Marion Craig Potter (1863-1943) was a physician practicing in Rochester, New York from 1885 until her death in 1943. Her papers include autobiographical material, correspondence, manuscript lectures, publications, and extensive records of the women's medical organizations in which she was active. The Potter Papers were presented to the Edward G. Miner Library by her son James Craig Potter, M.D. (1898-1984) in February 1976. Processing of the collection was completed on 13 November 1985. The collection is contained in five boxes occupying three linear feet.
Marion Craig Potter was born in Churchville, New York on 14 September 1863 to James W. Craig, M.D. and Sarah Sherwin Butterfield Craig. After graduating from the Genesee Normal School, she taught school for a year before entering the Medical Department of the University of Michigan with her elder sister Sara. Both Marion and Sara Craig received their medical degrees from Michigan in 1884, two of eighteen women in that year's class.
For the first two years after her graduation, Marion Craig practiced with her father. In January 1887 she set up her own office in Rochester, specializing in obstetrics, gynecology and pediatrics. After her father's death from blood poisoning in 1891, Marion Craig left Rochester for a ten-month world tour which included a visit to her sister Sara (and brother-in-law Edmund Buckley), who was working as a medical missionary in Kyoto. During the latter part of her trip, Marion Craig visited many of the most famous European clinics. While in Europe she also met up with long-time friend Ezra B. Potter, M.D., whom she married on 2 January 1893.
The Potters practiced in Rochester their entire careers. During this time Marion Craig Potter was active in the Provident Dispensary Association (est. 1886); was a charter member of the Practitioners' Society (est. 1887, one of the earliest women's medical organizations in the United States that became the Blackwell Medical Society in 1906); served as president of the Women's Medical Society of New York State (1914); was active on the General Medical Board's Committee of Women Physicians during the First World War; served as a councilor of the Medical Women's National Association; was active in the American Women's Hospitals; and edited the Medical women's journal.
Marion Craig Potter was the mother of two sons: Ezra B. Potter III (1901-1911) and James Craig Potter (1898-1984). Her husband died on 24 June 1921. Marion Craig Potter died at the age of 79 on 23 March 1943 of paralysis agitans.
The papers of Marion Craig Potter, M.D. include autobiographical writings, clippings, correspondence, manuscript lectures, publications and organizational records spanning the period 1886-1941. Other than the brief autobiographical essay (Box 1/ Folder 1), her personal papers reveal very little about her personal or professional life.
The single folder of correspondence (14 pieces) provides the most meagre glimpse into her life and work. The clippings which Dr. Potter saved from 1906 to 1941 include a few articles on herself published in the local papers, but pertain largely to the activities of female physicians and women's medical organizations during the first half of this century. The original clippings were photocopied and discarded. There are three folders of lectures (including a series of radio broadcasts in the 1930s), which include drafts of published papers.
Marion Craig Potter was very active in the Medical Women's National Association and the American Women's Hospitals, but again, little of the material present in these series reflects the level of her involvement. In 1928, for example, she was decorated by the Serbian government for her role in establishing a hospital at Monastir; yet there is nothing in the American Women's Hospitals series describing her activity.
By far the most important series are the records of the Provident Dispensary Association (1886-1897); the Practitioners' Society (1887- 1906); the Blackwell Medical Society (1906-1912); and the Women's Medical Society of New York State (1907-1936).
The Provident Dispensary Association was a clinic established in 1886 by a group of Rochester women (both physicians and others) "to provide free medical and surgical care for such women and children as shall need gratuitous services." The Association's activities are described in a volume of minutes (1/23/1886 - 1/14/1897).
The Practitioners' Society was one of the earliest women's medical societies in the United States. The Potter Papers include three volumes of minutes (1/13/1887 - 12/2/1906) spanning the society's nineteen-year history. Early in 1906 the Practitioners' Society was reorganized as the Blackwell Medical Society, named after the American physician Elizabeth Blackwell (1821-1910). The constitution, lists of members, and minutes of the Blackwell Medical Society (1906-1912) are among the Potter Papers.
The records of the Women's Medical Society of New York State include a large collection of membership applications (1907-1928), one folder of miscellaneous papers and correspondence, a collection of meeting programs and agendas, and a large bound volume containing the organizations constitution, lists of members and minutes. Pasted into the volume is a considerable amount of interesting emphemera, including meeting programs, clippings pertaining to members, and obituaries.
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