The Board of Health in Portland, Oregon, appointed Esther Pohl Lovejoy to lead its department in 1907, marking the first time a woman held such a role in a major American city.
Early Life and Education
Born Esther Clayson in 1869 in a lumber camp near Seabeck, Washington, she moved to Portland in 1883. Influenced by early exposure to female medical practitioners, she enrolled at the University of Oregon Medical School in 1890. Despite financial constraints that required her to work as a store cashier, she graduated in 1894 as the second woman to complete the program and the first to practice medicine professionally. She received the H.A. Wall Prize for her academic performance.
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Following her graduation, she married classmate Emil Pohl in 1894 and established a private practice in Portland before relocating to Skagway, Alaska. During a cerebrospinal meningitis epidemic in the region, she and her husband provided medical care to residents. While in Alaska, her brother Frederick was murdered in the Klondike in 1899; his remains were located in the Yukon River the following year.
Suffrage and Political Activism
Lovejoy became a prominent force in the women's suffrage movement, organizing the Everybody's Equal Suffrage League during the 1912 campaign. Her efforts contributed to Oregon becoming the seventh state to grant women voting rights. She later sought federal office, running as the Democratic candidate for the U.S. Congress in 1920, though she was unsuccessful in the election against the Republican incumbent.
International Relief and Public Health
During the First World War, she traveled to France between 1917 and 1918 to evaluate the impact of the conflict on women and children. Her findings on wartime violence and displacement informed her subsequent writing and speaking tours. She co-founded the Medical Women's International Association in 1919 and served as its inaugural president, focusing on organized medical relief.
Fast facts
- Born: 1869, Seabeck
- Died: 1967
- Education: University of Oregon
- First female director: Portland Board of Health, 1907
- Elizabeth Blackwell Medal winner: 1951 and 1957
- Burial site: Lone Fir Cemetery
Questions readers ask
What medical awards did Esther Pohl Lovejoy receive?
She was honored with the Elizabeth Blackwell Medal by the American Medical Women's Association in both 1951 and 1957.
Was she active in the women's suffrage movement?
Yes, she was a leader in the 1906 and 1912 Oregon suffrage campaigns and founded the Everybody's Equal Suffrage League.
Achievements
- Elizabeth Blackwell Medal — 1951
- Fields: obstetrics and gynaecology and public health
