Birth Locations – Page 129 – The Exasperated Historian

153) James Clerk Maxwell

153) James Clerk Maxwell

You Might Not Have Ever Heard of Einstein and Several Others If Not for James

Born: 13 June 1831, Edinburgh, Scotland, United Kingdom

Died: 5 November 1879, Cambridge, England, United Kingdom

James was a Mathematical Physicist.

Most of what he discovered allowed Einstein to pursue his own work.

He was only fourteen years old when he published his first scientific paper.

James Formulated the Classical Theory of Electromagnetic Radiation. His work also helped inspire the Quantum Theory and explain the origin of temperature.

He has also been credited with creating the first permanent color photograph—in 1861. That same year, he was elected to the Royal Society. James even used math to explain the rings around Saturn—100 years before the spacecraft Voyager was able to confirm his findings as correct.

James’s mother died from abdominal cancer at the age of forty-eight, when James was still a child. Eerily enough, James would also pass away from abdominal cancer—at the age of forty-eight.

He was married but had no children.

I’ll be honest, my brain has a hard time understanding how great his contributions to science were, but every source I find says he was one of the greatest scientists of the 19^th Century, if not all of history. What I do understand is this: James took the work of Michael Faraday, who lived before him, and made it more accessible and expanded upon it, so that when scientists like Einstein came along, Einstein and others could sue both James Clerk Maxwell’s and Michael Faraday’s work to expand their own ideas.

Badges Earned:
Find a Grave Marked

Sources:

https://www.britannica.com/biography/James-Clerk-Maxwell

https://www.famousscientists.org/james-clerk-maxwell/

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/16871396/james-clerk-maxwell

152) Colonel James N Rowe

152) Colonel James N. Rowe

One of Only Thirty-Four American Prisoners to Escape Captivity During the Vietnam War

Born: 8 February 1938, McAllen, Texas, United States of America

Died: 21 April 1989, Quezon City, Philippines

James served as a Green Beret in Vietnam after graduating from West Point in 1960.

James escaped after sixty-two months of being in captivity. He never broke during interrogations. James finally escaped in 1968 after many previous attempts, having spent most of the last five years in a bamboo cell.

He left the army in 1976 but came back in 1981 to train Green Berets in North Carolina.

After, he helped create the SERE Program for the United States Army. SERE or Special Forces Survival, Evasion, Resistance, and Escape program is seen today as one of the most advanced courses for Special Operations training.

James was Assassinated while working in the Philippines by Communist Guerrilla forces. It was reported that his car had been shot more than twenty times by two masked men.

James left behind a wife and four children.

Badges Earned:
Find a Grave Marked

Located in My Personal Library:

Five Years to Freedom by James N Rowe

Sources:

http://www.arlingtoncemetery.net/jamesnic.htm

https://www.nytimes.com/1989/04/22/obituaries/col-james-rowe-51-war-hero-is-killed-in-an-ambush-in-manila.html

https://www.military.com/history/col-james-nick-rowe-profile.html

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/20727/james-nicholas-rowe

151) T.E. Lawrence

151) T.E. Lawrence

The Real Lawrence of Arabia

Born: 16 August 1888, Tremadog, Wales, United Kingdom

Died: 19 May 1935, Dorset, United Kingdom

Original Name: Thomas Edward Lawrence

He was an Archaeologist, military officer, writer, and diplomat.

Thomas was the second of five illegitimate sons born of his parents. Apparently, his father had fallen in love with the family governess and ran off with her despite being already married. Thomas’s parents assumed the surname of Lawrence and all their children carried it.

Thomas studied history in school, and after traveling to Syria and reported walking a thousand miles to explore distant castles, he graduated with honors and decided to become an archaeologist.

From 1910 to 1914, he worked in Syria and became friends with Dahoum, a Syrian man who would be his assistant and travel companion for many years to come.

During World War I, he served with the British Army in Cairo interviewing Turkish prisoners and building a knowledge base of what the Turkish Army was doing and where they were doing it.

In 1916, Thomas was sent to bolster the Great Arab Revolt, and with his money and supplies he was able to keep it going. However, by 1917, Thomas was helping the rebellion without permission from London. He traveled hundreds of miles without London’s knowledge. Luckily, the battle ended in victory, and Thomas informed his superiors in Cairo.

However, with victory came British involvement in the Middle East. Now Thomas traveled to London, where he made it known he supported Arab independence from the crown, and even refused to accept medals or accommodation from the king to make his voice heard.

