Mary Howell
Encyclopedia
Mary Catherine Raugust Howell (September 2, 1932 – February 5, 1998) was a physician
, psychologist
, lawyer
, mentor
, musician
and mother
. She was the first woman dean at Harvard Medical School
(1972-1975) and led the fight to end quotas and open medical schools to women.
. She attended Radcliffe College
, and received her M.D. and PhD. in Psychology in 1962 from the University of Minnesota
, her J.D. from Harvard Law School
in 1991.
, along with Barbara Seaman
, Alice Wolfson
, Belita Cowan, and Phyllis Chesler
, Ph.D., and a contributor to Our Bodies, Ourselves
. Her book, Why Would a Girl Go Into Medicine? started as a collection of the experiences of women medical students - documenting the flagrant discrimination against women - and became instrumental (in synch with the feminist movement) in helping to fuel Title IX
legislation and increasing the percentage of women medical students from 9% in 1969 to 25% in 1979, to almost 50% in 2007.
Aside from raising seven children, she opened her home to many students, and to women during transitions in life, sharing her untiring search for knowledge, her humor, her music and her bread-baking. She encouraged students to examine the political aspects of health care, ranging from nutrition in schoolchildren to the power of special interest groups through legislation affecting health care. She encouraged parents to take charge of their children's health and practiced pediatric medicine in Boston
and in Maine
. She worked with people with disabilities and mental illness through the Shriver
Center and the Walter E. Fernald State School
in Waltham, Maine
; children with drug addiction, homelessness, or HIV through the Medical Van, a program at the Massachusetts General Hospital for street youth; and most recently as the Director of Adoption Resources. She was a member of the Division of Medical Ethics at Harvard Medical School
from 1992 to 1994. She strongly encouraged mothers to nurture their children's health, and through her understanding of medicine in political terms, offered people strategies to understand the medical care they received, and communicate effectively to caretakers about their needs. She was the author of numerous articles and seven books, including Helping Ourselves, Healing at Home, Death and Dying and Ethical dilemmas: A guide for staff serving developmentally disabled adults and Serving the Underserved: Caring for people who are both old and mentally retarded. She also wrote a monthly column called "Working Mother" in McCall's magazine from 1977-1987.
and viola
as a chamber musician
. She participated in the Apgar Quartet
(instruments made by Virginia Apgar
(under the guidance of Carleen Hutchins
) the anesthesiologist who developed the Apgar Score
) performance in Dallas, at the American Academy of Pediatrics Convention, in honor of the commemorative stamp of Virginia Apgar
.
and children, the Mary Howell memorial scholarship was established at the Children's Orchestra Society.
Physician
A physician is a health care provider who practices the profession of medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring human health through the study, diagnosis, and treatment of disease, injury and other physical and mental impairments...
, psychologist
Psychologist
Psychologist is a professional or academic title used by individuals who are either:* Clinical professionals who work with patients in a variety of therapeutic contexts .* Scientists conducting psychological research or teaching psychology in a college...
, lawyer
Lawyer
A lawyer, according to Black's Law Dictionary, is "a person learned in the law; as an attorney, counsel or solicitor; a person who is practicing law." Law is the system of rules of conduct established by the sovereign government of a society to correct wrongs, maintain the stability of political...
, mentor
Mentor
In Greek mythology, Mentor was the son of Alcimus or Anchialus. In his old age Mentor was a friend of Odysseus who placed Mentor and Odysseus' foster-brother Eumaeus in charge of his son Telemachus, and of Odysseus' palace, when Odysseus left for the Trojan War.When Athena visited Telemachus she...
, musician
Musician
A musician is an artist who plays a musical instrument. It may or may not be the person's profession. Musicians can be classified by their roles in performing music and writing music.Also....* A person who makes music a profession....
and mother
Mother
A mother, mum, mom, momma, or mama is a woman who has raised a child, given birth to a child, and/or supplied the ovum that grew into a child. Because of the complexity and differences of a mother's social, cultural, and religious definitions and roles, it is challenging to specify a universally...
