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Medical Pioneers
Walking Tour of Medical Pioneer Grave Sites,
by Irma West, MD, and the Sacramento-El Dorado Medical
Society Historical Committee is an 18-page booklet
designed as a self-guided tour of historical grave sites
at the Sacramento City Cemetery located at 10th and
Broadway. The booklet is available from the
Museum Gift
Shop for
$1 each plus $1 postage and handling. The following sections are taken from
the brochure.
The
influence of Sacramento's pioneer physicians went far
beyond caring for the sick and injured. Most were
uncommonly public spirited. Their numerous and
substantial contributions made Sacramento and the state
a more healthful, pleasant and prosperous place to live.
According to the burial records at the cemetery, about
55 persons with a designation of M.D. or "Doctor" are
interred in the City Cemetery. This number does not
include 16 out of 17 physicians who died of cholera
while caring for the victims of the 1850 epidemic. Only
one of the 17 is buried in this cemetery and is included
in this tour. Records indicate that the other 16
physicians are buried under the City Cemetery, but the
location is unknown. Perhaps they are buried under
Broadway since a part of the cemetery was taken to widen
the street.
Of
the 55 doctors buried here, six (11 percent) are women.
Most practiced in or near Sacramento sometime between
1849 and 1900. Some of these female pioneer physicians
held political offices, some were active in establishing
the public school system, while others began the public
health agencies for the city and state.
Of
the twelve founding members of the Sacramento Society
for Medical Improvement, eight are buried in this
cemetery. This society, now known as the Sacramento-El
Dorado Medical Society, was incorporated March 17, 1868,
and is the oldest continuously operating county medical
society in the state.
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