Greene, Cordelia A. (1831–1905)

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Greene, Cordelia A. (1831–1905)

American physician. Born Cordelia Agnes Greene, July 5, 1831, in Lyons, NY; died from surgery complications, Jan 28, 1905, in New York, NY; dau. of Phila (Cooke) Greene and Jabez Greene (sanitarium owner); never married; children: 6 (adopted), including Edward Greene (physician).

One of 1st women medical school graduates in America, read an article about Elizabeth Blackwell that inspired a career in medicine; attended Female (later, Woman's) Medical College of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia (1854–55 and 1857–58) and Western Reserve University in Cleveland (graduated, 1856); was the chief assistant at the Water-Cure, her father's sanitarium in Castile, NY; practiced at Clifton Springs (NY) Sanitarium with Dr. Henry Foster (1859–65); after father's death, served as the Water-Cure's director until 1905 and renamed the business as the Castile Sanitarium (closed in 1954). Was a classmate of Marie Zakrzewska at Western Reserve University, where their entire medical class consisted of only 4 woman.