In 1919, France was given control of Syria, despite fierce protests from Lawrence and the people living in the Middle East.

From 1922 to 1935, Thomas worked in both the Royal Air Force and the British Army under assumed names, trying to escape his celebrity.

Once his service ended in 1935, he decided to retire to his home in Dorset.

One day in May, when Thomas was returning from the post office on his motorcycle, he crashed. After several days in intensive care, Thomas passed away.

Ever since rumors have abounded. Was it an accident or suicide? Whatever the case, the great Lawrence of Arabia had passed.

Badges Earned:
Find a Grave Marked

Located In My Personal Library:
Princesses Behaving Badly by Linda Rodriguez McRobbie

Sources:

https://www.pbs.org/lawrenceofarabia/players/lawrence2.html

https://www.britannica.com/biography/T-E-Lawrence
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/108404141/thomas-edward-lawrence

150) Trưng Trắc

"Foremost, I will avenge my country and avenge the death of my husband."

150) Trưng Trắc

Vietnamese Rebel Leader who briefly created and controlled an autonomous Vietnamese state free from Chinese Oppression

Birth Date Unknown, she might have been born in Northern Vietnam

Died: 43 AD, Vietnam

After her husband’s assassination, Trắc overtook control of his movement to thwart the Chinese and push them out of the country.

Nhi, Trắc, and other members of the aristocracy succeeded, for a few years in any case, and the sisters were declared co-queens of the state, the name of which is unknown today.

She was the more diplomatic of the between her and her younger sister Nhị.

Once the Chinese had defeated them, it is said they decided to commit suicide by drowning rather than be taken captive.

Notes:

Sources differ on, well, most of the details. So, here are some of the other versions of the story.

In some tellings, Trưng Trắc took the throne independently.

In others, the sisters were killed in battle rather than commit suicide.

Some of the versions say they fought with other women, including Le Chan, whose family was murdered after she refused to marry a Chinese man, and Phung Thi Chinh, who gave birth on the field of battle, strapped her baby to her back, then leapt back into the fray.

Badges Earned:

Rejected Princess

Located in my Personal Library:

Rejected Princesses by Jason Porath

The Warrior Queens by Antonia Fraser

Uppity Women Speak Their Minds by Vicki León

National Geographic History Magazine Article "The Trung Sisters" by Nhung Tuyet Tran (July/August 2021 Edition)

Sources:

https://www.britannica.com/topic/Trung-Sisters

https://www.rejectedprincesses.com/princesses/trung-trac-and-trung-nhi

149) Florence R Sabin

149) Florence R. Sabin

She was the First Female Professor at Johns Hopkins University, Beginning There in 1903

Born: 9 November 1871, Central City, Colorado, United States of America

Died: 3 October 1953, Denver, Colorado, United States of America

Florence was also the first woman elected to membership of the National Academy of Sciences in 1925.

In 1924, she became the first woman elected president of the American Association of Anatomists.

Florence was one of the first female physicians to focus on research instead of practicing medicine. She focused on embryology and histology. Florence even disproved the original theory of the origin of the lymphatic system by instead proving it begins from the veins in an embryo and grows out into the tissues from there.

She and her sister were raised by relatives after their mother died in childbirth and both received a good education for women of their time. Florence enrolled at Johns Hopkins in 1896 after saving for three years and was one of fourteen women in a class of forty-five.

She published her first research paper while she was still a medical student and became a faculty member in 1903 and an associate professor in 1905 yet when her boss died in 1917, she was passed over for the position by one of her former (male) students.

Her students protested for her, but she was named full professor of histology instead—which was still a first for a woman at the school.

In 1925, she moved to the Rockefeller Institute as the head of the cellular immunology department—the first woman to be a full member of the institute. Once she transitioned to Rockefeller, she finally started to receive the recognition she deserved.

Florence retired in 1938 and yet in 1944 joined the Colorado Post-war planning committee as a medical adviser.

Badges Earned:
Find a Grave Marked

Located in My Personal Library:

Wild West Women: Fifty Lives That Shaped the Frontier edited by Erin H Turner

Sources:

https://profiles.nlm.nih.gov/ps/retrieve/Narrative/RR/p-nid/89

https://www.wimlf.org/blog/dr-florence-r-sabin-a-woman-of-firsts

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/6653144/florence-rena-sabin

148) Anandi Gopal Joshi

148) Anandi Gopal Joshi

The First Female Indian Doctor to Know and Practice Western Medicine

Born: 31 March 1865, Kalyan, India

Died: 26 February 1887, Pune, India

Original Name: Anandibai Gopalrao Joshi

Her parents named her Yamuna at birth.

