ANOTHER TAUNTON MEDICAL LUMINARY; DR. EMILY MURPHY

In a June 7, 2013 post on the Taunton Public Library, we wrote of Maydell Murphy the first head librarian appointed to the library in 1932.  I would not have guessed that we would have picked up another thread of history from that post, but we did.

As I surfed through the I'm From Taunton Facebook archives I came across this photograph.  This is a photo of Dr. Emilene Frances "Emily" Bliss Murphy M.D.  She was Maydell's mother.

The photograph was placed on Facebook by Dr. Murphy's great granddaughter, Jessica Murphy Paxton.  If not for that sharing, we would not have known of this outstanding Taunton woman

and she would have been another forgotten footnote in our medical Taunton memories.

When I grew up in the 50's we girls knew that it was hard, even then,
for a woman to succeed in medicine.

I was fortunate enough to have one girl in my 1957 THS graduating class
who did go on to a medical career, but that was a rare instance.

…

The first woman in the U.S. to achieve a medical license was Dr. Elizabeth Blackwell who did so in New York in 1849.  Facing daunting odds, she practiced in N.Y. and later in her native England where she achieved success as a practitioner and also as a distinguished medical author.

Our own Taunton pioneer, Dr. Emily Murphy,
 was born in Taunton in 1859, the daughter of Shubael Bliss
and Alminda Lincoln Bliss. She undoubtably would have been educated in Taunton schools.  After graduation from the New England Conservatory of Music, she went on to marry Dr. Joseph Briggs Murphy and have two children.  When the children were six and seven years old she decided to start medical school in Boston.  She was 36 years old. She commuted to Boston each day while caring for her home.  Emily Murphy earned the money to attend medical school
by embroidering gowns for opera stars!

She graduated from the College of Physicians and Surgeons in Boston in 1892.  She continued commuting to Boston while serving on the staffs of Charity Hospital of Boston, the Carney and St. Elizabeth's Hospitals. She commuted to her own office on Boylston St. in Boston for twenty years before eventually setting up practice in East Taunton and then at 23 Summer St. where she practiced with her husband.

                 In Taunton she was the first woman gynecologist and surgeon in the city.

The above dedication brochure with her photograph as a younger physician was on the occasion of the recognition of her 36 years as an outstanding professional in service to the community of greater Taunton.  An article in the Taunton Daily Gazette of the day recounts that she was presented with three dozen red roses.  In her speech  she commented on the struggle of women "to gain recognition in their chosen field of endeavor, dealing more specifically with the medical profession.  She related how she had begun her study of medicine at the age of 36 years.  At that time, she said, women were not allowed to witness operations". This was only one example of the obstacles facing her and other women studying medicine in her time.

Dr. Emily Murphy was a shining example of what women could and can offer in medicine.  She comes through the words of her daughter and those at the above recognition dinner
as a woman of science but also one of great compassion.

                                                           Maydell wrote in her diary:

"that her mother felt sorry for any horse hitched out all night in 

a blizzard, would take it out of her own hide, leave her horse at home,

 and trudge up to the head of School Street or down the Weir in deep snow 

with her heavy bag of forceps.  Usually those terrible calls were "baby Cases" where the midwife had failed.  Her charity was simply compassion, freely given without financial reward."

                          Do you wonder if Dr. Murphy cared for one of our grandmothers?

I love this photograph of Dr. Murphy, her smile speaks volumes of who she was and what she

meant to her family and those she cared for.

 Dr. Emily Murphy attended St. Mary's Church in Taunton and was a member of the Bristol County Historical Society.  She loved her family, her work and her music. She only stopped practicing medicine when a fall prohibited her from doing so, the fall being the occasion of her death. I found it interesting that both Dr. Elizabeth Blackwell and Dr. Emily Murphy succumbed after falls.
 These were indomitable women, and they are an inspiration even today. 

 Dr. Murphy died in 1934 at the age of 74 years of age.

I am honored to share this bit of Taunton memory treasures, I hope you share them, too.  Out little city has had an illustrious past, as we keep uncovering.

In a little side note : one of the women who organized the recognition dinner was

Ethel Buckley, would later be my second grade teacher. Another linking thread….

…………..

Sources for this post:

To read Jessica Murphy Paxton's family website: a wonderful example of what can be done with family genealogy research see:
http://jessicasfamilygenealogy.wordpress.com/contact-me/#jp-carousel-424
……..
Diary of Maydell Murphy as shared by Jessica Murphy Paxton for this blog post.
……...

