Harriett Alleyne Rice (1866–1958) was the first African American to graduate from Wellesley College. During World War I, Dr. Rice served with the Service de Santé, the French Medical Corps.[1] She was awarded the Medal of French Gratitude for her medical service.[2]
Harriet Rice | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | 1866 Newport, Rhode Island, U.S. |
| Died | 1958 (aged 91–92) Worcester, Massachusetts, U.S. |
| Education | |
| Years active | 1891–1958 |
| Medical career | |
| Profession | Doctor |
Early life
editRice was one of four children born to George Addison Rice and Lucinda Webster Rice.[3] The family owned their own home in Newport, Rhode Island. Her father worked as a steamer steward, and her older brother, George Rice II, also became a physician.[4]
Rice graduated from Rogers High School, an integrated public school in Newport, in 1882.[2] She was reportedly the highest scoring student in her class in the subject of Greek.[4]
Career
editRice was the first African-American graduate of Wellesley College in 1887.[5] After attending University of Michigan medical school for a year from 1888 to 1889,[2] she suffered a severe fall and had to return home for treatment.[6] Later, she obtained her MD in 1891 from the Women's Medical College of the New York Infirmary for Women and Children. However, as an African American woman in this era she was unable to practice medicine in any American hospital, and so she joined the social worker and suffragist leader Jane Addams at Hull House in Chicago, where she provided medical treatment for the poor.[7] In 1897 she joined Chicago Maternity Hospital and Training School for Nursery Maids as the only doctor. When World War I broke out Rice traveled to France and practiced as a medical intern at a hospital in Poitiers, staying for almost four years. For this she was recognized by the French Embassy and awarded the Medal of French Gratitude.[2]
She died in Worcester, Massachusetts in 1958 and is buried in Newport's Common Burying Ground.[8]
References
edit- ^ Lemay, Kate Clarke; Goodier, Susan; Jones, Martha S.; Tetrault, Lisa (2019). Votes for women! a portrait of persistence. National Portrait Gallery (Smithsonian Institution). Princeton, New Jersey ; Woodstock, Oxfordshire: Princeton University Press. ISBN 978-0-691-19117-1. OCLC 1051137979.
- ^ a b c d "AMWA". American Medical Women's Association. Retrieved February 27, 2019.
- ^ Korr, Mary (January 2015). "100 Years Ago - Dr. Harriet Alleyne Rice of Newport: The struggles of an African-American physician". Rhode Island Medical Journal. 98 (1): 74–75 – via ProQuest.
- ^ a b McCarthy, Elizabeth (December 22, 2022). "Who was Harriet Rice?". Jane Addams Hull-House Museum. Retrieved August 31, 2023.
- ^ "Dr. Harriet A. Rice". Gilded Age Newport in Color. February 10, 2015. Retrieved February 27, 2019.
- ^ "Who Was Harriet Rice?". Hull House Museum. December 22, 2022. Retrieved June 20, 2024.
- ^ "A Woman of Valor | Eyes of Glory". eyesofglory.com. Retrieved February 27, 2019.
- ^ "History Bytes: Dr. Harriett Alleyne Rice". Newport Historical Society. February 27, 2017. Retrieved February 27, 2019.