Annie Keeler
Annie Keeler | |
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 | |
| Born | Annie Keeler Bailey November 6, 1855 Brooklyn, New York, US |
| Died | March 6, 1927 (aged 71) Danbury, Connecticut, US |
| Burial place | Ridgefield, CT, USA |
| Education | Connecticut State Normal School; Woman's Medical College of the New York Infirmary |
| Occupation | Physician and Surgeon |
| Years active | 1885–1927 |
| Known for | Early woman physician |
| Parents |
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Annie Keeler (November 6, 1855 – March 6, 1927) was an American physician in Danbury, Connecticut at the turn of the 19th century. She was a prolific writer on the topics of medicine, Christianity, and temperance.[1][2][3]
Biography
Keeler was born on November 6, 1855, in Brooklyn, New York. Her parents were Halcyon Gilbert Bailey and Emily Keeler Bailey.[4] Her parents moved to Ridgebury, Connecticut in 1862, when she was about 7.[5][6] Her 5-year old brother Clayton died shortly after, in 1863.[7] Her parents divorced in 1872 and Keeler remained with her mother and her mother's family.
Education
Keeler went to college at the Connecticut State Normal School (now Central Connecticut State University). She graduated from the Normal School as part of the class of 1876 and taught in Ridgebury, CT for a few years.[8] In 1885 at age 30, Annie Keeler graduated from the Woman's Medical College of the New York Infirmary.[9]
Career
She practiced medicine for "nearly one year" at the New York Infirmary, then moved back to Western Connecticut in 1886. She set up a practice in Danbury, CT. She was one of the first three women physicians in that city.[9] She taught at the Danbury Hospital Training School for Nurses for 11 years and, in 1892, was instrumental in the formation of the Danbury Graduate Nurses' association. Meetings were held in her home for years, until regular meeting rooms were obtained. [10]
In 1901, she predicted the end of the world based on an astronomical confluence.[11] [12]
Name change
In 1908, after both her parents had died, Keeler petitioned the Superior Court for a name change. At the time, she was known as "Annie Keeler Bailey" and she wished to drop her father's name to (as the newspapers put it) "free the honor of her mother's family from the taint arising from the name of her father". She said "Father was a man addicted to excessive dissipation, shocking immorality, and profanity. He was a disgrace to the family." Her petition was granted.[13][14]
Death
In 1927, Keeler was struck by a vehicle while crossing the street at a crosswalk, a block from her home. She died of her injuries shortly afterward.[10]
Bibliography
- 1895: Prophecies Fulfilled in History
- 1896: Prophecies in Course of Fulfillment
- 1899: A Spritual Refreshing: How We may Get It
- 1900: "Why Alcohol Is Not a Food", a speech given at a convention of the Woman's Christian Temperance Union, June 1900 in Shelton, CT
- 1898: "Treatment of Diphtheria", in which Dr. Keeler suggested "sublimated sulphur and permanganate of potassium" in the treatment of Diphtheria
- 1903: Manual of parliamentary law: arranged for deliberative assemblies of women
- 1905: "Facts Every Physician Should Know", a discussion of the ills of alcohol as they relate to the human body
- 1905: "Causes", Dr. Keeler writes about what she perceives as the causes of various ailments–hay fever, cancer, etc.
- 1905: "Oil of Hyssop". an article on the usage of Oil of Hyssop in treating syphilis and uterine cancer. She states "Personally, I am intensely interested in the authentic virtues of this volatile, essential (ethereal or distilled) oil."
- 1905: "Cerebro Spinal Meningitis"
- 1906: Jesus the Messiah and His Instructions
- 1908: God's Plan of Salvation
- 1911: "Columbus the Son of a Jew and Jewess"
- 'An Address on the differences in microscopes', given to The Graduate Nurses Association, November 1916 in Danbury, CT
References
- ^ Connecticut State Medical Society (1925). Proceedings of the Connecticut Medical Society. Vol. 133. p. 249.
She was not only a doctor but also a preacher, a writer of tracts, a temperance lecturer, a Sunday school teacher, and all kinds of an ardent suffragist.
- ^ Haponik, Stacy; Stevens, Brian. "Three Women Physicians in Danbury, CT (1871–1935)". WCSU Archives. WCSU. Retrieved December 8, 2023.
- ^ Sanders, Jack. "Dr. Annie Keeler Bailey: Pioneering Physician". Old Ridgefield. Retrieved December 12, 2023.
- ^ Genealogy of the Families of John Rockwell, of Stamford, Connecticut 1641, and Ralph Keeler, of Hartford, Connecticut 1939. W.F. Jones. 1903.
- ^ "Business Growth of the 'Burgh". Brooklyn, New York. June 18, 1873. p. 2. Retrieved December 8, 2023.
- ^ "Copartnerships". New York, NY: The New York herald. October 27, 1862. p. 7. Retrieved December 8, 2023.
- ^ "Died". New York Daily-Tribune. New York, NY. November 16, 1863. p. 5. Retrieved December 8, 2023.
- ^ Alumni Association Records, volume 3. Central Connecticut State University. 1895. p. 22.
- ^ a b Bailey, James Montgomery (1896). History of Danbury, Conn., 1684–1896. Burr Print. House. p. 377.
- ^ a b "Fatally Hurt on Crosswalk: Dr. Annie Keeler, Struck by Automobile, Dies Within Few Hours". Danbury News-Times. Danbury, CT. March 27, 1927.
- ^ "Cartoons and Comments". Puck Magazine. November 27, 1901.
- ^ "As In the Days of Noah". Waterbury Democrat. November 14, 1901.
- ^ "Dissown Dissolute Father". The Washington Herald. Washington, DC. May 18, 1908. p. 3.
- ^ "Changed Her Name". Waterbury evening Democrat. May 16, 1908. p. 4.
