U.S. National Institutes of Health

Mary Amanda Dixon Jones, MD — obstetrics and gynecology, surgery

Courtesy Touro Infirmary Archives

Dr. Mary Dixon Jones (1828–1908) became a world-renowned surgeon for her treatment of diseases of the female reproductive system, in a time when few women physicians were able to build a career in the specialty. She is credited as the first person in America to propose and perform a full hysterectomy (surgical removal of the uterus) for the treatment of uterine myoma (a tumor of muscle tissue). She trained with Mary Putnam Jacobi in New York and is considered one of the leading women scientists of the late nineteenth century.

Read more about Dr. Mary Amanda Dixon Jones.

For more information about hysterectomy, visit MedlinePlus.

Top