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The New Woman's Dean

The New Woman's Dean image
Parent Issue
Day
3
Month
July
Year
1896
Copyright
Public Domain
OCR Text

Tlie following most excellent artiele in regai'd to tTie new ■woinan's (lean. Di'. Eliza TT. Moisher, is taken íroni ;i recent issue oí the líew York Daily Tribune : The present week will mark the feevering of tile ties whicli unite Dr. Eliza M. Moisher to Brooklyn. It has leen knonvn íor gome tinne that sho had accepted a responsable position in tlie University oí Mic-higan, and deterinined to relinquis'ii her i)ractioe in Brooklyn, Avhicli is large añil Iucrative. Her work in Ann Arbor will no begm 'until next Octoher, but she will sail íor Europe to-day on the E u rnassia for ao absence oi twm mottthe, which slie will devote to a Btudy oí the colleges ïor women ín concection witíi the universities of Oxford and Cambridge. It te needtess to say tliat Da. Moshfcu' will leave Brooklyn in d,eep regret. It lias been her home for more than a dfoize.n yeam, and that time slie lias had the cloisest relations with a laiige number oí families. In all of fhese tlie announcement of her cXeparture üias been the occasion for heartfelt sorrow. Jlany a tear lias 'beon ehed, and many an entreaty lias ibeen poured forth to induce lier to cliange uier purpose. Ií Dr. Moshei" had not concluded h.er arrangements with tlie authoi-ities oí Michigan "UniTereity it is not unlikely that Bhe would hare been tempted at least to 'swerve froan ]ier intention. EEASOXS FOR THE CHANGE. Ifc is not from inclination that Bhe ;lia dietermined to1 make the fihamge, altliough slie feels, of course, that s?he ■hiais a great opportunïty in tlie -work silO is to undertake m Ann Arbor. Ii elie followed lier stroug impulse slie would remain in Brooklyn, and, irom the pecuniary pobit of view, it would undoubtedly be to lier interest to do iso. Nor is it simply tliö honor that will come to lier in her new. position tbat bas induced her to leave Brooklyn. Thafc it will be a high honor is unquestionable, but it is not greater than has come to severa! other women wüio fill positions of responsibility in sucto institutions as the Univerisity of CJiicago. Bryn Mawr College and. Bamard College. It is the opportunity for increased useiulness that has been the controlling motive in the mind of Dir. Mosher. In her regular practice t-here pass under toer eyes scores of patients ■svhose maladies slie feels certain might have been prevented by wise advice amd instruction in earlier days. As a p'hvsician, she has been striving to cure disease. In her work at Michigan t'niversity it will be her aini ito prevent it. HER POSITION AT ANN ARBOB. In the University Dr. Mosiier is to be aissociate dean of th-e department of literature and arts, and professor of hygiëne. The dean of the department for many years has been Martin L. D'Ooge, but the place Dr. Mosher will fül is a new one. It will' bring her into direct eifsonal rela)tton witli the 600 women in the University and to each of them it is expected that She will act as guide, philosopher and friend. ■ . i Michigan University opened its doors wide to women as long ago as 1ST0, but the faculty contains no woman professor. Tliere have been one or two womeii instructors, but there bas been no woman in a place of high responsibility ; no woman to wlhöin the women students could go tor counsel, except the Wives of the professors, ■vhose relations with the University, of course, are not in any waj' official. It eseemed wise to the University nuthoi-ities, therefore, to appoint a ■voman to a place in which She would hiOld advisory relations to the lnrge numlbar of i omen studentis. ï'lie Btudents in Michigan University, both men and women, are not dominated ; they are supposed to be old enough to ta.ke care of themselves, and a.re ttïrown on their own responsibility. There are no dormitories, with matronas m charge of them, as in some of our educational institutions. "Wliile Dr. Mosher -will act as associate dean, ehie will be relieved of all the Work of regiist-ering the Htudents ajs to their studies, etc, tut will exercise general intellectual and moral oversight over them. If any of them f all short in their recitations, o" :m any rsp?ct, Ihey will come to her for adviee, a-nd excuses ior absence must be presented to her. She will also have the physical i'are of the young women, just as she did diu-ing the time she was resident physician of Vassar College. She will tñus, lt is ob,vous, be bronght ■Into intimate relations with all the women Btudents, and, in a sense, will be a mother to them during their etudent days. From the health point of view, there will be a great advantage in having in this place a wo tnau who has had a large experience e a phiyisician. PROFESSOR OF HYGIËNE. The otluer part of lier duties 'wil! le as professor of hygiëne, and In this eapacity ehe will deliver at least tliroe leetures a week, which will be