Marie Mergler

Born in Mainstockheim, Bavaria, Marie Mergler immigrated with her family to Cook County, Ill in 1853. Her father was a physician and, as she grew older, Marie would assist him with patients. She first pursued education and worked as a teacher at Englewood High School for four years before attending medical school. She graduated from the Women’s Medical College in Chicago in 1879. Dr. William Byford, an obstetrics and gynecology surgeon at the Women’s Hospital in Chicago and appointed Dr. Mergler as his surgical assistant. Upon his death, she was named chair of gynecology. In 1895, with the death of the founder of the Hospital for Women and Children, Dr. Mergler became the head physician and surgeon of the hospital. In 1899, She was appointed dean of the Woman’s Medical School before her death in 1901.

Photo courtesy of Galter Health Sciences Library of Northwestern University's Feinberg School of Medicine