Lillian H. South

Lillian Herald South Tye (January 31, 1879 – September 13, 1966) was an American physician from Bowling Green, Kentucky, who specialized in public health. South was a pioneer in her work as a bacteriologist, and she was a trailblazer as a female medical professional who broke prevalent gender barriers for women of her time.

South was the Director of the Kentucky State Bacteriology Laboratory for thirty-nine years. She is credited with eliminating several contagious diseases from Kentucky, including hookworm. South was involved with containing a severe epidemic of typhoid following the widespread flooding in 1937.

South's work brought her national prominence, and she frequently presented her work to medical associations and the public across the country. In 1922 South established the first lab technician training program in the United States; the graduates of the program worked in medical laboratories around the world. She was heavily involved with medical organizations, and was the first woman to hold the position of vice president of the American Medical Association.

Family and early life Lillian Herald South, the daughter of Dr. John F. and Martha (Moore) South, was born in Bowling Green, Kentucky on January 31, 1879.

Career

St. Joseph's Hospital In 1906, South and her medical partners opened a health care facility in order to make local hospital care available to the people of Warren County. She remodeled and enlarged her house in Bowling Green to establish St. Joseph's Hospital. The hospital, with 42 beds, allowed the local physicians to offer around the clock local medical and nursing care to their own patients, and provide care to the young people who temporarily relocated to Bowling Green for their education.

Throughout her life, South continued to study the newest medical scientific advances and traveled extensively to learn as much as she could. She studied at Johns Hopkins, Mayo Clinic, the Pasteur Lab in Paris, and the Madame Curie Radium Institute. She was a delegate to the International Hygiene Congress in Dresden, Germany, and to the Public Health Division of the League of Nations in Geneva, Switzerland.

South kept a separate residence from her husband during the week in order to continue her medical career. On weekends and holidays she traveled to stay at their shared house in Williamsburg, Kentucky. He died on July 3, 1948.