Elizabeth Kittredge, MD attended Vassar College and Columbia University for her undergraduate degree (1912) and master’s degree (1915) respectively before accepting a scholarship to attend medical school at Johns Hopkins University.
She interned at St. Elizabeth’s Hospital in Washington, D.C. in 1922 and returned to Vassar College for a year to serve as a physician and an instructor in physiology and hygiene. She spent time in private practice, working in public clinics that allowed her to achieve balance between her career and family life.
Dr. Kittredge was elected to the D.C. Medical Society in 1926 and served on the staff of the Child Welfare Clinic of Children’s Hospital. She also worked as a physician for the Maternal and Child Health Clinics in Washington and for the Board of Public Welfare of the District of Columbia. Dr. Kittredge was considered a pioneer in establishing Planned Parenthood Clinics.
She was a member of the District of Columbia Medical Society and the Women’s Medical Society of the District of Columbia and was a Fellow of the American Medical Association.
Dr. Kittredge served as the executive secretary of AMWA and was editor of the first regular publication of the association, Women in Medicine, and also editor of other AMWA publications, including Year Book. She was awarded the Elizabeth Blackwell medal in 1961 for her devotion to amplifying women in medicine.
Outside of medicine, Dr. Kittredge served on the board of trustees of the All Souls Unitarian Church. She was married to Herbert L. Whittemore, former chief of engineers for the National Bureau of Standards. They had a daughter, Nancy, and a son, William.
Source:
Journal of the American Medical Women’s Association, March 1962
AMWA Physician Files
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