Frances Daisy Emery Allen

Frances Daisy Emery Allen (born Frances Daisy Emery; September 5, 1876 – December 7, 1958) was an American physician. She was the first female graduate of a medical college in the state of Texas and one of the first female physicians to practice in Tarrant County.

Early life and education Emery was born September 5, 1876, in Kaufman County, Texas, to James Wallace and Elizabeth Brown Emery. James Wallace Emery had a master's degree from Bowdoin College and had been an outspoken abolitionist in the 1850s. The ninth of twelve children, four-year-old Daisy announced her intentions to become a doctor, a goal encouraged by her parents. The Emery family moved to Fort Worth when Daisy was fourteen years old. She attended Fort Worth public schools, where her father was also a teacher, and graduated from Fort Worth High School.

Emery applied to and was initially refused admission to the medical college of Fort Worth University, but was admitted when she pointed out that no rules specifically excluded women from the school. She was thus admitted to the charter class of Fort Worth Medical College (also known as Fort Worth Medical School and Fort Worth School of Medicine) in 1894, where she was the only female student for a full year. In 1897, she graduated with honors, ranking second in a class of seventeen students. She had the distinction of being the first woman to graduate from a medical college in Texas.

Career Emery worked in private practice in Fort Worth for two years, making her one of the first female physicians in the Tarrant County. She also worked as an evaluating physician for Penn Mutual Life Insurance's female applicants.

Allen served on the staffs of Harris, All Saints, and St. Joseph hospitals in Fort Worth. and was buried at Greenwood Cemetery in Fort Worth.