Dr. Mary Emily Lapham Collection
Scope and Contents
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
Conditions Governing Use
Biographical Note
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
Abstract
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
Method of Acquisition
Offensive Language Statement
Our finding aids and other collection descriptions may occasionally re-use language provided by creators or former holders of the materials, but we strive to place outdated or offensive terminology in context. That said, we recognize that we may not always make the right decision and welcome feedback from all sources so we can learn and adjust our practices. Please contact us at scua@uncg.edu if you encounter problematic language in our finding aids or other collection description. We will review the language and, as appropriate, update it in a way that balances preservation of the original context with our ongoing commitment to describing materials with respectful and inclusive language.
Processing Information
Creator
- Lapham, Dr. Mary Emily (Person)
- Title
- Dr. Mary Emily Lapham Collection
- Status
- Completed
- Author
- Jennifer Motszko
- Date
- 01/10/2009
- Description rules
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
- Language of description
- English
- Script of description
- Latin
- Language of description note
- eng
Repository Details
Part of the Martha Blakeney Hodges Special Collections and University Archives Repository