Frances[1] Perkins Andrews Shepard (14 July 1856 – 4 June 1920)[2] was an American physician who worked as a missionary and university lecturer in Turkey. As a woman she was not permitted to work as a physician, but could work as a nurse and midwife, and lecture in medical botany at the Medical Department of the Central Turkey College. She also assisted widows and orphans to support themselves by enabling them to sell goods they crafted. She made a scientifically significant botanical collection in and around the area where she lived, sending these specimens to George Edward Post, thus assisting with his publication The Flora of Syria, Palestine and Sinai. Her collection is held in the Herbarium of the American University of Beirut, and her type specimens are held at Conservatory and Botanical Garden of the City of Geneva.
Frances "Fanny" Andrews Shepard | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | 14 July 1856 Maui, United States |
| Died | 4 June 1920 (aged 63) |
| Alma mater | University of Michigan |
| Occupation(s) | Physician, Missionary, Botanical collector |
Early life edit
Shepard was born in Maui in Hawaii on 14 July 1855 to the Andrews family, missionaries who lived in Hawaii. She was educated at Mount Holyoke College, graduating with a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1879.[3] She then studied at the University of Michigan, undertaking medical training and graduating with a medical degree in 1882.[3] She married fellow physician Fred D. Shepard on 15 July 1882 at Ann Arbor.[3]
Medical work edit
In 1882, Shepard moved to the Ottoman Empire with her husband, and supported his work at the Azariah Smith Medical Hospital attached to Central Turkey College in Aintab. Although as a woman she was not permitted to work as a physician, she could work as a nurse and midwife at the Aintab American Hospital.[4] Later she lectured in medical botany at the Medical Department of the Central Turkey College.[5]
Botanising edit
Shepard was the first woman to make a collection of herbarium specimens in Turkey.[5] She sent them to George Edward Post, thus assisting with his publication The Flora of Syria, Palestine and Sinai.[6] The specimens she collected now form part of the herbarium of the American University of Beirut, with the type specimens she collecting being held at the Conservatory and Botanical Garden of the City of Geneva.[5] Post named the species Medicago shepardii in her honour.[6]
Business edit
She continued to live and work in Aintab between the years 1882 and 1919.[5] While living there she established a firm called Industries for Women and Girls with Corinna Shattuck, where women could work producing needlework for export.[7] Shepard then worked with her sister Lucy C. Andrews to establish a market for the lace and needlework.[8][9] Her sister, after a visit to Turkey, returned to the United States with samples of the lace and needlework, and supplied American businesses with these products.[8] The money earned through this business helped support the women producing the products, to fund a library building at the Central Turkey College, and assisted in funding a new wing for the hospital at Aintab.[8][10]
Death edit
Shepard died on 4 June 1920 at Orange, New Jersey.[3][11]
References edit
- ^ https://history.bilkent.edu.tr/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/15-Central-Turkey-mission.pdf
- ^ "Personnel records for Fanny P. Andrews Shepard". www.dlir.org. Retrieved 23 November 2021.
- ^ a b c d Vinton, John A. (1910). Missionaries of the A.B.C.F.M. Memorandum, 1885-1910. Vol. 4. p. 68.
- ^ "Shepard, Lorrin A(ndrews)". encyclopedia.vkv.org.tr. 2021. Retrieved 23 November 2021.
- ^ a b c d Baytop, Asuman (1996). "Fanny Andrews Shepard (1856-1920), Her Turkish Plant Collection and Her Contribution to the Turkish Flora". Turkish Journal of Botany. 20: 1–6. doi:10.55730/1300-008X.2655. S2CID 83296787. Archived from the original on 24 November 2021. Retrieved 24 November 2021.
- ^ a b Post, George Edward. Flora of Syria, Palestine and Sinai; from the Taurus to Ras Muhammad, and from the Mediterranean Sea to the Syrian desert. Beirut, Syria: Syrian Protestant College.
- ^ "Isabel Kaprielian-Churchill". auroraprize.com. Retrieved 23 November 2021.
- ^ a b c "The New York Alumnae". The Michigan Alumnus. 20: 145–146. December 1913 – via Internet Archive.
- ^ Dink, Maral (18 March 2016). "Needlework styles in Ayıntab, Ourfa and Marash indicates that Armenian culture is a whole". Agos. Archived from the original on 23 November 2021. Retrieved 23 November 2021.
- ^ "The Roll Call of the Cousins". Annual Report of the Hawaiian Mission Children's Society. 1912: 24–25. 1912.
- ^ The New York Times. Internet Archive. H.J. Raymond & Co. New York. 5 June 1920. p. 15.
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