Ruth Webster Lathrop (May 23, 1862 – July 31, 1940) was an American physician and medical school professor, who taught physiology at the Woman's Medical College of Pennsylvania.

Early life

Lathrop was from Le Roy, New York, the daughter of Francis Cuming Lathrop and Fannie Aurelia Comstock Lathrop. She attended

Ingham University Ingham University in Le Roy, New York, was the first women's college in New York State and the first chartered women's university in the United States. It was founded in 1835 as the Attica (NY) Female Seminary by Mariette and Emily E. Ingham, who ...

in her hometown, and graduated from

Wellesley College Wellesley College is a private women's liberal arts college in Wellesley, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1870 by Henry and Pauline Durant as a female seminary, it is a member of the original Seven Sisters Colleges, an unofficia ...

in 1883. She earned a medical degree at the Woman's Medical College of Pennsylvania in 1891.

Career

Lathrop taught physiology and anatomy courses at the Woman's Medical College of Philadelphia. She was one of several faculty who resigned in protest in 1923, when colleague

Alice Weld Tallant Alice Weld Tallant (July 14, 1875 – May 31, 1958) was an American physician and medical school professor. When her employment as a professor of obstetrics was terminated at the Woman's Medical College of Pennsylvania, it sparked the "Tallant ...

's appointment was not renewed. She later taught at Temple University School of Medicine. She retired in 1937. Lathrop was one of the vice-presidents of the American Academy of Medicine, an affiliated society of the

American Medical Association The American Medical Association (AMA) is a professional association and lobbying group of physicians and medical students. Founded in 1847, it is headquartered in Chicago, Illinois. Membership was approximately 240,000 in 2016. The AMA's stat ...

, focused on "sociological problems in the field of medicine". She and her mother were charter members of the Independence Hall chapter of the

Daughters of the American Revolution The Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) is a lineage-based membership service organization for women who are directly descended from a person involved in the United States' efforts towards independence. A non-profit group, they promot ...

. She was also active in the Philadelphia Wellesley Club, and the Association of Collegiate Alumnae.

Personal life

Lathrop lived in Philadelphia with a fellow physician, Annie Bartram Hall. She died at their home in 1940, aged 78 years, from heat exhaustion. At her request, her remains were dressed in academic regalia for

cremation Cremation is a method of final disposition of a dead body through burning. Cremation may serve as a funeral or post-funeral rite and as an alternative to burial. In some countries, including India and Nepal, cremation on an open-air pyre ...

References

External links

* Ruth Webster Lathrop
"Women Physicians as Teachers"
''The Woman's Medical Journal'' 18(April 1908): 70. A paper read before the Woman's Medical Society of the State of New York, March 1908. * {{DEFAULTSORT:Lathrop, Ruth Webster 1862 births 1940 deaths People from Le Roy, New York Wellesley College alumni Woman's Medical College of Pennsylvania alumni Woman's Medical College of Pennsylvania faculty American women physicians Temple University faculty American women academics