

Mary (

nickname A nickname, in some circumstances also known as a sobriquet, or informally a "moniker", is an informal substitute for the proper name of a person, place, or thing, used to express affection, playfulness, contempt, or a particular character trait ...

, "Minnie")Alice Glidden Crawford was born in

Portsmouth, Ohio Portsmouth is a city in Scioto County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. Located in southern Ohio south of Chillicothe, Ohio, Chillicothe, it lies on the north bank of the Ohio River, across from Kentucky and just east of the mouth of th ...

, on November 7, 1860. She was the only daughter of Mary Young (Glidden) and George Crawford. Her mother descended from

New England New England is a region consisting of six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York (state), New York to the west and by the ...

families. Dight's mother supported the higher education of women and encouraged her daughter to pursue the profession of her choice. Minnie had two brothers, George and John. Dight was an accomplished musician and a graduate of the

New England Conservatory of Music The New England Conservatory of Music (NEC) is a Private college, private music school in Boston, Massachusetts. The conservatory is located on Huntington Avenue along Avenue of the Arts (Boston), the Avenue of the Arts near Boston Symphony Ha ...

Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

. She spoke

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

fluently. She was graduated from the Department of Regular Medicine and Surgery of the

University of Michigan Medical School The University of Michigan Medicine (branded as Michigan Medicine) is the academic medical center of the University of Michigan, a public research university in Ann Arbor, Michigan. It consists of the university's Medical School, affiliated hos ...

, one of the youngest of the class of 1884. She was also a graduate of the College of Homeopathic Medicine and Surgery,

University of Minnesota The University of Minnesota Twin Cities (historically known as University of Minnesota) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul, Twin Cities of Minneapolis and Saint ...

, 1892. Returning to

Ohio Ohio ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Erie to the north, Pennsylvania to the east, West Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Indiana to the ...

, she practiced medicine for a year. She wed Benjamin C. Trago, on May 9, 1885, but unhappy in the marriage, she went abroad in 1886 and continued her studies in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

and

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

for two years. She returned to Portsmouth and was chosen president of the Hempstead Academy of Medicine. While a medical student, she made the acquaintance of Professor Charles Fremont Dight, M. D., at that time one of the medical faculty of the University of Michigan, who after a six year professorship in the American Medical College in Beirut, Syria, returned to the U.S. to marry her, in 1892; they divorced in 1899. Dight urged efforts for social reforms. Her home was in

Faribault, Minnesota Faribault ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Rice County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 24,453 at the 2020 census. Faribault is approximately south of Minneapolis–Saint Paul. Interstate 35 and Minnesota State Highwa ...

. Mary A. G. Dight died in

Colebrook, New Hampshire Colebrook is a town in Coös County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 2,084 at the time of the 2020 census, down from 2,301 at the 2010 census.United States Census BureauAmerican FactFinder 2010 Census figures. Retrieved March 23 ...

, on February 8, 1923. Her estate was administered in

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...

Notes

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Dight, Mary A. G. 1860 births 1923 deaths 19th-century American physicians 20th-century American physicians People from Portsmouth, Ohio Physicians from Ohio Wikipedia articles incorporating text from A Woman of the Century New England Conservatory alumni University of Michigan Medical School alumni University of Minnesota alumni 20th-century American women physicians 19th-century American women physicians