Spot of Parchment, September 2020 — Women’s Suffrage and Education

As many of you know, last month marked the 100th year anniversary of the ratification of the 19th Amendment—which guaranteed to women the right to vote. (Although in reality, this amendment only really applied to white women until the passage of civil rights legislation over four decades later). Early this year, I filmed a program on women’s suffrage and was asked what I felt about suffrage or to share a personal anecdote. At the time, I said that the right to vote (and its legal protection codified in the Constitution) meant so much than the ability to check a ballot. It means that my opinion on matters of foreign and domestic policy matters as much as the opinion of any other citizen. My ability to own property and make a life for myself are tied to the vote—without that avenue for recourse, men passed legislation that kept women in legally inferior positions for centuries. Why wouldn’t they if there was no downside? Finally, the pursuit of an education and a career are possible because I would vote against any politician or public figure that tried to deny me the opportunity to better myself. I'm certain that constitutional rights mean something different to every citizen, but that's what they mean to me.

With that significance in mind, I want to share a brief story for this month’s Spot of Parchment. August and the first half of September were rough months for me, so I hope you’ll forgive the brevity. If you are still in the mood for more history reading when you are doing, please consider the other articles and posts I’ve shared recently.

In 1897, Emily Dunning Barringer received her bachelor’s degree from Cornell University, making her the first woman to do so, and one of the first women to graduate from an Ivy League college. She then went on to receive her medical degree and became the first woman in the world to be certified as an ambulance surgeon and secure a surgical residency. While completing her degrees, she endured harassment, unfair assignments, and near-impossible scheduling.

When World War I broke out, she helped raise money to send ambulances to the western front in Europe. She also served as the co-chair of the War Service Committee of the Medical Women’s National Association, which provided medical care to soldiers during the war and citizens in the post-war years.

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For the rest of her life, she advocated for women’s suffrage and worked to improve educational opportunities for women. During World War II, she pressured Congress to permit women doctors to service as commissioned officers. Partially thanks to her encouragement, Congress passed the Sparkman Act in 1943, which permitted women to receive commissions in the Navy, Army, and Public Health Service.

Dr. Barringer died on April 8, 1961. Ten years before Dr. Barringer passed, Corinne Watkins graduated from Cornell with a dual degree in French and Linguistics. While she was not the first, her path was no less challenging, as many people felt university positions should be saved for veterans returning from the war. Undaunted, she completed her degree with flying colors and stellar grades.

Sixty-nine years after Corinne graduated from college, her granddaughter published her first book, The Cabinet. She inspired me always and left a legacy that I’m determined to preserve. I’m absolutely terrible at science, but I’d like to think Dr. Barringer would still be pleased.