This appointment followed a rejection the previous year, despite Barringer earning the second-highest score on the qualifying examination for the program.
Early Education and Professional Barriers
Born in Scarsdale in 1876, Emily Dunning faced financial instability following her father Edwin James Dunning's departure for Europe. Supported by her mother, Frances Gore Lang, and her uncle Henry W. Sage, she attended Cornell University and graduated in 1897. She subsequently entered the College of Medicine of the New York Infirmary, which later merged into the Cornell University School of Medicine. After receiving her medical degree in 1901, she spent a year securing a position at Gouverneur Hospital, overcoming institutional resistance through the intervention of religious and political figures.
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During her surgical residency, Barringer faced systematic harassment from fellow residents who assigned her difficult ward duties and demanding on-call schedules. Her presence as a female doctor generated significant public interest and local press coverage. In 1904, she concluded her residency and married fellow physician Benjamin Barringer. The couple had two children, Benjamin Lang Barringer and Velona Barringer Steever.
Institutional Leadership and Advocacy
Barringer held leadership roles at the New York Polyclinic Hospital, the New York Infirmary for Women and Children, Kingston Avenue Hospital, and the Margaret Hague Maternity Hospital. Her clinical focus included the treatment of venereal diseases and public health reforms. In 1942, she served as president of the American Medical Women's Association. She successfully lobbied for the Sparkman Act in 1943, which permitted women to serve as commissioned officers in the Army Medical Reserve Corps, the Navy, and the Public Health Service.
Legacy and Recognition
Her professional life is documented in her autobiography, Bowery to Bellevue: The Story of New York's First Woman Ambulance Surgeon. This work served as the basis for the 1952 MGM film, The Girl in White. In 2000, she was inducted into the Connecticut Women's Hall of Fame. She died on April 8, 1961, at her son's home in New Milford and is buried at Lakeview Cemetery.
Fast facts
- Born: 1876, Scarsdale
- Died: 1961, New Milford
- Education: Cornell University, Weill Cornell Medicine
- Primary Occupations: Physician, surgeon, gynecologist
- Key Achievement: First woman to secure a surgical residency
- Notable Award: Connecticut Women's Hall of Fame (2000)
- Burial site: Lakeview Cemetery
Questions readers ask
Was Emily Barringer the first female surgeon?
She was the first woman to secure a surgical residency and the world's first female ambulance surgeon.
What was the Sparkman Act?
Passed in 1943, this act enabled women to serve as commissioned officers in the Army Medical Reserve Corps, Navy, and Public Health Service.
