Dr. Grace Danforth
Medical Pioneer/Suffragists
1849 – 1895

“A lady of remarkable energy, good education and extraordinary business qualities” was the way a local newspaper described Dr. Grace Danforth, in about 1880 in Texas when she taught music in two separate communities, commuting by train. Great praise to be sure but actually it was not as a music teacher but for her medical skills and dedication to women’s suffrage that brought her prominence.

Grace was born in February, 1849 in Wisconsin, but her family moved often, and then they arrived in Texas in 1853 and by the 1880s Grace was teaching school. She also taught music in several Texas communities, yet later she wrote to her sister that she had decided to become a physician. This was because she’d found “The confinement and nervous wear and tear of the schoolroom” was hurting her health. In addition she wrote that she had considered training as a bookkeeper or a pharmacist but rejected those professions to become a physician. She then attended the Woman’s Medical College of Chicago while also working at Cook County Hospital and with the Illinois Eye and Ear Infirmary. After graduation in 1886 Dr. Danforth served an internship at the Chicago Hospital for Women and Children, and at about this time, she came to support the women’s suffrage cause.

She began a private practice in Dallas, in early in 1888, where she applied to be a member in the Dallas County Medical Association. When asked by the group why “a woman and especially a southern woman is desirous of a professional career” she replied that women who were “reaching out for a wider field of usefulness and freedom” were simply “obeying laws that underlie the march of civilization.” She was accepted as the first woman member of the group. At the same time she also joined the local chapter of the national Women’s Christian Temperance Union because she believed that connection would assist her in her practice. At the same time she became more of a dedicated suffragist.

However, soon after in 1899 she moved to the community of Granger, just north of Austin where her brother already had a practice. Then in 1890 she was appointed to be second assistant physician at the North Texas Hospital for the Insane (now called Terrell State Hospital), where she was the first woman doctor on their staff, and worked as a gynecologist. Then when a new superintendent assumed office, that meant he brought in his own people for staff positions, and Dr. Danforth left the facility. So she returned to the Chicago woman’s medical school for advanced training.

In addition, from 1888 to the early 1890s she contributed articles to various medical publications offering advice on the care of infants and mothers in delivery, as well as other topics. Her articles provided advice for the care of newborns and their mothers. She also stressed the idea of educating women about their own bodies—at a time when few physicians were trained with this information. She stressed the importance of women learning about their bodies, “arguing that such knowledge would improve women’s health and happiness, [and] make them better wives and mothers…”

As she worked as a physician, Danforth continued her interest in women’s suffrage and in 1893 she joined others to create the Texas Equal Rights Association (TERA). They became associated with the National American Woman’s Suffrage Association.

Over the next few years, as the TERA grew in membership, there were some women who rejected membership since they believed that women shouldn’t vote. This was because voting violated the idea of the “proper role” of women in society as homemakers, concerned only with being loving and supportive to their husbands and families. According to this view, when a woman voted she stepped out of the domestic realm and became “unwomanly”. So suffrage advocates realized that they could not challenge the image of women as wives and mothers but had to encourage the view that women’s voting meant she could participate in her community and still remain “womanly.” Suffragists also realized they had to avoid any type of potential scandal that would discourage the desired image.

The TERA organization encountered this issue in 1894. It occurred when nationally known suffrage advocate Susan B. Anthony in 1894 was asked to speak to their membership. Many members objected to this prospect since they feared that Anthony’s presence might cause contention or conflict because some saw Miss Anthony as a controversial person. Actually, only time would improve the image of women voting, showing eventually that at the ballot box women helped bring into office the right people to benefit the community and that this was not a threat to the sanctity of the home. Of course the 19th amendment to the U.S. Constitution enacted in 1920 banned any voting discrimination based on gender.

Aside from her public life in the world of women’s suffrage and medicine, Dr. Danforth had frequent health issues as she struggled with severe headaches. If a patient had the same problem, she may have prescribed a common remedy of the time—laudanum—which was a mixture of opium dissolved in alcohol. However, she herself claimed that she did not use it.

Widely prescribed for many ailments, laudanum had long been a popular and widely used drug and while it left the patient feeling better, unfortunately it might prove addicting.. Though we can’t be sure if Dr. Danforth took it herself, it seems that the one time she did since she died in February, 1895 from what appeared to be an overdose of laudanum.

Dr. Danforth remains an important figure in the advocacy of women doctors as well as women’s suffrage and her legacy was noted in a newspaper after her death. The account read, “Dr.Danforth was one of the most remarkable women in Texas….she was a woman of a vigorous and active mind and she soon took a leading part in all reforms.”

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Anne Adams is a retired church staffer. She lives in East Texas and has an historical column for a local newspaper. She has published in Christian and secular publications for more than 40 years.

References:
Wikipedia
Texas Coop Power
Texas State Historical Association