Rosalie Slaughter Morton

After graduating from college in Pennsylvania with two of the three honors available to her,[5] Morton interned at the Philadelphia City Hospital and was appointed as resident physician at the Alumnae Hospital and Dispensary, where she worked until 1899. She then began further studies in Europe for three years, travelling to Berlin, Vienna, Paris, and London. During this time Morton took courses, observed surgeries, and wrote a number of scientific papers including several comparing the health of women and men. Following the advice of her instructor in London, Victor Horsley, she also travelled to the British Government Laboratory in Mumbai for six months to work on prophylactics against the bubonic plague and spent a period of time in Sri Lanka.[2][3][5][11] Her thesis on the bubonic plague was published by the Johns Hopkins Medical Society.[2]

Having finished her studies, Morton returned to the United States in 1902 and opened a medical practice specialising in gynecology in Washington D.C.[5] After her marriage to George Morton Jr. in 1905 she opened a new medical practice in New York, where he was an attorney. In 1909 the American Medical Association created a Public Health Education Committee with the aim of educating the public on subjects including health, hygiene, child care, and other medical topics. Morton was made the first chairperson of the committee, through which she organized public lectures by female physicians across the United States.[8] Morton was appointed as a clinical assistant and instructor at the Polyclinic Hospital of New York (where she was one of the first female faculty members) in 1912,[5] and later became a professor of gynaecology. During this time she lectured at a number of other universities including one summer spent at the University of Vermont.[3] Between 1911 and 1912 she was the vice president of the American Medical Association, the first woman to hold the position.[2]

After the breakout of the First World War, Morton travelled to Labrador to work in the Mission Hospitals at Battle Harbour and St. Anthony.[2] She was made a special commissioner of the Red Cross and charged with taking supplies from Paris to the Macedonian front. While there she volunteered her time at the field hospitals, working through four epidemics.[2][8] Following her return to New York, Morton became the first female Attending Surgeon at the Vanderbilt Clinic of Columbia University's Physicians and Surgeons in 1916.[8]

Morton had used her time in Macedonia learning about field hospitals, looking to replicate the success of the British and Scottish women's hospitals.[8] Upon her return, she lectured and advocated for further support in Serbia. In response, the Medical Women's National Association voted to establish a War Service Committee, with the aim of establishing American hospitals in Europe. Morton became its first chairperson in 1917 and led the service alongside Mary M. Crawford.[3][13][14] After her request to send one thousand medical women who had volunteered for foreign service was opposed by the General Medical Board in Washington, she raised over $300,000 in 10 days through a national fundraising drive to send them.[3] At the recommendation of William C. Gorgas, Morton was made chairman of the committee of women physicians on the United States Council of National Defense, where she represented over 7000 female doctors.[2]

Morton continued running her New York practice while attempting to aid young people in Yugoslavia and Serbia who had been disrupted during the war get into education.[3] In March 1919 she established the International Serbian Committee, through which she helped dozens of young Serbians join American places of education.[15] After moving to Florida in the early 1930s Morton established a small clinical practice where she carried out research into arthritis and endocrinology.[3]

Over the course of her career Morton published 23 scientific articles in medical journals and is credited with 11 inventions.[2]

Awards

Rosalie Morton Park in Belgrade.

When Morton graduated in 1897, she had won multiple awards, including for best invention for surgical equipment and the best clinical case report.[8] By 1937 Morton had been awarded 9 decorations by world Governments, including the United States, France, and Serbia.[2][16] During her career Morton's awards included the Cross of Czar Nicholas II, the Joan of Arc medal, and the Conspicuous Service Cross,[3] and in 1934 she was presented a special award by the American Medical Association for her work establishing the American Women's Hospitals.[3] The American Cathedral in Paris presented her with the American and Serbian flags which had hung at the church during the war. Morton later presented the flags to women physicians in Belgrade.[2]

A tree was planted in Central Park in her honor, commemorating her "distinguished patriotic service",[2][17] and both a street and park in Belgrade are named after her.[18][4] A historical marker was placed at the location of Morton's childhood home in Lynchburg in 2019.[12][19]

In 1897 Morton wrote a short story titled One Short Hour. It was published in a compilation titled Daughters of Aesculapius alongside other fiction and non-fiction works written by alumni and students at the Woman's Medical College of Pennsylvania.[2][20] In her 13-page story, a female medical student is forced to choose between a career in medicine and marriage to her fiancé, ultimately choosing the former.[20]

Morton later wrote an autobiography titled A Woman Surgeon: The Life and Work of Rosalie Slaughter Morton, which was published in 1937 by Frederick A. Stokes. The book was reviewed well, with praise given to both the writing and the breadth of experiences chronicled in it.[21][22] The Pittsburgh Press described Morton's autobiography as an "excellent book on a woman's accomplishments" commending both the descriptions of medical topics as well as political ones.[21] In The Brooklyn Daily Eagle, a review wrote "at no time is her book boring", calling it an important book for documenting the contributions of "a woman crusader".[22] The Salt Lake Tribune described the book as "informative, thrilling and colorful",[6] and The Sydney Morning Herald called it "particularly interesting".[16] In their review, the Indiana Gazette rated the book as one of the best medical autobiographies of recent times.[23]

After finishing her autobiography, Morton travelled to Iran, and in 1940 published a book on the country and her time there titled A Doctor's Holiday in Iran.[24][25]