Jump to content

Adelaide Ward Peckham

Add links
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Adelaide Ward Peckham
An older white woman in academic cap and gown, in an oval frame
Peckham in the 1911 yearbook of Woman's Medical College of Pennsylvania
BornMarch 31, 1848
Brooklyn, Connecticut, U.S.
DiedMay 13, 1944
Bloomfield, New Jersey, U.S.
Occupation(s)Physician, bacteriologist, college professor

Adelaide Ward Peckham (March 31, 1848 – May 13, 1944) was an American physician, bacteriologist, and college professor.

Early life and education

[edit]

Peckham was born in Brooklyn, Connecticut, the daughter of Robert Congdon Peckham and Sarah Ann Segar Peckham. In 1882, she began studying medicine at the New York Infirmary for Women and Children, completing her medical degree in 1886. In time she took a stronger interest in laboratory work, and trained further for her new specialty at the University of Pennsylvania[1] and Johns Hopkins Hospital,[2] working with John Shaw Billings.[3][4][5]

Career

[edit]

Peckham taught school as a young woman. After medical school, she moved to Philadelphia, where she had a private practice and also worked at the Woman's Hospital of Pennsylvania. Beginning in 1899 she was superintendent of the bacteriology laboratory at the Woman's Hospital, conducted bacteriological research,[6][7] and taught courses at the Woman's Medical College of Pennsylvania for more than twenty years.[3][8]

Publications by Peckham included "Study of a Case of Erysipelas Genitalium Due to the Use of Infected Ointment" (1893),[9] "The Influence of Certain Agents in Destroying the Vitality of the Typhoid and of the Colon Bacillus" (Science 1895, with J. S. Billings),[10] "A Study of the Colon Bacillus Group, and Especially of its Variability in Fermenting Power Under Different Conditions" (Science 1896),[11] and "The Influence of Environment upon the Biological Processes of the Various Members of the Colon Group of Bacilli: An Experimental Study" (Science 1897).[12]

Personal life

[edit]

Peckham spent several summers in California with her sister-in-law.[13][14] She died at a nursing home in Bloomfield, New Jersey in 1944, aged 96 years.[15]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "Proceedings of the Corporation" University Bulletin 2(May 1898): 3.
  2. ^ Adler, Richard (2017-06-09). Robert Koch and American Bacteriology. McFarland. pp. 206–207. ISBN 978-1-4766-2705-2.
  3. ^ a b Creese, Mary R. S. (2000-01-01). Ladies in the Laboratory? American and British Women in Science, 1800-1900: A Survey of Their Contributions to Research. Scarecrow Press. pp. 145–146. ISBN 978-0-585-27684-7.
  4. ^ Billings, J. S., and Adelaide Ward Peckham. "The Influence of Light Upon the Bacillus of Typhoid Fever and the Colon Bacillus" and "The Influence of Insolation upon Culture Media, and of Desiccation upon the Vitality of the Bacillus of Typhoid Fever, of the Colon Bacillus, and of the Staphylococcus Pyogenes Aureus", both papers published by the National Academy of Science.
  5. ^ Mitchell, Silas Weir; Garrison, Fielding Hudson (1917). Biographical Memoir of John Shaw Billings, 1838-1913. National Academy of Sciences. p. 397.
  6. ^ Ford, William W. (November 1900). "Varieties of Colon Bacilli Isolated from Man". The Montreal Medical Journal. 29: 836.
  7. ^ McFarland, Joseph (1903). A Text-book Upon the Pathogenic Bacteria: For Students of Medicine and Physicians. W. B. Saunders. p. 514.
  8. ^ Peckham, Adelaide Ward (1899). "A Bacteriological Study of the Tissues and Fluids in the Case Above Reported". Transactions of the Annual Meeting of the Alumnae Association of the Woman's Medical College of Pennsylvania: 95–102.
  9. ^ Peckham, Adelaide Ward (1893). Study of a Case of Erysipelas Genitalium Due to the Use of Infected Ointment.
  10. ^ Billings, J. S. (February 15, 1895). ""The Influence of Certain Agents in Destroying the Vitality of the Typhoid and of the Colon Bacillus"". Science. 1 (7): 169–174. doi:10.1126/science.1.7.169. PMID 17732922.
  11. ^ Peckham, A. W. (1896-11-27). "A Study of the Colon Bacillus Group, and Especially of its Variability in Fermenting Power Under Different Conditions". Science. 4 (100): 773–778. doi:10.1126/science.4.100.773. ISSN 0036-8075. PMID 17734837.
  12. ^ Peckham, Adelaide Ward (June 25, 1897). ""The Influence of Environment upon the Biological Processes of the Various Members of the Colon Group of Bacilli: An Experimental Study"". Science. 5 (130): 981–985. doi:10.1126/science.5.130.981. PMID 17754258.
  13. ^ "Personals". Evening Sentinel. 1904-06-23. p. 3. Retrieved 2021-09-30 – via Newspapers.com.
  14. ^ "Dr. Peckham Returns to Philadelphia". Evening Sentinel. 1905-08-11. p. 8. Retrieved 2021-09-30 – via Newspapers.com.
  15. ^ "Obituary for A. W. Peckham (Aged 96)". The Courier-News. 1944-05-15. p. 15. Retrieved 2021-09-30 – via Newspapers.com.
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Adelaide_Ward_Peckham&oldid=1235372401"