Women’s History Month commemorates and celebrates the vital role of women throughout history. This year, we are focusing on the trailblazers who have worked toward making our institution a better place for everyone. In honor of Women’s History Month, we present:
An Interactive Timeline
Women add to the vibrancy and excellence of the Mount Sinai Health System every day—and have done so for more than 100 years. This interactive timeline highlights the many discoveries, events, and innovations that help make the Mount Sinai Health System a more equitable place for everyone. We thank the Arthur H. Aufses, Jr. MD Archives for its considerable contribution to this timeline.
Women’s History Month: From the Archives Exhibit We believe that Mount Sinai women and their allies are making history each day. This virtual exhibit honors and celebrates some of the many women whose accomplishments have contributed to Mount Sinai’s excellence and leadership in medicine. We plan to add to this list of trailblazing women annually. Please contribute any suggestions, ideas, or insights you may have to help us honor women’s history.
Doris L. Wethers, MD, was a pediatrician and the first Black attending at St. Luke’s Hospital (1957). As Director of Pediatrics at Knickerbocker Hospital in West Harlem she was the first African American chief a medical department in a New York City hospital. She was a staunch advocate for sickle cell anemia sufferers and opened a sickle cell program in each of hospitals she worked in.
Dorothy T. Krieger, MD was Director of Mount Sinai’s Division of Endocrinology. In 1984, she received an award from the Albert D. and Mary Lasker Foundation, citing “the brilliant intellect, determination, and vision she brings to the field of neuroendocrine research, the scientific community, and our awards program.”
Mary Putnam Jacobi, MD, was the first woman head of an outpatient clinic at The Mount Sinai Hospital. She was appointed in 1875, when the first clinics were established. Dr. Jacobi was also in charge of the pediatric clinic.
Miriam Senhouse Rossi, MD, belonged to the first graduating class of the Mount Sinai School of Medicine in 1970. The Rossi Medical Student Quarterly Report is named in her honor. Dr. Rossi spent three decades in adolescent medicine and was actively involved in medical education for young people and in community health education and research.
Rosalyn Yalow, PhD, was Mount Sinai’s Distinguished Service Professor. She won the Nobel Prize for her development of radioimmunoassay (RIA) in 1959. The Nobel citation says that RIA “was accomplished by a spectacular combination of immunology, isotope research, mathematics, and physics” and “brought about a revolution in biological and medical research.”
Rachel Levine, MD, was the Assistant Secretary of Health at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the first openly transgender individual to be approved by the Senate, and the highest-ranking transgender federal official. She completed her training in pediatrics, an adolescent fellowship, and was on the faculty of the Mount Sinai School of Medicine.
We hope you join us in honoring inspiring women throughout history and celebrating the women who make history everyday here at Mount Sinai. Happy Women’s History Month!