Frances McConnell-Mills
Frances McConnell-Mills | |
---|---|
Born | Frances Mary McConnell July 9, 1900 St. Luke's Hospital |
Sub-specialties | Forensic pathology |
Research | Passive immunity |
Frances Mary McConnell-Mills (July 9, 1900 – December 28, 1975) was an American
McConnell was raised in Colorado and after studying chemistry she became a high school teacher. She later attended medical school at the
Early life
McConnell-Mills was born Frances Mary McConnell in 1900 in Monument, Colorado.[1] Her father was a physician and a pharmacist, and often took Frances with him when he made house calls to patients. She was sent to live with her aunt and grandfather so that she could attend Colorado Springs High School; she graduated at the age of 15 and was awarded a full scholarship to the University of Denver.[2] She received a bachelor's degree from the university in 1918, aged 17, and graduated again with a master's degree in chemistry when she was 19, making her the university's youngest graduate with a master's degree at the time.[3] In 1919, she began work as a teacher of chemistry, biology, geometry and trigonometry at Englewood High School.[3]
McConnell applied to the University of Colorado School of Medicine in 1920 and was accepted. Although her father had previously paid for 17 men to attend medical school, he refused to pay for Frances' tuition because he deemed medicine to be "too hard a life for a woman".[3] She therefore supported herself through medical school by working as a musician in local bars and theaters, as a tutor, and as a laboratory assistant. In November 1925, she married David L. Mills, a lawyer, and gave birth to a daughter the year after.[4] Although McConnell hyphenated her name to McConnell-Mills, she continued to use her maiden name for her professional career to avoid drawing attention to her children.[5]
Career
McConnell graduated from the University of Colorado as a
McConnell's work mainly focused on poison and blood analysis,
Outside of toxicology, McConnell did extensive laboratory work. In the 1930s and 1940s she undertook personal research into
In the 1950s, McConnell joined physician and public health activist Florence R. Sabin to create an examination on behalf of the Colorado State Board of Basic Sciences for granting licenses to applicants who wished to practice health science. McConnell was appointed to the Board in 1956, making her the only female member at the time, and served until 1975.[12]
Health problems and death
McConnell battled with health problems throughout her life, after contracting
Following the death of her husband in 1967, McConnell lived alone.[12] She kept working until the last two weeks of her life,[14] filling various roles on the Board of Basic Sciences, in an allergy practice, and as a consultant for the Denver Poison Center.[15] She died in December 1975 in St. Luke's Hospital, Denver, at the age of 75.[16]
Legacy
A year before her death, in December 1974, McConnell received an award from the University of Colorado Medical School which recognized her as a 50-year graduate of the school and as one of only two Coloradoan women at the time who had practiced medicine for 50 years.[12]
She was inducted into the Colorado Women's Hall of Fame in 1996.[14] In 1999, her daughter Jeanne Varnell published a book titled Women of Consequence: The Colorado Women's Hall of Fame, which contains the biographies of McConnell and 58 other inductees of the Hall of Fame. The project began when Varnell set out to write a biography of her mother, but was urged by her editor to do the same for all 59 of the women in the Hall of Fame at the time, and compile them into a book.[14]
References
- ^ a b c d e f Varnell 1999, p. 132.
- ^ Varnell 1999, p. 133.
- ^ a b c Varnell 1999, p. 134.
- ^ a b c d Varnell 1999, p. 135.
- ^ a b c Varnell 1999, p. 137.
- ^ a b Varnell 1999, p. 136.
- The Huffington Post. Associated Press. January 7, 2011. Archived from the originalon 2014-07-15. Retrieved July 13, 2014.
- ^ a b Varnell 1999, pp. 137–138.
- ^ Varnell 1999, pp. 136–137.
- ^ Varnell 1999, p. 138.
- ^ Varnell 1999, pp. 138–139.
- ^ a b c d e Varnell 1999, p. 139.
- ^ Denzer, Dawn (April 8, 1996). "Hall of Fame Adds Stars to Firmament". Rocky Mountain News.
- ^ a b c Wolf, Mark (November 3, 1999). "Girl Power: 59 Women Who Helped Build a State". Rocky Mountain News.
- ^ Varnell 1999, pp. 139–140.
- ^ Varnell 1999, p. 140.
Works cited
- Varnell, Jeanne (1999). Women of Consequence: The Colorado Women's Hall of Fame. Johnson Books. ISBN 9781555662141.