Rosalie Slaughter Morton
Dedicated, determined, dynamic physician and surgeon
Born in Lynchburg,
Virginia on November 28, 1872, Rosalie Slaughter lived a very full
life! After overcoming her family's initial opposition to attending medical school and the difficulties that a young woman of that era
encountered in getting medical training, she graduated from the Women's
Medical College of Pennsylvania. After completing post-graduate studies in
Berlin, Paris, London, and Vienna, Dr. Morton set up medical practices in New York
and Washington D.C.. Further travel took her to Russia, Norway, and India,
where she did an extensive study of the plague-stricken people of that
nation.
In 1905, Dr. Slaughter
married George B. Morton of New York, but he died a few years later in 1912.
She saw active service
during World War I, working on the French and Salonika (Greek) fronts. Her
war-time experiences affected both her personal and professional life for
years to come. For
her service, she was decorated nine times by the governments of
France, Serbia, and the United States.
Upon her return from
the war, she continued to practice medicine in New York and Washington D.C..
But she wasn't satisfied with that! She was also extremely active in
organizing associations that she thought would better the lives of men and
women alike . . . not just in the United States, but in Europe as well. When
she saw a need, she was determined to make a difference. A few of the
projects that she was involved with were: the American Medical Association's
work for disease prevention under a civic program, the Social Science
Department of the New York Polyclinic Hospital, the American Women's
Hospitals, and the International
Serbian Educational Committee.
She moved to Winter
Park in 1931, and set up her medical practice here, after a severe case of
pneumonia made it imperative to leave the North. After retirement, she
continued to lead a very active life. Copies of the
Winter Park Topics newspaper are full of articles and other mentions
of the numerous events in which Dr. Morton took part. She also played
hostess to celebrated visitors from across the globe that she had befriended
during her many travels, including other female physicians with whom she had
worked. She also entertained many visitors from her home state of Virginia,
where she maintained many close ties.
Dr. Morton collected many objects of
art during her travels, and frequently shared these with the people of
Winter Park, along with tales of her colorful adventures across the many
countries she visited. She also penned two books: A Woman Surgeon and
A Doctor's Holiday in Iran.
She died on May 5,
1968 in her Winter Park home at the age of 96. Dr. Morton once stated that,
"My philosophy of life has been one of action." It seems as though she lived
out that philosophy.
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Item: Photograph
Source: A Woman Surgeon: The life and work of Rosalie Slaughter Morton
Published: 1937
Publisher: Frederick A. Stokes Company |
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Item: Title page
Source: A Woman Surgeon: The life and work of Rosalie Slaughter Morton
Published: 1937
Publisher: Frederick A. Stokes Company |
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Item: Newspaper article
Source: Winter Park Herald
Title: "Rosalie S. Morton Autobiography is Published Recently"
Date: February 14, 1937
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Item: Photograph in newspaper article
Source: The News (Lynchburg, VA)
Title: "Monument to Citizens Source of Questions"
Date: July 3, 1956
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Item: Photograph
Source: unknown
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Item: Obituary
Source: Orlando Sentinel
Title: "Dr. Rosalie Morton, 96, Surgeon at Front, Dies"
Date: May 8, 1968
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Item: Photograph from newspaper article
Source: Winter Park Topics
Title: "Right of Women Doctors to Recognition and Commissions in Army
Upheld by Dr. Morton"
Date: March 19, 1943 |
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