epen to the mea as well a.si the wonien students. Dr. Mosher proposes to deal with the subject in three general phases : personal hygiëne, house and home hyeiene, and municipal faygiöne. The subject opeas up tefore her in alarge way, and she lp confident that she will be to aceomplis'h mu h good. In her general experience s'ae has seen the g'ieab ineed of education in these matters. In municipal hygiëne, for example, her teaching will hare to do with the isite of the city the soil on whiuh It is built, drainage, water supply, the removal of waste, the hygienic fconstruction of public buildings, especially oí schoolhouses, etc. She will ateo treat of home-building in all its aspect, and will give special attention to the "best niethods of physical education. During her brief vifsit to England Dr. Mossher will visit the ivoman's ooileges of Girton, Xewnham, SomerA'ille, Lady Maxgaret and 8t. Hugh, with the purpose of ascertaining the 'trend of educa tional workin them and gaining ideas that may be utiiized in her new work in the west. AN IXTERESTINa CAREER. Dr. Mosher's personality is striking, Bhe is tall, with magni icent phytique. :Her presence inspires contidence, and ïhe has in large measure the motherly imstinct that makes women ïeel that they can trust her implicitly. Her career has been most interesting. When a giil in school she heard a course of lectures on physiology, anatomy and hygiëne, and she at once develcped a deep interest in these frubJccts. Her mima dwele on them, and ehe conceiTed the idea of leaving her 3w)me to pursue thestudy of medicine. fïer mother at first refused to look Hvith. favor on such a plan, but finally gave her consent, and in 1S69 Miss Jlosher went to Boston to study under the direction of Dr. "Lucy E. Sewell, the resident physician at the New England HotspiwU "Vomen and Ohildren. Two years later she entered the medical department of Michigan Uni'vereity, where she pursued a course extending over four years. At the beginning of the second year, she was invited to act as assistant to the denionstrator of anatomy and üevoted a greater part oí the year to that work. She was graduated in 1875 and began (h'er practice in IJoughkeepsie, Vbere she became a memiber of the city amd county medical isocieties. In 1877 Dr. Mosher became the resident physician in the Massachu■setts Reformatory Prison for Women, ïich had recently been opened, receiving (her appointnient from the govennor of he state. After two years she went to London and Paris to purue thie etudy o'f special subjects, and on lier return after a year's absence stve was ui-g-ed tO' accept the superintendency oí the Massachusetts Re om atory. Although this was out of the line oí her chosen work, she acceptec th o 'fer of Governor Long and tecamp o much interested in the reorganixatio'n oí the prison that she remaineil there nearly three years. HER WORK IN BROOKLYN. Subsequeiuly Bh e established a partnersliip -with Dr. Lucy M. Hall (uow Dr. Hall-Brotvn), in Brooklyn, and for a time served alternately witi the latter .as professor of physiology and resident physician in Yassav College. 'The growth of lier reputation as a physician bef ore long built up for Dr. Mosher a large practico, and for several years, as has been tsaid, ehe devoted herseli exelusively to this Her life in Brooklyn has b-een a remarkably busy one, and many o; lier frlends wonder how she lias been able to do so much. Slie has in addition to her regular duties oeen physiciiui to tflie Wayside Home nnd the Young Woman's 01u-istia.n Association,. and for several summers lias taken an active part in the work oí th.e Chautauqua School lor Physica] Culture. She h.as frequently lectured at fbe Pratt Institute a.nd the Girls' High School, and has laid special stress on the subject correct posture. One of the things she has iusisted on as of the iirst iraportanee is suita'ble desks far school children. "While net a bicycle rider herself, Dr. Mosher believes ia the use oí the -vheel by women, aaid she bas in the last two or. three years spent considerable time in devislng a bicycle saddle that -voaild be free trom the objectionable features, but her work In that line has not been completed. Am.oag the societles orrwhich Dr, "Mccsher is a member are the American Electro-Thernpeutic Association, the Kings County Medical Society, the Brooklyn Bed Cross Nursing and Instruetion Society, and the American Bociation for the Advancement of Physical Education. Sihe has written a number of treatfees on special topics vh'.ch are hi-j.h".y ro;:ir.liMl by the medical proCeswion. It will le seen taat.Ir. Mosher is admirably iitted for the important woik tltat slie will take up im Michiga.n DnlTersity, and there can be no questiion tlia.t she will be successíul 'm it. On departure f rom Brooklyn, sive av;11 take With lier the. good wtstiés oi the many warm fi-iends ehe has made

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Subjects
Ann Arbor Argus
Old News