Duckering was pioneer of women doctors

Beth Dippel, For Sheboygan Press Media 5:39 p.m. CDT August 28, 2015
Elizabeth Blackwell, the first woman to receive a medical degree in the United States, also helped
create the Womens Central Association of Relief, training nurses to treat wounded soldiers during
the Civil War.(Photo: Public domain photo)

It may seem strange today that until 1970, women never made up more than 6 percent of any
medical school class in the United States.
Since then, the number of women venturing into medicine has increased greatly due to a number of
factors: medical schools opened their doors to more students, the womens movement broke down
barriers, greater numbers of women finished college and the ratification of the Equal Opportunity
Act of 1972 and Title IX of 1972 demanded equal treatment for women. Today medical school
enrollment is split nearly equally between men and women.
Oddly, women took active roles in medicine as early as 3500 B.C. in the ancient civilization of Ur, the
home of the biblical Abraham, according to historic records. This highly developed culture, thriving
centuries before the rise of Greek and Roman civilizations, found women to be quite able when it
came to practicing medicine.
But, during the Middle Ages, society took a step backward when it forbade women from practicing
surgery unless they assumed their husbands practices upon their deaths or unless they were deemed
fit by a competent jury. King Henry VIII of England, a celebrated misogynist, proclaimed that No
carpenter, smith, weaver or women shall practice surgery.
Nearly 300 years later, Elizabeth Blackwell, born in 1821, was the first woman to receive a medical
degree in the United States. Elizabeth Blackwells parents were Quakers. They believed in equality
and educated their sons and daughters equally. So, when Blackwell decided to be a doctor, her
family was totally supportive. Convincing the rest of the world, however, was not so easy.
Dr. Florence Duckering began practicing medicine in Sheboygan in September 1945, filling the
vacancy of Dr. John Boersma, a physician at the clinic since 1936.
Duckering was one of the earliest women to enter general medical practice in Sheboygan County. A
native of Boston, Massachusetts, Duckering received her undergraduate degree from Massachusetts

State College and her medical education from Tufts College in Boston graduating in 1937. She did
her internship at the New England Hospital for Women and Children in Boston. She also began her
practice in 1938 as an assistant to an ob-gyn where she began her training in that field.
At the time she was called to Sheboygan in 1945, Duckering was engaged in specialized training at
New Yorks Lying-in Hospital (maternity) operated in connection with Cornell University Medical
Center.
She showed an interest in medicine at an early age, it being something of a family affair. An aunt
was the first female gynecologist to be admitted to the American College of Surgeons. She also had
three uncles who were physicians.
Famous for her gentle bedside manner, Duckering built up an extensive practice almost immediately
in Sheboygan. Her success was due to her kindness, understanding and attention to both the
medical and emotional needs of those in her care. The welfare of her patients was uppermost in her
mind. Friends described it as almost fanatical.
Outside of medicine, she loved to play contract bridge and travel, visiting Russia, India, China, South
America, Europe and the Holy Land. A member of the First Congregational Church, she was also
active in AAUW, Altrusa and the Sheboygan Camera Club.
Dr. Florence Duckering died on Jan. 21, 1961, at the young age of 48. She practiced just 14 years in
Sheboygan, but delivered more than 3,000 babies. She had given up her practice in November 1959
following surgery at Mayo Clinic for lung cancer.
Her concern for others continued even after her death. The bulk of her estate, $50,000 to $75,000,
was given to the American Friend Service Committee, a foreign service group operated by the
Quaker faith.
Duckering had witnessed the committees work when she visited the Far East just before her death.
She described the Quakers work as plain, fundamental help where they taught practical skills,
helping hungry people by teaching them to grow their own food, rather than just feeding them.
Dr. Duckering helped break the glass ceiling in medicine, but she will be best remembered for her
kindness and compassion for her patients.
Beth Dippel is executive director of the Sheboygan County Historical Research Center, 518 Water
St., Sheboygan Falls; 920-467-4667; schrc.org.
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