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VINTAGRAPH • WPA • WWII • YOU MEAN A WOMAN CAN OPEN IT?

Who Wants Serum?

July 8, 1926. Washington, D.C. "Miss Hattie E. Alexander & Mrs. S.A. Carlin testing serum." View full size. National Photo Company Collection. [Update: A few years after this photo was taken, Hattie (on the left) would become Dr. Alexander. As president of the American Pediatric Society in the 1960s, she was among the first women to head a major medical association.]

July 8, 1926. Washington, D.C. "Miss Hattie E. Alexander & Mrs. S.A. Carlin testing serum." View full size. National Photo Company Collection. [Update: A few years after this photo was taken, Hattie (on the left) would become Dr. Alexander. As president of the American Pediatric Society in the 1960s, she was among the first women to head a major medical association.]

 

On Shorpy:
Today’s Top 5

Sadie Carlin

I've been trying to find some information about the other woman in the photo. With a bit of googling I've discovered she was Sadie A. Carlin. She published some articles in scientific journals, like this one from 1937 and this one from 1951.

In 1930 a New York Times article mentions she contracted psittacosis or parrot fever while doing tests for the Public Health Service.

And here, there's a photo of her in later life.

Wonderful story

What a great story to go with a stunning photo. Thanks to Joe Manning and Dave for providing the extra information. Absolutely fascinating!

Hattie E. Alexander

Isn't it interesting? Many of the comments on this site about photos of women, especially young women, refer to the hairstyle, clothes, teeth, and other physical characteristics. But few observers make references to what the women are doing in the photos, or what they might become. Take Hattie, for instance. Many of us will assume that she was just a young woman working in a laboratory, with no thought to how important her work might be, or how much she might accomplish in her work, due to the fact that she was a woman, not a man. So then I Google her, and guess what I find out? She later became one of the 20th century's most important researchers in the field of medicine. Even in this day and age, too little attention is paid to the accomplishments of women. We are still vulnerable to the assumption that it's the men who do the important things. I know that's a dangerous generalization to make, but this is yet another example of that kind of thinking. Hooray for Hattie! What a great role model for girls and young women. -- Joe Manning

Shorpy en Francais

J'ai tellement aimé vos photos anciennes des enfants travaillant à la mine aux USA, que j'ai réalisé un diaporama sur Dailymotion, sur lequel je n'ai pas manqué d'indiquer la source : © shorpy.com

Merci encore !

[Shorpy, like Jerry Lewis, is evidently big in France! - Dave]

Dr. A.

Thanks for the link. It's amazing to see her at both the start and toward the end of an illustrious career. And she never made professor until age 57!
A remarkable person.

Hattie Alexander, 1901-1968

Thanks to Joe Manning for the lead on Hattie. From her New York Times obituary of June 25, 1968:

Dr. Hattie Alexander, 67, Dies;         
         Columbia Research Pediatrician

Dr. Hattie E. Alexander, a pediatrician who won international recognition for her research at Columbia-Presbyterian Medical Center, died at its Harkness Pavilion yesterday of cancer. Her age was 67 and she lived at 4 Richards Road, Port Washington, L.I.

Years ago, Dr. Alexander developed a rabbit antiserum that was the first effective treatment of meningitis caused by Haemophilus influenzae, a disease that had been fatal for children. Throughout her career she was a leading authority on the treatment of bacterial meningitis. Upon her election as president of the American Pediatric Society in 1964, she was one of the few women to head a major medical society.

Dr. Alexander

Thanks again Joe for more information on this unsung trail blazer. Wonder if Mrs. Carlin was a hero's hero? Shorpy's good enough for the eye candy alone, but when you learn something too, all the better.

Hattie Alexander

This is Joe Manning. I think I found some amazing information about Hattie, the woman on the left.

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