Sarah C. Hall
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Sarah C. Hall (1832–1926) was an American pioneer woman physician. She held leadership positions in various
women's suffrage Women's suffrage is the women's rights, right of women to Suffrage, vote in elections. Several instances occurred in recent centuries where women were selectively given, then stripped of, the right to vote. In Sweden, conditional women's suffra ...
organizations. She was also associated with the
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 ...
, the Woman's Relief Corps (WRC), and the
Daughters of the American Revolution The National Society Daughters of the American Revolution (often abbreviated as DAR or NSDAR) is a lineage-based membership service organization for women who are directly descended from a patriot of the American Revolutionary War. A non-p ...
(DAR).


Early life and education

Sarah C. Larkin was born on a farm in
Madison County, New York Madison County is a county located in the U.S. state of New York. As of the 2020 census, the population was 68,016. Its county seat is Wampsville. The county is named after James Madison, the fourth president of the United States, and was ...
, on August 15, 1832. Her parents were of mixed English and Irish ancestry. She was collaterally related to Commodore
Matthew C. Perry Matthew Calbraith Perry (April 10, 1794 – March 4, 1858) was a United States Navy officer who commanded ships in several wars, including the War of 1812 and the Mexican–American War. He led the Perry Expedition that Bakumatsu, ended Japan' ...
. Her family were
Quakers Quakers are people who belong to the Religious Society of Friends, a historically Protestantism, Protestant Christian set of Christian denomination, denominations. Members refer to each other as Friends after in the Bible, and originally ...
, and she was educated in the society and wore its clothing style until she was a young woman.


Career


Teacher

At sixteen, she began to teach school and board around, which she continued to do till her marriage to Earl J. Hall (died 1911) on October 12, 1853. The couple went west from
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 ...
on their wedding tour and stopped at
Indianapolis Indianapolis ( ), colloquially known as Indy, is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Indiana, most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the county seat of Marion County, Indiana, Marion ...
,
Indiana Indiana ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Michigan to the northwest, Michigan to the north and northeast, Ohio to the east, the Ohio River and Kentucky to the s ...
. Looking over that city, they liked it and located there, where they remained for 18 years. There, she took a prominent part in organized charity work. She also taught in city schools at times till she took up the study of medicine.


Medical school

Hall was inclined to study law. However, her family doctor, J. T. Boyd, urged Hall to consider the necessity for women physicians and offered his services as her preceptor. This decided her course of education, though, except for him, she received little encouragement in this choice. Her preparatory studies were made while caring for her two children, doing all her housework, and sewing. In 1867, she entered 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 ...
, from which she graduated in 1870. She was one of the class that, in November 1869, was insulted by the male students at the first Pennsylvania hospital clinic to which women were admitted, ignored by the lecturers, followed, and almost mobbed on the streets.


Kansas

On a trip to
Kansas City, Kansas Kansas City (commonly known as KCK) is the third-most populous city in the U.S. state of Kansas and the county seat of Wyandotte County. It is an inner suburb of the older and more populous Kansas City, Missouri, after which it is named. As ...
, Mr. Hall heard of the unprecedented growth of
Fort Scott, Kansas Fort Scott is a city in and the county seat of Bourbon County, Kansas, Bourbon County, Kansas, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population of the city was 7,552. It is named for Gen. Winfield Scott. The cit ...
. They moved to Fort Scott in the latter part of 1870. She was among the first regularly qualified women physicians to practice in
Kansas Kansas ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to the west. Kansas is named a ...
. She eventually became a member of the County Medical Society, chiefly to give company to a young woman doctor who had just begun practice in the city and wished to join the society. Hall was also a member of the State Medical Society and the
American Medical Association The American Medical Association (AMA) is an American professional association and lobbying group of physicians and medical students. This medical association was founded in 1847 and is headquartered in Chicago, Illinois. Membership was 271,660 ...
. She held the position of
medical examiner The medical examiner is an appointed official in some American jurisdictions who is trained in pathology and investigates deaths that occur under unusual or suspicious circumstances, to perform post-mortem examinations, and in some jurisdicti ...
for several insurance orders. Although necessarily making her profession her chief task, Hall was a charter member of the Order of the Eastern Star and an active member of the WRC, holding high offices in both organizations. She was also a charter member of the Mollie Foster Berry Chapter of the DAR. The chapter was named for her ancestor, and the first regent was her daughter, Miss Frances Hall. Hall had a strong interest in women's suffrage. She first understood the need for its public recognition when she received a month and board for teaching at the same school for which a man had the season before received a month and board, although the whole district declared her work to be better than his. Later and wider experience deepened her conviction. She attended many of the early suffrage conventions, both national and local. After moving to Kansas, she identified with suffrage work only in her city. During the campaign for municipal suffrage in 1886 and 1887, she became prominent in the State councils and seldom after that lost an opportunity to aid wherever possible. Several times, she served on the executive committee of the
National Woman Suffrage Association The National Woman Suffrage Association (NWSA) was formed on May 15, 1869, to work for women's suffrage in the United States. Its main leaders were Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton. It was created after the women's rights movement spl ...
and the
National American Woman Suffrage Association The National American Woman Suffrage Association (NAWSA) was an organization formed on February 18, 1890, to advocate in favor of women's suffrage in the United States. It was created by the merger of two existing organizations, the National Woma ...
, holding the position of Honorary Vice President for Kansas in the latter organization. She was also the President of the
Bourbon County, Kansas Bourbon County is a county located in Southeast Kansas. Its county seat and most populous city is Fort Scott. As of the 2020 census, the county population was 14,360. The county was named after Bourbon County, Kentucky, the former home o ...
Equal Suffrage Association. She helped found the Unitarian Society at Fort Scott. In 1888, Hall was elected to serve a three-year term on the Fort Scott school board.


Personal life and legacy

Hall was the mother of two children, Clarence and Frances. Widowed in 1911, Hall sold the family home and moved to
Elgin, Illinois Elgin ( ) is a city in Cook County, Illinois, Cook and Kane County, Illinois, Kane counties in the U.S. state of Illinois. It is located northwest of Chicago along the Fox River (Illinois River tributary), Fox River. As of the 2020 United Stat ...
, with her daughter, Frances. Sarah C. Hall died in Elgin on May 30, 1926, at age 93. Burial was at the Evergreen Cemetery, Fort Scott. The
National Portrait Gallery National Portrait Gallery may refer to: * National Portrait Gallery (Australia), in Canberra * National Portrait Gallery (Sweden), in Mariefred *National Portrait Gallery (United States), in Washington, D.C. *National Portrait Gallery, London ...
holds an oil painting of Hall by H. W. Cuthbertson.


References


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Hall, Sarah C. 1832 births 1926 deaths People from Madison County, New York Woman's Medical College of Pennsylvania alumni Physicians from Kansas School board members in Kansas Suffragists from Kansas National American Woman Suffrage Association activists National Woman Suffrage Association activists Woman's Relief Corps people Order of the Eastern Star Daughters of the American Revolution people Wikipedia articles incorporating text from A Woman of the Century