The Bradford Branch of American Association of University Women (AAUW) and the Bradford Landmark Society now turn the spotlight on extraordinary women to Dr. A. Grace White, one of Bradford’s earliest women physicians.
William Shakespeare said, “Some are born great, some achieve greatness, and some have greatness thrust upon them.” Grace White epitomizes this quotation. Ironically, she didn’t even want to be a doctor but a medical career was thrust upon her by extenuating circumstances and family obligations.
A. Grace White was born on April 29, 1853, to Dr. Ebenezer and Abigail Gere of Chemung, N.Y. Her mother died at her birth but her father remarried and little Grace soon had two siblings. At the age of seventeen, she worked as a music teacher but she longed to further her musical education and in 1875 Grace Gere entered the Music Vale Seminary, a music conservatory for women in Salem, Conn. It was the first accredited music school in the United States. She remained there for the next two years.
But in 1877 a young man caught her fancy: Benjamin Franklin White, age 27, and love changed the trajectory of her life. White had attended the School of Medicine at New York University and had graduated from the University of Michigan in 1873. Like her father, he was a physician. His first practice was in Chemung, N.Y., and perhaps it was inevitable that he and Grace would meet.
They married in 1878. Two children followed: Genevieve, in 1880, and Benjamin Jr. in 1883. Shortly after their marriage Grace’s husband, Benjamin F. White was afflicted with a medical condition so severe that he was forced to forego his medical practice for the rest of his life. It is unknown what illness debilitated him so, but its effect was dire and changed the dynamics of the family. Faced with the need to provide for her children and husband, and perhaps under pressure from her family, Grace decided to become a physician, and entered the Homeopathic Medical College in Cleveland, Ohio, where she graduated in 1887.
For a time, Grace practiced in Wellsburg, Chemung County, N.Y., but moved to Bradford in 1889, bought a house on Congress Street, set up a medical practice and joined the staff at the Bradford Hospital. She specialized in “midwifery and diseases of women and children” and built up an extensive practice.
She belonged to the American Institute of Homeopathy, the Southern Tier Homeopathy Medical Society, the McKean County Homeopathic Medical Society, and the McKean County Medical Society.
In the 1890s, Grace was appointed as assistant surgeon for the Pittsburgh and Lake Erie Railroad and later, the B & O railroad, a position she held for several years.
She was an avid supporter of women’s right to vote, as well as a dedicated member of the local Women’s Christian Temperance Union, was an officer in the Prohibitionists Club of Bradford, and was one of the first in the city to form the “Sunshine Society,” an organization dedicated to bringing inner city children to spend the summer in Bradford. That first year, 1905, saw 125 “fresh air children” arrive via train from New York City.
As a supporter of the local temperance movement, and keenly interested in political equality, she met Susan B. Anthony when she visited the city in April 1892, and several years later, on March 6, 1906 was called to Rochester, N.Y., to consult with other physicians as Anthony lay dying. Anthony died a week later.
A. Grace White was also a devout member of the First Baptist Church and often organized musical fundraisers, no doubt harking back to her musical college days. In November 1922 she organized a city Choral Society, with 135 members. The Bradford Era praised “the untiring and enthusiastic efforts of a music lover, Dr. A. Grace White.”
She ran for McKean County Coroner in 1923 on the Prohibition ticket and although she lost, she carried Bradford city by 1,734 votes.
Her children became doctors as well; son Benjamin F. White Jr. graduated from the Hahnemann Medical College (now Drexel University) in 1907 and joined his mother as partner in her medical practice, and daughter Genevieve White graduated from the University of Michigan in 1904 and eventually located in California.
Grace’s husband, Benjamin White Sr. died on Feb. 27, 1923. Grace had phoned to tell him that she had two more house calls to make before returning home and when she arrived at the house she found him dead on the floor. The Bradford Era wrote “of a kindly nature, he was always ready to perform some thoughtful act, despite his poor health and weakened condition, and many will miss his always cheery and genial greeting and smile.” He was 73 years old.
Grace retired from active practice in 1930. Her health began to fail, and she died at her home on Congress Street, on Jan. 13, 1936. She was 83 years old.
Her eulogy noted, “Dr. A. Grace White was one of the true builders of Bradford, as through the many years she built not only healthy bodies but also the moral and spiritual fiber of youth and adult by precept and example. Such is the true builder.”
And such is an extraordinary woman.
