Hannah Emily Reid

Hannah Emily Reid was born near Orangeville, Ontario on January 19, 1870.^[3] From an early age she had an interest in teaching– after completing her studies at Orangeville High School in 1891^[4] she received her Second-Class Teacher’s Certificate and began teaching at several schools in Toronto.^[5][3]

She later discovered her interest in medicine and joined the Ontario Medical College for Women.^[6][1] Hannah and her sister, Minerva Reid “were amongst the last women to graduate from the Ontario Medical College for Women before it closed in 1905”.^[1] While she attended the Ontario Medical College for Women in Toronto until its closure, she completed her medical degree at the University of Toronto’s Faculty of Medicine in 1905.^[1][3] After graduating, Reid travelled to northern Manitoba on medical assignment.^[3][4] Following that, she spent 1906 as an intern at the New England Hospital for Women and Children.^[1][7]

In 1912, Reid opened her own practice in Toronto, which focused on anesthesia and obstetrics.^[1][4] Two years later, she began working at Women’s College Hospital in the Department of Anaesthesia.^[1][2] She became Chief of Anaesthesia in 1926,^[6] the second woman to hold this position after Margaret McCallum-Johnston.^[8] According to the hospital, “[f]or over two decades, the two sisters could often be found working together in the operating rooms of Women’s College Hospital”.^[9] During her career at Women’s College Hospital, Hannah was also a member of the hospital’s first Board of Directors.^[10][11]

Reid died in Toronto, Ontario on May 27, 1955.^{[12][better source needed]} and her sister died in 1957.^[13]