By Grace Oei ’04, issue editor

Published in the fall/winter 2023 ALUMNI JOURNAL

Women and women physicians have been significant contributors from our early origins at Loma Linda Sanitarium, to College of Medical Evangelists (CME) School of Medicine,  to Loma Linda University School of Medicine (LLUSM). Ellen G. White, co-founder of Loma Linda University (LLU), noteworthy advocated for recruitment and training of women physicians. Out of six in CME’s first graduating class, two were women—Z. E.  Nightengale Bulpitt 1914 and Lavina A. Baxter  1914.

In his book, The Glory of the Vision, Richard A. Schaefer highlighted several of LLU’s founding mothers of medicine.¹

In November 1905, Julia Ann White  1900–AMMC arrived to become the first female physician at Loma Linda Sanitarium. She practiced obstetrics and gynecology, founded the School of Nursing in 1906, and served on CME’s first Board of Trustees when it was founded in 1909.² She served in a variety of administrative and teaching roles before transferring to work at Glendale Sanitarium.

Cora Richards Abbott 1903-AMMC and her husband, George K. Abbott 1903-AMMC, joined College of Medical Evangelists in 1906. Dr. Cora Abbott was a faculty member teaching pediatrics and obstetrics and a practicing anesthesiologist.³

After working in Bombay, India,⁴ Lucinda A. Marsh 1903–AMMC came back and by 1910 was teaching pediatrics at CME. She also served alongside Dr. White on CME’s first Board of  Trustees.⁵

In 1911, Lyra E. George 1901–AMMC moved to Loma Linda with her husband, Dr. William A. George. An obstetrician and gynecologist, Dr. Lyra George traveled to her patients all over the area, often by horseback, providing access to healthcare to rural populations, including the Serrano Indians.⁶

Olive Santee-Smith 1915 is recorded as the first married medical student at CME. In 1918, Dr. Santee-Smith and her husband, Frank, a registered nurse, accepted a call to practice in India. In addition to treating patients, Dr. Santee-Smith also taught at Vellore Christian Medical College.⁷

After Graduation from CME, Mary C. McReynolds 1917 went on to serve as an advocate for women in medicine, traveling the country encouraging young women to apply for a career in the field.^{8, 9}

Ruth Janetta Temple 1918 became the first black woman to graduate from CME. She established a practice in southeast Los Angeles and was appointed director of the Division of Public Health for the City of Los Angeles in 1948, serving in this role with distinction before retiring in 1962.¹⁰

Dr. Oei is director of the Center for Christian Bioethics. She is a pediatric intensivist at Loma Linda University Children’s Hospital, a clinical ethics consultant for Loma Linda University Health, and serves on the faculty for LLUSM.

The 1914 photos are from the Alumni Association photo archive. All other images are from Loma Linda University Library. (Top left) A postcard of Loma Linda Sanitarium in its early days. Special thanks to Chelsi C. Cannon, MLIS, chair of the department of archives and special collection, for the photo archive research.

Endnotes

1. Schaefer, Richard A., The Glory of the Vision, Book 2 (Review and Herald Publishing Association, 2014).
2. Campbell, Michael W. “White, Julia Ann (1870–1957).” ESDA. February 7, 2023, https://encyclopedia.adventist.org/article?id=9AE8&highlight=y.
3. Hook, Milton. “Abbott, George Knapp (1880–1959) and Cora Mae (Richards) (1877–1953).” ESDA, August 16, 2020, https://encyclopedia.adventist.org/article?id=I8SK&highlight=y.
4. Christo, Gordon E., Anupam Nowrangi, Gordon E. Christo. “Mumbai Metro Section.” Encyclopedia of Seventh-day Adventists, June 27, 2023, https://encyclopedia.adventist.org/article?id=AAL4&highlight=y.
5. Schaefer, Richard A., The Glory of the Vision, Book 2 (Review and Herald Publishing Association, 2014): 5.
6. Hart, Richard. “Notes from the President.” News of the Week: Notes from the President, December 11, 2014, https://myllu.llu.edu/newsoftheweek/story/?id=19850.
7. “E. G. W. Estate Branch Office.” Loma Linda University Del E. Webb Memorial Library, https://library.llu.edu/heritage-research-center/egw-estate-branch-office/seventh-day-adventist-biography-file?combine_op=contains&combine=&page=49&order=field_search_notes&sort=desc.
8. Davis, Clark. “Called by God, Led by Men: Women Face the Masculinization of American Medicine at the College of Medical Evangelists, 1909–1922.” Bulletin of the History of Medicine 67, no. 1 (Spring 1993): 119–148.
9. “College of Medical Evangelists.” The Medical Evangelist 7. no 1. (June 1920), https://scholarsrepository.llu.edu/medical_evangelist/38.
10. Baker, Benjamin. “Hidden Figures: Black Adventist Women Who Made a Difference.” Spectrum Magazine, March 1, 2018, https://spectrummagazine.org/article/2018/03/02/hidden-figures-black-adventist-women-who-made-difference-part-3.