Helen Brooke Taussig was born in 1896. She lost her mother when she was eleven, and was greatly influenced by her father, a Harvard economic professor who encouraged her to pursue academic and professional goals not typically thought to be appropriate for women during that time. As a woman, she was excluded from Harvard Medical School but was accepted to Johns Hopkins and eventually became the chief of the heart clinic there. While serving as the chief of the clinic, she often was in contact with infants and children born with heart defects. Inspired, Taussig pioneered the Blalock-Taussig operation with another cardiologist. The medical procedure was first performed in 1944 and quickly became widespread. Taussig later published a book, Congenital Malformations of the Heart, on her research on cardiac birth defects, in 1947. Taussig is often credited as the pioneer of pediatric cardiology.
During her lifetime, the importance of her contributions was recognized with multiple awards including the Albert Lasker Award for outstanding contributions to medicine, the Medal of Freedom, and induction into the National Women’s Hall of Fame. Additionally, Taussig was elected the president of the American Heart Association and was the first woman in history to be awarded full professorship at John Hopkins University.
The Los Angeles Times published an article on Taussig in 1972 entitled Woman Pediatrician Cited by Physicians. Although the article praises Dr. Taussig and discusses her accomplishments and contributions, the title reflects the sexism of the media at the time. Because a doctor is assumed to be a man, it must be specified that the pediatrician subject of the article is a woman. Additionally, being a woman makes her success more extraordinary, makes her story more unique.
The LA Times article cites an interview with Taussig in which she explains that her position in the field of pediatrics was actually originally pushed upon her by the patriarchal system of the university. Taussig sought an internship in general medicine but was denied because an internship had already been awarded to a women in that field and the university would not place two women in the same field.
In a New York Times article published in 1965 on Taussig’s election to the presidency of the American Heart Association, Taussig is described as a “tall, kindly, white-haired woman.” The location of this description as the introduction to the article, signifies the importance her gender was thought to be in the reception of her and her achievements. The article regards Taussig as a pioneer, not just in cardiac pediatrics, but as a woman doctor, the title being At 67, Another First. This article seems to fit the contemporary view of Taussig as a pioneer, regarded highly.
Today, Taussig is widely respected and highly regarding, and the medical techniques and theories she developed are still influential in the field cardiac pediatrics.
“At 67, Another First: Helen Brooke Taussig.” New York Times. October 20, 1965: Page 31.
“Woman Pediatrician Cited by Physicians.” Los Angeles Times. May 11, 1972: Page H8.
“Dr. Helen Brooke Taussig.” Changing the Face of Medicine. National Library of Medicine. July 16, 2010. < http://www.nlm.nih.gov/changingthefaceofmedicine/physicians/biography_316.html>
“Helen Brooke Taussig.” Women of the Hall. National Women’s Hall of Fame. July 16, 2010. < http://greatwomen.org/women.php?action=viewone&id=157>
Tied for BEST EXAMPLE of what these posts can do-explore her accomplishments and show how the woman was received or perceived contemporaneously (in her own time).
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