Dorothy Reed Mendenhall

Dorothy Mabel Reed Mendenhall (September 22, 1874 – July 31, 1964) was a prominent pediatric physician specializing in cellular pathology. In 1901, she discovered that Hodgkin's disease was not a form of tuberculosis, by noticing the presence of a special cell, the Reed–Sternberg cell which bears her name. Dorothy was one of the first women to graduate from Johns Hopkins School of Medicine. She was also one of the first professionally trained female physicians of the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

Early life Dorothy Mabel Reed was born on September 22, 1874, in Columbus, Ohio, the third child to parents Grace Kimball and William Pratt Reed. A child of privilege, Reed lived on a large estate with her parents, brother, sister, aunts, uncles, and several cousins. By the age of thirteen, Reed had learned the basics of education, such as reading and writing, despite her lack of schooling. Around this time, Anna C. Gunning, a governess, was hired to help teach and guide Reed.

Education Other than the teaching that she received from Gunning, Mendenhall also enrolled in art classes at Columbus Art School, as well as received tutoring by her grandmother from time to time. In 1891, Mendenhall enrolled at Smith College, from which she graduated in 1895. Being accepted as a professional peer was a continual challenge to Reed in the male-dominated field of medicine at that time. Both professors and other students told her they thought that a medical education was "wasted" on a woman, since they thought she would eventually get married, have children, and never practice medicine. and her diary reflected this, with some entries discussing how some female students were overly sensitive, for which she had little tolerance. Mendenhall and her classmates, Margaret Long and Florence Sabin, were viewed as a different kind of female physician—ones who were not especially concerned with the feminist movement.

In 1901, Mendenhall became a Pathology fellow there under the direction of Dr. William Welch. This is where Mendenhall began researching Hodgkin's disease. Margaret, their first child, died one day after birth due to delivery complications. and What is Happening to Mothers and Babies in the District of Columbia? Aside from her own two publications, she also wrote six chapters Child Care and Child Welfare: Outlines for Study, which was published by the U.S. Children's Bureau. The Bureau published a third contribution of hers entitled Midwifery in Denmark. These publications were based on the research Mendenhall conducted overseas, as well as here in the U.S., in regard to child nutrition and health.