Anandi was the first woman of Indian origin to study and graduate with a medical degree in the United States.

She is also believed to be the first woman born in India to step foot in the United States.

Anandi was married at the age of nine to a widower nearly twenty years older than her under economic pressure from her family (and because it was the custom at the time).

Her husband renamed her Anandi and wasn’t all bad—he actually agreed in educating women and helped Anandi learn English (which he thought would be more helpful than the usually learned Sanskrit).
When she was fourteen she gave birth to a baby boy but he died after ten days because they lacked access to the medical care needed to save his life. This experience inspired Anandi to learn medicine.

In 1880, her husband sent a letter to a missionary asking for assistance in getting Anandi into an American medical school. The missionary replied he’d be glad to help if they converted to Christianity (they declined). However, the Missionary had the letter published in a newspaper and a woman in the United States named Theodocia read the letter and was inspired—immediately becoming pen-pals with Anandi.

In 1883, her husband sent her to America alone even though she was in ill health. Before she left for America she was supported by many Christians (though they still wanted her to convert). After pledging to not convert publicly she started to receive donations from all across India.

At the age of nineteen she was enrolled into the Women’s Medical College of Pennsylvania. She graduated two years later despite having contracted tuberculosis and her overall health worsening.

Queen Victoria sent her a letter of congratulations.

Anandi returned to India and was placed in charge of the female ward of her local Albert Edward Hospital.

Anandi died the following year before turning twenty-two.

Her death was mourned throughout India.

In 2019, a biopic about her life was released in India. I have included a link to the trailer in this article. While the movie is in Hindi, the trailer has English subtitles.

Badges Earned:
Find a Grave Marked

Located In My Personal Library:

The Oxford Encyclopedia of Women in World History Edited By Bonnie G Smith

Sources:

https://scientificwomen.net/women/gopal_joshi-anandi-112

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/200228439/anandi-gopal_joshi

147) Elizabeth Garrett Anderson

147) Elizabeth Garrett Anderson

The First Woman to Qualify as a British Surgeon and Doctor

Born: 9 June 1836, Whitechapel, London, United Kingdom

Died: 17 December 1917, Aldeburgh, United Kingdom

She was also a suffragette.

Elizabeth opened a medical school for women, paving the way for British women to become doctors.

She was one of twelve of her pawnbroker father’s children.

Elizabeth was given a good education and decided to become a doctor after meeting Elizabeth Blackwell—the first female medical doctor to qualify in the United States.

After attempting to and failing to qualify into getting into any medical schools she enrolled in nursing school before being barred after male colleagues complained.

In 1865 she took the Society Apothecaries examination and qualified to become a nurse.

After that the Society changed their requirements to ban women from entering.

She eventually taught herself French and earned her right to practice in France but was still barred from joining the register in Britain.

Elizabeth married and had three children and started the London School for Medicine all around the same time—hiring Dr. Blackwell as the gynecology professor.

In 1876 Britain changed the law to allow women to join the medical register.

In 1908, Elizabeth also became the first female mayor in English history.

Badges Earned:
Find a Grave Marked

Located In My Personal Library:

Hypatia's Heritage: A History of Women in Science from Antiquity to the Late Nineteenth Century by Margaret Alic

The Only Woman by Immy Humes

Women in White Coats: How the First Women Doctors Changed the Face of Medicine by Olivia Campbell

Sources:
http://broughttolife.sciencemuseum.org.uk/broughttolife/people/elizabethgarrettanderson

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/6826018/elizabeth-anderson

146) Rebecca Lee Crumpler

The First African American Female Medical Doctor in the United States

Born: 8 February 1831, Christiana, Delaware, United States of America

Died: 9 March 1895, Hyde Park, Boston, Massachusetts, United States of America

In 1883 she published her Book of Medical Discourses—one of the first medical publications by an African American.

Rebecca earned her medical degree in 1864.

She spent eight years first working as a nurse (and because this occurred before the first nursing school opened in 1873, she did so without any prior medical training) before enrolling in medical school in 1860.

In 1865 she moved to Richmond, Virginia to work in the postwar south providing medical care to former slaves.

Very little else is known about her and no images of her survive (despite what Google would have you think).

