Rajesh Ghosh at 01:39, 23 March 2026

2026-03-23T01:39:10Z

New page

{{short description|American physician}}

{{Infobox person
| name = Anna Martha Fullerton
| image =
| alt =
| caption =
| other_names =
| birth_name =
| birth_date = {{birth date|1853|8|16}}
| birth_place = [[Agra]], [[India]]
| death_date = {{death date and age|1938|9|16|1853|8|16}}
| death_place = [[Dehradun]], [[India]]
| occupation = Medical educator, physician, hospital administrator, textbook author
| years_active = 1880s-1910s
| known_for =
| notable_works =
| spouse(s) =
| relatives = [[George Stuart Fullerton]] (brother)
}}

'''Anna Martha Fullerton''' (August 16, 1853 – September 16, 1938) was an American physician and medical educator, born in [[India]].

== Early life and education ==
Anna Martha Fullerton was born in [[Agra]], the eldest of the seven children of [[Presbyterian Church (USA)|American Presbyterian]] missionaries Rev. Robert Stewart Fullerton and Martha White Fullerton.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Z0JWAAAAMAAJ&q=Anna+Martha+Fullerton&pg=PA38|title=Genealogy of Hugh Stewart and His Descendants|date=1914|publisher=F.J. Heer Printing|pages=38–39|language=en}}</ref> She was 12 when her father died, and she moved to [[Philadelphia]] with her widowed mother and younger siblings. She trained as a teacher, then attended the [[Woman's Medical College of Pennsylvania]], studying [[obstetrics]] under Dr. [[Anna Broomall]] and graduating with a medical degree in 1882.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book|last=Chattopadhyay, Anjana|url=https://nbtindia.gov.in/writereaddata/freebooks/pdf/Women%20Scientists%20in%20India.pdf|title=Women scientists in India : lives, struggles & achievements|year=2018|isbn=978-81-237-8144-0|edition=First|location=New Delhi|pages=133–134|oclc=1045373879}}</ref>

One of her brothers was philosopher and psychologist [[George Stuart Fullerton]].<ref>{{Cite web|title=George Stuart Fullerton|url=https://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/oi/authority.20110803095837942|access-date=2020-10-10|website=Oxford Reference|language=en}}</ref>

== Career ==
[[File:Title page, Fullerton's Nursing in Abdominal Surgery (1891).png|alt=The title page of a textbook, Nursing in Abdominal Surgery and Diseases of Women by Anna M. Fullerton, M. D., published in 1891 by P. Blakiston, Son, & Co., Philadelphia.|thumb|The title page of ''Nursing in Abdominal Surgery and Diseases of Women'' (1891) by Anna M. Fullerton, M. D.]]
Fullerton joined the faculty of the Women's Medical College of [[Pennsylvania]] after she graduated, taught obstetrics and [[Gynaecology|gynecology]] courses,<ref>{{Cite news|date=1897-09-30|title=Women's Medical College|pages=10|work=The Times|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/60853146/womens-medical-college/|access-date=2020-10-10|via=Newspapers.com}}</ref> and was physician-in-charge of the [[Woman's Hospital of Philadelphia]] from 1886 to 1896.<ref>Anna M. Fullerton (May 3, 1893). [https://inherownright.org/records/oai-idea-library-drexel-edu-lca_111442 "Woman in medicine: Her duties and responsibilities"], An address to the graduates of the Woman's Medical College of Pennsylvania.</ref><ref>{{Cite news|date=1887-12-15|title=The Woman's Hospital|pages=2|work=The Philadelphia Inquirer|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/60851474/the-womans-hospital/|access-date=2020-10-10|via=Newspapers.com}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|date=1897-01-22|title=Woman's Hospital Work|pages=8|work=The Times|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/60851962/womans-hospital-work/|access-date=2020-10-10|via=Newspapers.com}}</ref> She had a private practice in Philadelphia for a few years, then returned to India in 1899, to teach at the [[Christian Medical College, Ludhiana|Christian Medical College]] in [[Ludhiana]], the first medical school for women in India.<ref>{{Cite news|date=1899-08-05|title=Untitled news item|pages=6|work=The Times|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/60853247/untitled-news-item/|access-date=2020-10-10|via=Newspapers.com}}</ref> In 1902 she and her sister Mary started working toward raising funds and establishing a hospital at [[Fatehgarh]];<ref name=":0" /> the Fullerton Memorial Hospital for Women and Children opened in 1907.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Memorial Hospital|url=http://memorialhospitalfatehgarh.org/|access-date=2020-10-10|website=Memorial Hospital, Fatehgarh, Diocese of Agra}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|date=1907-03-12|title=Lectured on Wadsworth|pages=8|work=Wilkes-Barre Times Leader, The Evening News|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/60851618/lectured-on-wadsworth/|access-date=2020-10-10|via=Newspapers.com}}</ref>