. She was the first woman dean at Harvard Medical School
Harvard Medical School
Harvard Medical School is the graduate medical school of Harvard University. It is located in the Longwood Medical Area of the Mission Hill neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts....
(1972-1975) and led the fight to end quotas and open medical schools to women.
Biography
Dr. Howell was born in Grand Forks, North DakotaGrand Forks, North Dakota
Grand Forks is the third-largest city in the U.S. state of North Dakota and the county seat of Grand Forks County. According to the 2010 census, the city's population was 52,838, while that of the city and surrounding metropolitan area was 98,461...
. She attended Radcliffe College
Radcliffe College
Radcliffe College was a women's liberal arts college in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and was the coordinate college for Harvard University. It was also one of the Seven Sisters colleges. Radcliffe College conferred joint Harvard-Radcliffe diplomas beginning in 1963 and a formal merger agreement with...
, and received her M.D. and PhD. in Psychology in 1962 from the University of Minnesota
University of Minnesota
The University of Minnesota, Twin Cities is a public research university located in Minneapolis and St. Paul, Minnesota, United States. It is the oldest and largest part of the University of Minnesota system and has the fourth-largest main campus student body in the United States, with 52,557...
, her J.D. from Harvard Law School
Harvard Law School
Harvard Law School is one of the professional graduate schools of Harvard University. Located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, it is the oldest continually-operating law school in the United States and is home to the largest academic law library in the world. The school is routinely ranked by the U.S...
in 1991.
Career and advocacy
She was one of five co-founders in 1975 of the National Women's Health NetworkNational Women's Health Network
The National Women's Health Network is a non-profit women's health advocacy organization located in Washington, D.C.. It was founded in 1975 by Barbara Seaman, Alice Wolfson, Belita Cowan, Mary Howell, M.D., and Phyllis Chesler, Ph.D. The stated mission of the organization is to give women a...
, along with Barbara Seaman
Barbara Seaman
Barbara Seaman was an American author, activist, and journalist, and a principal founder of the women's health feminism movement.-Early years:Seaman, whose parents, Henry J...
, Alice Wolfson
Alice Wolfson
Alice Wolfson, a Barnard graduate and former Fulbright Scholar, is a veteran political activist in women's reproductive health issues, a lawyer, and a co-founder of the National Women's Health Network....
, Belita Cowan, and Phyllis Chesler
Phyllis Chesler
Phyllis Chesler is an American writer, psychotherapist, and professor emerita of psychology and women's studies at the College of Staten Island...
, Ph.D., and a contributor to Our Bodies, Ourselves
Our Bodies, Ourselves
Our Bodies, Ourselves is a book about women's health and sexuality produced by the nonprofit organization Our Bodies Ourselves...
. Her book, Why Would a Girl Go Into Medicine? started as a collection of the experiences of women medical students - documenting the flagrant discrimination against women - and became instrumental (in synch with the feminist movement) in helping to fuel Title IX
Title IX
Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 is a United States law, enacted on June 23, 1972, that amended Title IX of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. In 2002 it was renamed the Patsy T. Mink Equal Opportunity in Education Act, in honor of its principal author Congresswoman Mink, but is most...
legislation and increasing the percentage of women medical students from 9% in 1969 to 25% in 1979, to almost 50% in 2007.
Aside from raising seven children, she opened her home to many students, and to women during transitions in life, sharing her untiring search for knowledge, her humor, her music and her bread-baking. She encouraged students to examine the political aspects of health care, ranging from nutrition in schoolchildren to the power of special interest groups through legislation affecting health care. She encouraged parents to take charge of their children's health and practiced pediatric medicine in Boston
Boston
Boston is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper had...
and in Maine
Maine
Maine is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States, bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the east and south, New Hampshire to the west, and the Canadian provinces of Quebec to the northwest and New Brunswick to the northeast. Maine is both the northernmost and easternmost...
