Mabel E Elliott

Mabel Evelyn Elliott was born on February 8, 1881, in London, England, and immigrated with her family to the United States in 1883. She grew up in Florida and later attended St. Agnes School in Albany, New York. In 1904, she and her sister, Grace Elliott Papot, became among the first women to earn medical degrees from the University of Chicago's Rush Medical College.After an internship at Cook County Hospital, Elliott joined the American Women's Hospitals Service during World War I. In 1919,...See more

Mabel Evelyn Elliott was born on February 8, 1881, in London, England, and immigrated with her family to the United States in 1883. She grew up in Florida and later attended St. Agnes School in Albany, New York. In 1904, she and her sister, Grace Elliott Papot, became among the first women to earn medical degrees from the University of Chicago's Rush Medical College.After an internship at Cook County Hospital, Elliott joined the American Women's Hospitals Service during World War I. In 1919, she ran a hospital for Armenian refugees in Marash, Turkey, surviving the city's siege and leading a perilous winter escape through the Taurus Mountains. She later directed refugee hospitals in Turkey and served in Soviet Armenia, organizing large orphan care programs.In 1922, Elliott became General Medical Director for the American Women's Hospitals in Greece, aiding refugees after the burning of Smyrna and receiving several Greek honors for her service. She returned to the U.S. in 1923 but soon moved abroad again, accepting a position in 1925 as head of public health at St. Luke's International Medical Center in Tokyo. She became the first American woman physician licensed in Japan and rose to chief of pediatrics.Elliott returned to the U.S. in 1941, later working with returning World War II missionaries. She spent her later years in Florida, continuing to practice medicine in semi-retirement. She died in West Palm Beach on June 13, 1968, at age 87. See less