Dr. Mary Emily Lapham Collection

Collection

Identifier: WV 0418

Staff Only

Scope and Contents

The collection consists primarily of letters written by Mary Lapham during her time with the Red Cross. The letters document Lapham's day-to-day activities from March 1918, when her ship sailed from New York City, until she returned to the United States in January 1920. The letters are posted from Paris, La Rochelle, and towns across Brittany in France; also, Prague, Petrovatz, Marienbad, and the Children's Camp at Nizni Smokovec in Czechoslovakia.

In addition to the letters from Lapham, there are several photographs and postcards. Reports Lapham wrote about the dispensary and the children's camp are included in her writings. There are also copies of articles concerning Dr. Alice Masaryk of Czechoslovakia and Countess Teleki of Budapest that Dr. Lapham tried to have published in the United States.

Also included in the collection are letters to Dr. Lapham and miscellaneous materials, newspapers clippings, and telegraphs relating to her time in Europe.

Dates

1917 - 1920

Creator

Lapham, Dr. Mary Emily (Person)

Conditions Governing Access

Collection is open for research.

Conditions Governing Use

Copyright is retained by the creators of items in these papers, or their descendants, as stipulated by United States copyright law. Manuscript collections and archival records may contain materials with sensitive or confidential information. Please see our Sensitive Materials Statement.

Biographical Note

Mary Emily Lapham (1860-1936) was born in Northfield, Michigan, to Jared S. and Martha Gregory Lapham. She worked at her father's bank until sometime in the early 1890s. After her father's death, she traveled to Highlands, North Carolina, where she stayed for four years before purchasing fifteen acres of land on nearby Satulah Mountain. There she built her home which came to be named "Faraway."

While in Highlands, Lapham observed the lack of medical attention received by the local population, especially women. Lapham's observations finalized her decision to study medicine. She left North Carolina to attend Women's Medical College of Philadelphia, from which she earned her M.D. in 1900. She then traveled to Germany, Austria, and Switzerland for advanced study.

After returning from Europe, Lapham settled at "Faraway" with her friends Caroline Barker and Edith Bloomer Dougall, along with Edith's adopted daughter, Valerie Ashton-Dougall. The ladies were especially interested in music, particularly opera, and would often travel to Europe for operatic festivals.

In 1908, Dr. Lapham built Highlands Camp Sanatorium, a facility for the treatment of tuberculosis, where she specialized in pneumotherapy. The hospital operated for ten years before it burned in January of 1918.

In March 1918, Dr. Lapham set sail for France on a Red Cross Medical Mission. She was station in La Rochelle, France, were she set up a dispensary and hospital for refugees. When the dispensary closed after the conclusion of WWI, Dr. Lapham was reassigned to another Red Cross mission. From January through March 1919, she traveled through Brittany, France, giving mother/baby health clinics. In April, Dr. Lapham was appointed physician to the Red Cross's Czecho-Slovakian Commission, and was assigned to Prague, then Petrovatz. From August through September 1919, she assisted the Red Cross in taking five hundred refugee children into the Tatra Mountains for a health camp. Dr. Lapham returned to the United States in early February of 1920.

Lapham then served as head of tuberculosis research work at Johns Hopkins University and later at the University of Pennsylvania.14 She became the first woman president of the American Sanatorium Association, today's American Thoracic Society. She was also a stalwart advocate of woman suffrage.

Mary Lapham died at her winter home in St. Augustine, Florida, in 1936, at the age of 75.

Extent

0.63 Linear Feet (1 manuscript box, 1 half-manuscript box)

Language of Materials

English

Additional Description

Abstract

Mary Emily Lapham (1860-1936) was a doctor known for her research with tuberculosis patients. During WWI, she traveled to Europe on a Red Cross Medical Mission.

The collection consists primarily of letters written by Mary Lapham during her time with the Red Cross. Also included are photographs, newspapers clippings, and miscellaneous materials relating to Dr. Lapham's time in Europe.

Arrangement Note

The materials are arranged alphabetically by type of material and then chronologically within each type.

Method of Acquisition

Purchased from dealer in June 2008.

Related Materials

Women Physicians, 1850s-1970s, Drexel University College of Medicine, Archives and Special Collections Highlands Historical Society

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