. She worked with people with disabilities and mental illness through the Shriver
Shriver
Shriver is a surname.The surname may derive from the obsolescent common noun shriver, "a person who shrives". The English verb to shrive is an obsolete word referring to the act of confession ....
Center and the Walter E. Fernald State School
Walter E. Fernald State School
The Walter E. Fernald State School, now the Walter E. Fernald Developmental Center, located in Waltham, Massachusetts, is the Western hemisphere's oldest publicly funded institution serving people with developmental disabilities. Originally a Victorian sanatorium, it became a "poster child" for...
in Waltham, Maine
Waltham, Maine
Waltham is a town in Hancock County, Maine, United States. The population was 306 at the 2000 census.-Geography:According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of , of which, of it is land and of it is water....
; children with drug addiction, homelessness, or HIV through the Medical Van, a program at the Massachusetts General Hospital for street youth; and most recently as the Director of Adoption Resources. She was a member of the Division of Medical Ethics at Harvard Medical School
Harvard Medical School
Harvard Medical School is the graduate medical school of Harvard University. It is located in the Longwood Medical Area of the Mission Hill neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts....
from 1992 to 1994. She strongly encouraged mothers to nurture their children's health, and through her understanding of medicine in political terms, offered people strategies to understand the medical care they received, and communicate effectively to caretakers about their needs. She was the author of numerous articles and seven books, including Helping Ourselves, Healing at Home, Death and Dying and Ethical dilemmas: A guide for staff serving developmentally disabled adults and Serving the Underserved: Caring for people who are both old and mentally retarded. She also wrote a monthly column called "Working Mother" in McCall's magazine from 1977-1987.
Other pursuits
Aside from being a physician and a lawyer, Howell loved to play violinViolin
The violin is a string instrument, usually with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is the smallest, highest-pitched member of the violin family of string instruments, which includes the viola and cello....
and viola
Viola
The viola is a bowed string instrument. It is the middle voice of the violin family, between the violin and the cello.- Form :The viola is similar in material and construction to the violin. A full-size viola's body is between and longer than the body of a full-size violin , with an average...
as a chamber musician
Musician
A musician is an artist who plays a musical instrument. It may or may not be the person's profession. Musicians can be classified by their roles in performing music and writing music.Also....* A person who makes music a profession....
. She participated in the Apgar Quartet
Quartet
In music, a quartet is a method of instrumentation , used to perform a musical composition, and consisting of four parts.-Western art music:...
(instruments made by Virginia Apgar
Virginia Apgar
Virginia Apgar was an American pediatric anesthesiologist. She was a leader in the fields of anesthesiology and teratology, and effectively founded the field of neonatology...
(under the guidance of Carleen Hutchins
Carleen Hutchins
Carleen Maley Hutchins was an American former high school science teacher, violinmaker and researcher, best-known for her creation, in the 1950s/60s, of a family of eight proportionally-sized violins now known as the violin octet and for a considerable body of research into the acoustics of violins...
) the anesthesiologist who developed the Apgar Score
Apgar score
The Apgar score was devised in 1952 by the eponymous Dr. Virginia Apgar as a simple and repeatable method to quickly and summarily assess the health of newborn children immediately after birth...
) performance in Dallas, at the American Academy of Pediatrics Convention, in honor of the commemorative stamp of Virginia Apgar
Virginia Apgar
Virginia Apgar was an American pediatric anesthesiologist. She was a leader in the fields of anesthesiology and teratology, and effectively founded the field of neonatology...
.
Legacy
She died in Watertown, MA. To honor her love of musicMusic
Music is an art form whose medium is sound and silence. Its common elements are pitch , rhythm , dynamics, and the sonic qualities of timbre and texture...
and children, the Mary Howell memorial scholarship was established at the Children's Orchestra Society.