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Clemence Sophia Harned 1813-1888

Tired of watching qualified female candidates being turned away from medical schools, our ancestor founded the New York Medical College and Hospital for Women in 1863 – the first place where women could be treated by doctors of their own gender. Clemence (pronounced “Clemency”) Sophia Harned was born in 1813 in Plainfield, New Jersey, the youngest of 13 children of Hannah Walker and David Harned. Though this was a Quaker family, this branch converted to Methodism. We have to go pretty far back in our family tree to find our common ancestors: Nathaniel Harned (b. 1693) and Sarah Dean (b.1694). We come from Nathaniel’s son Nathaniel and Anna Clawson, while Clemence descends from Nathaniel’s son Nathan and Elizabeth Van Court. (That makes her my 2nd cousin 5 times removed!) Growing up, Clemence watched her mother, the neighborhood ‘medicine woman’, who had learned Native American healing techniques while the family lived among them in Virginia for several years. Two of her brothers became doctors. Though her dream was to become a doctor, the idea of a woman attending medical school at the time was basically unheard of. When Clemence’s husband, Abraham Lozier, became ill, she needed to support her family so she opened a girls’ school in their New York City home around 1832. For the next decade her school educated an average of 60 girls a year. Her longtime interest in anatomy and hygiene led her to include these subjects in her curriculum, though they were considered inappropriate for young women. She had a firm grasp on these subjects because her brother, Dr. William Harned, was tutoring her on the side. Among other topics, she educated women on the physiological consequences of fashion, like the deformities and breathing problems resulting from wearing corsets. Around this time she also got involved with reform work, particularly with the New York Moral Reform Society, which aimed to steer women away from work as prostitutes and “reform” those who had fallen into it. Highly religious, Lozier edited the Moral Reform Gazette and held weekly gatherings to “promote holiness.” Clemence wanted to attend medical school and become a doctor but this purely male domain seemed impenetrable in the 1840s. In 1849 she heard about the success of Elizabeth Blackwell,

Elizabeth Blackwell

who had graduated from the Geneva Medical College of New York that year. So Clemence applied but was turned down as the school feared a scandal should they admit another woman. Undaunted, she pressed on and finally persuaded the Central Medical College of Rochester to allow her to attend its medical lectures. She was later admitted to New York's Syracuse Medical College. After earning her medical degree in March 1853, at the age of 40, Clemence returned to her New York City home and opened her own practice. In an age where there were virtually no medical school trained female doctors, she launched a successful practice, specializing in obstetrics and surgery. Many of the girls she had taught were now married and required obstetrical care, and they trusted their old teacher to provide it. Clemence was described as “the most ceaseless, tireless, sleepless worker I have ever seen” in the book "These Were the Women" by Mary Ormsbee Whitton. Around 1860, Clemence began a series of lectures in her home on anatomy, physiology, and hygiene because these subjects were neglected in women’s education. Her classes were always packed, showing an interest as well as a need, so Clemence sought out a charter for a women’s medical college. With the help of Elizabeth Cady Stanton, she was able to persuade the legislature to grant the charter.

New York Medical College & Hospital for Women

The New York Medical College and Hospital for Women opened on 1 November 1863, the first women’s medical college in the state. There were seven women in the inaugural class. But the struggle was far from over. The charter granted the female students the right to attend clinics at Bellevue Hospital, but the male students and professors made it clear they were not welcome, greeting them with hisses and jeers. At one point, the women required police escorts to attend the clinics. Though they could now earn their degrees, females could not become members of the American Medical Association until 1915. The school grew over the next 25 years, placing more than 200 female graduates in practices from Maine to California. Women from other countries came for training as well. The school’s hospital was run by Clemence’s students and graduates, serving about 200 patients annually. But the clinic served 2000 patients per year, highly popular because it was about the only place in the city where female patients could be treated by female doctors. Her home became a meeting place for advocates of women’s causes. She was president of the New York City Woman Suffrage Society from 1873-1886 and the National Suffrage Association from 1887-1878. She also served as president of the Moral Education Society of New York and of the Woman’s American Temperance League. She delivered the main address at her medical school’s 25th commencement ceremony in 1888. Two days later she passed away at age 74. For further reading: Clemence Sophia Harned Lozier - history 

Clemence Sophia Harned Lozier - History of American Women 

Wikipedia - Clemence Sophia Harned Lozier