Taunton Public Library Research Department:  Aaron Cushman for finding
Dr. Murphy's obituary.
…………

Pinterest and Wikipedia on the Internet for information on Dr. Elizabeth Blackwell

NURSES,NURSES,NURSES ....

Last post I paid tribute to a beloved family physician.  I cannot leave this whole subject without

writing about Nurses.  This is my tribute to them.

It is related to health issues back- in -the day series, but will be a little more elaborate.  The reason?

I am a nurse, my sister is a nurse, the daughter of my heart is a nurse, and nurses have been and are some of my best friends.  Many of the readers of this blog are nurses. 

 The nurses in my family and among my close friends have advised, encouraged and supported me so often I lost count.  I believe in nurses and their ability to provide so much for the people with which they come in contact.  So this is a tribute to all of you, especially Kathy, and Lyn of whom I am so proud as she heads for the stars and Carol G. who knows who she is.

Today my daughter Lyn carries on the tradition but in a way I could never have dreamed. I live nursing vicariously again through her as she shares her experiences in a whole new world of caring.

Since I was a little girl, I wanted to be a nurse. Maybe it was being a candy striper at Morton Hospital when I was a teen. Who knows.  I watched these gracious women tend to folks in need and they inspired me.   In 1960, I graduated from a hospital three year program and was on my way.  The happiest years in my long health care career were when I was hands-on with patients.  As a Clinical Care Interventionest many challenges faced me each day. My time was before ICU's.  I was the first nurse to special a patient on a monitor in the hospital where I worked.....how far we have come!  I would tell you that story as it is a good one....but for another time.  

I not only worked in the hospital venue but also for nearly a year in a migrant health clinic 

which fully rounded out my experience as a nurse. 

The late 50's and early 60's, my days were the days of starchy caps that constantly were pulled off by bed curtains, an errant child, or fell askew in an emergency. No heart monitors, or staffing standards per se.  As students you were often all alone on night duty with 40 patients.  Doctors were not to be contradicted or questioned, you rose from the desk when they came in, and carried all their charts on rounds. You kept silent. Thank the Lord that has changed.  Many patients back then and even today do not realize it may have been a nurse that saved their lives.

There was a lot of intuitive caring as abilities were honed.  There was constant vigilance since equipment did not yet do all that.  There was teamwork. There were tears, heartbreaking moments, and moments of joy.  There was never boredom, I can tell you that.

                                                       My graduation picture: 1960
                                                   St. Anne's Hospital, Fall River, MA

       Nursing has come a far way.  But, roots always demand restudy and a keeping of the good.
                                 Here is a photographic journey of nursing's roots to remind us
                                 of the courage and commitment, of risk taking and challenge, of
                                                 what made us love it, no matter what....

A visiting nurse in the early 1900's going from rooftop to rooftop in some big city to visit patients.  Nurses are not  easily daunted....

                                 1931 video on frontier nursing in the mountains of Kentucky
                                                      I thoroughly loved this. I did not ride horseback
                                                        but I recall my own harrowing moments.

Nurses have been in the forefront of healing and prevention for eons.  During the Civil War, it was the hospitals of the Sisters of Charity and those of Clara Barton where patients survived in much larger numbers due to their outstanding cleanliness as well as their care. .  Nurses, still today, have to be vigilant with cleanliness in health care.

War brought out, and still does, the best in nurses all over the world. China Beach was one of my all-time favorite TV shows about nurses in combat conditions. Nurses fight smaller quiet wars all the time protecting their patients in so many ways, they always have.

                                       Vietnam War Nurses Memorial in Washington D.C.

                               

This is 1st Lt. Sharon Lane, R.N. army nurse.  She was killed by enemy fire while caring for her

patients.  She is the only American servicewoman to have been killed by direct enemy fire during the Vietnam war.  She deserves to be remembered by us all.

So here's to all you nurses, wherever you may be,
bless you in the name of everyone
you care for: yesterday, today and tomorrow.

                                                                 

VILLAGE HEALTHY PART IV : BELOVED FAMILY PHYSICIAN

Now that the tale of Mount Hope Hospital has been told in its context, I am back to Village affairs (for awhile at least). Once more we speak of how the Village stayed healthy .  One question for us growing up in the 40's and 50's is what happened to the family doc?

