Clara Seippel Webster
American physician
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Clara Pauline Seippel Webster (May 30, 1877 – April 6, 1965) was an American physician and college dean, based in Chicago until the 1920s, and then in Tucson, Arizona.
May 30, 1877
Clara Seippel Webster | |
|---|---|
Clara Seippel (later Webster), from a 1912 publication | |
| Born | Clara Pauline Seippel May 30, 1877 Chicago, Illinois, U.S. |
| Died | April 6, 1965 (age 87) |
| Other names | Clara Seippel Widdowson |
| Occupations | Physician, academic dean |
Early life and education
Seippel was born in Chicago, the daughter of Frederick Seippel and Caroline Kernwein Seippel.[1] Both of her parents were born in Germany. She graduated from the University of Illinois College of Medicine in 1907. She gained further training in gynecological surgery and pathology.[2]
Career
In Chicago
Seippel taught obstetrics and gynecology at the University of Illinois from 1907 to 1915. She was sued for libel by a fellow doctor in 1909.[3] In 1912, she was the first woman to sit on a jury in Chicago.[4][5] She was a Chicago city employee as assistant city physician,[6] assigned to the Cook County Hospital and the Frances Home. She was also president of the Medical Women's Club of Chicago.[7] She lectured in Chicago and nationally on the topic of social hygiene.[8][9]
Seippel spoke against "flapperism".[6] She proposed that "extremity in dress has caused a lowering in the birthrate" because (she reasoned) young women's physical development is impaired by shorter skirts and bare arms.[10] She voiced concerns about the toll of smoking and poor nutrition and sleep habits on working women's health.[11] She spoke in favorite of women's sports,[6] and women's careers, saying "The prospects for women are growing bright and brighter, and year after year she's taking more responsible and more noteworthy positions."[12]
In Tucson
Webster moved to Tucson, Arizona, at first in the winter but later full-time, and gained her Arizona medical license in 1923. She was the third woman admitted to the Pima County Medical Society.[13] In 1923 she spoke before a meeting of the Arizona State Nurses Association,[14] and to the Business and Professional Woman's Club of Tucson.[12] She was dean of women and medical adviser to women students at the University of Arizona from 1927 to 1929.[15][16] She resigned her university job and traveled to Vienna for further training in 1929; she edited a medical journal while she lived there.[17]
In the 1930s, she was an attending physician at St. Mary's Hospital in Tucson.[18] Webster was an incorporator of the Tucson Fine Arts Association when it was founded in 1936.[19]