Charlotte Blake Brown
Encyclopedia
Charlotte Blake Brown was one of the first female doctors to practice on the West Coast of the United States, and a co-founder of the San Francisco Hospital for Children and Training School for Nurses. Born in Philadelphia, both her parents were from Brewer, Maine
, and Charlotte was subsequently sent to attend high school in Bangor, Maine
while living with relatives. After that she entered Elmira Collage in New York, graduating in 1866. She married Henry Adams Brown, and in 1872 attended the Women's Medical College of Philadelphia, graduating with an MD in 1874. She moved to San Francisco the following year, and founded the Pacific Dispensary for Women and Children with Dr. Martha Bucknell. A third female physician, Dr. Sara E. Brown, subsequently joined them, and the institution was re-organized as the San Francisco Hospital for Children in 1878.
Brown had lived in California once before. Her father went to San Francisco at the height of the California Gold Rush
in 1849, and the family joined him in 1851. In 1854 they moved to Chile
, where her father (a Presbyterian Minister) ran a mission for Scottish miners until 1854, when they returned to Philadelphia.
Brown's first application to join the San Francisco Medical Society was rejected on account of her gender. In 1876, however, she was one of four women admitted into the California Medical Society, causing the San Francisco physicians to re-consider and grant her membership two years later.
In 1880 Brown and her colleagues organized within their hospital the first nurses' training school on the West Coast. Brown wrote 18 articles for medical journals in addition to carrying on a busy practice, and raised three children, two of whom also became physicians.
Children's Hospital merged with another institution to become California Pacific Medical Center
in 1991.
Brewer, Maine
Brewer is a city in Penobscot County, Maine, United States. It is part of the Bangor, Maine Metropolitan Statistical Area. The city is named after its first settler, Colonel John Brewer. The population was 9,482 at the 2010 census....
, and Charlotte was subsequently sent to attend high school in Bangor, Maine
Bangor, Maine
Bangor is a city in and the county seat of Penobscot County, Maine, United States, and the major commercial and cultural center for eastern and northern Maine...
while living with relatives. After that she entered Elmira Collage in New York, graduating in 1866. She married Henry Adams Brown, and in 1872 attended the Women's Medical College of Philadelphia, graduating with an MD in 1874. She moved to San Francisco the following year, and founded the Pacific Dispensary for Women and Children with Dr. Martha Bucknell. A third female physician, Dr. Sara E. Brown, subsequently joined them, and the institution was re-organized as the San Francisco Hospital for Children in 1878.
Brown had lived in California once before. Her father went to San Francisco at the height of the California Gold Rush
California Gold Rush
The California Gold Rush began on January 24, 1848, when gold was found by James W. Marshall at Sutter's Mill in Coloma, California. The first to hear confirmed information of the gold rush were the people in Oregon, the Sandwich Islands , and Latin America, who were the first to start flocking to...
in 1849, and the family joined him in 1851. In 1854 they moved to Chile
Chile
Chile ,officially the Republic of Chile , is a country in South America occupying a long, narrow coastal strip between the Andes mountains to the east and the Pacific Ocean to the west. It borders Peru to the north, Bolivia to the northeast, Argentina to the east, and the Drake Passage in the far...
, where her father (a Presbyterian Minister) ran a mission for Scottish miners until 1854, when they returned to Philadelphia.
Brown's first application to join the San Francisco Medical Society was rejected on account of her gender. In 1876, however, she was one of four women admitted into the California Medical Society, causing the San Francisco physicians to re-consider and grant her membership two years later.
In 1880 Brown and her colleagues organized within their hospital the first nurses' training school on the West Coast. Brown wrote 18 articles for medical journals in addition to carrying on a busy practice, and raised three children, two of whom also became physicians.
Children's Hospital merged with another institution to become California Pacific Medical Center
California Pacific Medical Center
California Pacific Medical Center is one of the largest private, non-profit, academic medical centers in Northern California. The Medical Center is a combination of four of San Francisco's oldest medical institutions: Pacific Presbyterian Hospital, Children's Hospital of San Francisco, Davies...
in 1991.