Before I begin, I must tell of a legendary name in our family. None of us ever knew him, only heard his musical name which engendered the legend and the phrase "Dr.Camoesa (pronouned kam-whiza), where are you....?"  How entrenched the legend was came home to us when  we were visiting my sister and her family in Michigan. My nephew who never lived in Taunton 

piped up that mantra  and we just howled. It had gone to another generation!

 I had to look into the legend.  Indeed, there was a Dr. Camoesa, a Portuguese physician  practicing in Taunton in the 40's.  One of my classmates remembered he had an office above the Park Theatre near her Aunt's insurance agency in the late 1940's and once tended to her when she got hit by a car in front of the Theatre (not badly, we are happy to report).
Dr. C. was once quite prominent in the Portuguese government as
Minister of Education, he started trade schools for boys there.
He had to leave Portugal when Salazar came into power in 1929 and
Dr. C. was on the opposite political side.
 As I said, I never met him.  He was probably elderly when my classmate met him.
Thanks to Cynthia Mendes and Arlene Gouveia for sharing memories of Dr. Camoesa.

                                                     Back to our own Family Doc
               
                                       

A mainstay for families in the Village and everywhere else, was the physician that took care of us from birth often all the way through adulthood.  He was as familiar to us as any family friend, though more important. This man knew our family, how we related, what our issues were, what our home looked like as he often came there if one of us could not go to his office.  He taught,  cared, laughed and cried with us. He provided us with a stable medical system.  All the time I was growing up neither I nor any one in my family ever visited an emergency room...course we probably predated them.

Our family Doc was Dr. Anthony Elias and he was village home grown!  So he really knew us!  Kind, patient, knowledgeable, eminently competent.  He saw us through many of my Dad's illness episodes and our once-in-awhile minor medical emergencies like bouts of severe poison ivy.  If you visited his office, there was just him. Period. No confusing medical insurance forms, no assistants or receptionists.

To know Dr. Elias you must know about his upbringing in the Village. Arlene Gouveia comes again to our rescue and tells us the tale of the Elias family who would have raised their family in the 20's in the Village. I wish I had known them.

                             Fuller School Class of 1919

                               Anthony Elias is in the third row, far left.  Next to him is Joseph Rose, Arlene

                  Gouveia's father and source of many of her memoirs.

         Photo from September 21, 2012 post in this blog.

Here is Arlene's memory of the Elias Family as her late father told her: 

Joseph Rose, and her late mother, Mary Rose.

"An oasis is defined as a welcoming spot in the desert.  Our oasis was in the personages of the Elias family.  Immigrating from Lebanon the Elias family settled in upper School Street.  First living in the block at 216 School, they bought the three decker across the street at 215 School, and the building next door at 217 that was once River's Pharmacy.  Then Nassif Elias had a variety store.  They raised four wonderful children who attended Fuller School and attended St. Anthony's Church.  They became a fabric of the neighbothood and were loved by all.  One of their children grew up to be Dr. Anthony Elias, a beloved physician in our community.  Their one daughter Genevieve became a navy nurse.

Another son was an altar boy at St. Anthony's until he married....."

It was always told in our family, that the Elias family, all of them, sacrificed much to send Anthony to medical school. When I read Dr. Elias' obituary I was amazed at his education.
I knew Dr. Elias was pretty special, now I know why.
 Keep in mind this education all took  

place in the 30's or 40's.

       Dr. Elias was educated in Taunton public schools, and  Providence College where he received a Ph. B degree in 1932.  He then graduated from the Georgetown Medical School (Washington D.C.) in 1937.  He served in the Medical Corps during WWII and retired as a

 Lieutenant Colonel. He then set up practice in Taunton.
He was often elected by his peers for medical society positions.

Pretty darn good for a Village boy!!  

On May 6, 1973 Anthony Elias, M.D. died suddenly while attending Mass at St. Mary's Church in Taunton, apparently of a heart attack.  He was 64 years old.

                 

                          It has been my privilege to write this post in memory of that wonderful man.

The series Doc Martin on PPS probably comes close to the medical care we were used to, taking place in a small English town where the doc knows everyone and everyone knows him.  Over the years, along with the loss of so much stability in our lives in the Village, went the Family Doctor.

We have grown up to see change, confusion, disillusion along with incredible advances.

Yet still even today what matters, along with of course, capability,  is the

soothing confidence that our physician really knows who we are.

A thank you to Aaron Cushman, Research Department, Taunton Public Library
for finding Dr. Elias' obituary and photo.

Next post: last in the Village Healthy series

My tribute to nurses.