Badges Earned:
Find a Grave Marked

Sources:

https://cfmedicine.nlm.nih.gov/physicians/biography_73.html

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/197241706/rebecca-crumpler

145) Elizabeth Blackwell

Courtesy of the National Women's History Museum

"The thought of dwelling on the physical structure of the body and its various ailments filled me with disgust."

145) Elizabeth Blackwell

Pioneer for Women in the Medical Field

Born: 3 February 1821, Bristol, United Kingdom

Died: 31 May 1910, Hastings, United Kingdom

In 1849, Elizabeth became the first woman to receive a medical degree from an American school (despite the fact she was British).

In 1857 she and colleagues opened the New York Infirmary for Women and Children.

Elizabeth moved to America at the age of eleven after her father decided he wanted to assist in abolishing slavery in the United States.

Her father died soon after, but all his children would grow up to be abolitionists and fight for women’s suffrage.

Elizabeth was at first put off by the thought of being a physician and instead studied history and worked as a teacher but turned to medicine after her friend was dying and said her suffering would have been easier had she had a female doctor.

Elizabeth read from medical texts for a year before applying to over a dozen medical schools. She was finally accepted by Geneva Medical College who agreed to admit her if the all-male student body voted and were okay with it. They voted yes as a joke and Elizabeth enrolled.

She received her medical degree two years later.

For two years she worked in Paris and London but after losing sight in one eye returned to New York with the hopes of being a surgeon gone. Elizabeth would have a private practice and teach other women doctors until she had to retire in the 1870’s but continued to advocate for reform.

Badges Earned:

Find a Grave Marked

Located In My Personal Library:

Uppity Women Speak Their Minds by Vicki León

Women in White Coats: How the First Women Doctors Changed the Face of Medicine by Olivia Campbell

Women in Science by Rachel Ignotofsky

Hypatia's Heritage: A History of Women in Science from Antiquity to the Late Nineteenth Century by Margaret Alic

The Book of Awesome Women: Boundary Breakers, Freedom Fighters, Sheroes, and Female Firsts by Becca Anderson

America's Women: 400 Years of Dolls, Drudges, Helpmates, and Heroines by Gail Collins

Sources:

https://cfmedicine.nlm.nih.gov/physicians/biography_35.html

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/6373813/elizabeth-blackwell

144) Clara Barton

Courtesy of the American Battlefield Trust

"When you were weak and I was strong, I toiled for you. Now you are strong...and I ask your aid...for the ballet." -Clara's plea for women's suffrage in the United States

144) Clara Barton

Arguably the Most Famous Nurse in United States' History

Born: 25 December 1821, Oxford, Massachusetts, United States of America

Died: 12 April 1912, Glen Echo, Maryland, United States of America

Her real name was actually Clarissa (my cousin named her first born Clarisa—partially in honor of Clara).

Clara was the founder of the American Red Cross (which she would head up for the first twenty-three years of the organization’s history) and was called the Angel of the Battlefield during the War Between the States.

She is featured in the Magic Treehouse book Civil War on Sunday by Mary Pope Osborne, which is personally my favorite in the series.

When the war began, she was working in the US Patent Office in Washington DC.

Clara was the first woman to work as a patent clerk in the US however the next year she was demoted and then fired completely by the Buchanan Administration (however she was rehired once Lincoln became president).

Clara was also a member of the National Society Daughters of the American Revolution and is remembered as a distinguished daughter today. She served as the DAR's First Surgeon General, a position that is no longer filled today. She also attended the society's first Continental Congress in 1892.

Clara was even an ardent supporter of women’s suffrage.

In 1975 her Glen Echo, Maryland home was named a National Historic site—the first site dedicated purely to the achievements of a woman in United States history.

Badges Earned:

Find a Grave Marked

Located In My Personal Library:

After the Fact: The Surprising Fates of American History's Heroes, Villains, and Supporting Characters by Owen Hurd

America's Women: 400 Years of Dolls, Drudges, Helpmates, and Heroines by Gail Collins

Uppity Women Speak Their Minds by Vicki León

Legends & Lies: The Civil War by Bill O'Reilly and David Fisher

Whose Who in American History: Leaders, Visionaries, and Icons who Shaped Our Nation by John M Thompson, William R Gray, and KM Kostyal

Sources:

https://www.redcross.org/about-us/who-we-are/history/clara-barton.html

https://www.womenshistory.org/education-resources/biographies/clara-barton

The National Society Daughters of the American Revolution Information Archives

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/63/clarissa-harlowe-barton