Fullerton wrote two nursing textbooks: ''A Handbook of Obstetrical Nursing for Nurses, Students, and Mothers'' (1891),<ref>{{Cite book|last=Fullerton|first=Anna Martha|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xBE9p8Ldzn0C|title=A Handbook of Obstetrical Nursing for Nurses, Students, and Mothers|date=1891|publisher=P. Blakiston, Son & Company|language=en}}</ref> and ''Nursing in Abdominal Surgery and Diseases of Women'' (1893).<ref>{{Cite book|last=Fullerton|first=Anna Martha|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hWiU0syCxMsC|title=Nursing in abdominal surgery and diseases of women|date=1893|publisher=P. Blakiston, Son & Company|language=en}}</ref> She also wrote a health textbook for schoolchildren in India, ''The Human Body and How to Take Care of It.'' She wrote on "Missionary Work and Public Health" for the Women's Medical College of Pennsylvania Alumnae Association conference in 1900.<ref>Fullerton, Anna M. [https://idea-isle-staging.library.drexel.edu/islandora/object/lca%3A101103#page/1/mode/2up "Missionary Work and Public Health"]{{Dead link|date=August 2023 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}, Transactions of the Twenty-Fifth Annual Meeting of the Alumnae Association of the Woman's Medical College of Pennsylvania May 17th and 18th, 1900.</ref> That same year, her essay "The Woman Physician in India" was published in the college's alumnae journal.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Fullerton|first=Anna M.|date=1900|title=The Woman Physician in India|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=C64DAAAAYAAJ&q=Anna+M.+Fullerton+India&pg=PA55|journal=Transactions of the Annual Meeting of the Woman's Medical College of Pennsylvania. Alumnae Association|pages=55–58}}</ref>

Fullerton and her sister Mary moved to [[Dehradun]] in 1911; she continued practicing medicine and [[midwifery]] there.<ref name=":1" />

== Personal life and legacy ==
In 1911, Fullerton spent some months in [[Hartford, Connecticut]], caring for her dying brother Edward.<ref>{{Cite news|date=1911-07-07|title=Dr. Fullerton Dead|pages=2|work=Wilkes-Barre Semi-Weekly Record|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/60852721/dr-fullerton-dead/|access-date=2020-10-10|via=Newspapers.com}}</ref> Her sister Mary died in 1931,<ref>{{Cite news|date=1932-05-05|title=Charities Get $15,000|pages=14|work=The Philadelphia Inquirer|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/60851703/charities-get-15000/|access-date=2020-10-10|via=Newspapers.com}}</ref> and Fullerton died in 1938, aged 85 years, in Dehradun.<ref>{{Cite news|date=1938-11-17|title=Nieces, Nephews Get $15,000 Estate|pages=2|work=The Philadelphia Inquirer|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/60852908/nieces-nephews-get-15000-estate/|access-date=2020-10-10|via=Newspapers.com}}</ref> Her papers are in the collections of [[Drexel University]]<ref name=":1">{{Cite web|title=Anna M. Fullerton diary, 1915-1916|url=https://idea.library.drexel.edu/islandora/object/lca:140777#page/1/mode/1up|access-date=2020-10-10|website=iDEA: Drexel Libraries E-Repository and Archives|archive-date=2021-05-13|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210513083434/https://idea.library.drexel.edu/islandora/object/lca%3A140777#page/1/mode/1up|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Anna M. Fullerton diary, 1917-1918|url=https://idea.library.drexel.edu/islandora/object/lca:141719#page/1/mode/1up|access-date=2020-10-10|website=iDEA: Drexel Libraries E-Repository and Archives|archive-date=2021-05-02|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210502062247/https://idea.library.drexel.edu/islandora/object/lca%3A141719#page/1/mode/1up|url-status=dead}}</ref> and the [[Presbyterian Historical Society]].<ref>[https://www.history.pcusa.org/collections/research-tools/guides-archival-collections/rg-320 Guide to the Anna Martha Fullerton Papers], Presbyterian Historical Society.</ref>

== References ==
{{reflist}}

{{Subject bar|portal1=Biography}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fullerton, Anna Martha}}
[[Category:1853 births]]
[[Category:1938 deaths]]
[[Category:19th-century American medical doctors]]
[[Category:Woman's Medical College of Pennsylvania alumni]]
[[Category:Woman's Medical College of Pennsylvania faculty]]
[[Category:People from Agra]]
[[Category:American expatriates in British India]]
[[Category:20th-century American medical doctors]]

Anna Martha Fullerton - Revision history

Rajesh Ghosh at 01:39, 23 March 2026