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First Women Physicians in the Collection

Verina Morton Harris Jones, M.D. Born in Cleveland, OH, January 28, 1865. Graduated in 1888 from the Woman’s Medical College of Pennsylvania. Credited with being the first woman to practice medicine in Mississippi. Reported to have practiced medicine in the Black community at Rust College in Holly Springs, MS. By 1890 left Mississippi and began medical practice in Brooklyn and on Long Island, NY. By the early 1940s, described as “the oldest colored physician in Brooklyn in point of practice as well as age.” Was a social activist for such causes as woman’s suffrage and civil rights for minorities. Died in Brooklyn in 1943.

May Farinholt Jones, M.D. Born May 1, 1866 in New Kent County, VA. Graduated from Woman’s Medical College of Baltimore, MD in 1897. Was the first woman physician at the Mississippi State College for Women (1897), first woman admitted to the Mississippi State Medical Association (1901) and the first woman to take the State Medical Board examination in Mississippi. Was the physician at the State Teachers College at Hattiesburg, MS in 1912 and worked at the Mississippi State Sanatorium for Tuberculosis from 1919 until her retirement in 1929. Died in West Point, VA on September 10, 1940.

Margaret Roe Caraway, M.D. Born February 1, 1877, Dawson County, GA. Graduated from The Mississippi Medical College, Meridian, MS in 1910 and was the first woman to graduate from a medical school in Mississippi. Married the class honor student, Dr. Archibald F. Caraway and started a joint medical practice in Gulfport, MS that continued until his death in 1944. Was the first woman physician in Gulfport and the first woman elected president of the Harrison County Medical Society. Died in Gulfport on January 17, 1962.
Mary Elizabeth Bass, M.D. Born on April 5, 1876 in Marion County, MS. Graduated in 1904 from the Women’s Medical College of Pennsylvania. Sister Cora, and brother Charles, medical school dean at Tulane, were physicians. Was one of two women physicians in 1911 to be the first women faculty at Tulane University School of Medicine. Known for her interest in, and extensive collection of, materials on women in medicine. Retired in 1949 and died in New Orleans on January 26, 1956.

Daisy Estelle Brown Bonner, M.D. Born in 1879 in Greenville, MS.. Graduated in 1907 from the Women’s Medical College of Pennsylvania. Distinguished as the first known black woman to have earned a medical degree as a resident from Mississippi. Practiced in Greenville, MS and Mt. Sterling, KY. Died on August 13, 1917 in Mt. Sterling, KY.

Estelle Antoinette Magiera, M.D. Born on August 13, 1899 (Minnesota?). Received a medical degree in 1925 from Creighton University. Became the first known woman psychiatrist to practice in Mississippi at Mississippi State Hospital 1937-1940. Served as the first Director of the Child Guidance Unit, Mississippi State Board of Health beginning in 1943. Practiced child psychiatry until she retired. Died on January 18, 1992 at Minneapolis, MN..