Allen.] OlU [Decs, 



From the foregoing it can be easily understood that Dr. Smith became 

 an early and consistent advocate of the medical education of women. He 

 urged upon the profession and the community the justice of admitting 

 women to the practice of medicine, and to all the privileges of member- 

 ship in the representative medical bodies. To use the words of an eulo- 

 gist,* "he bent his broad shoulders to shield professional women from 

 roughness and unjust depreciation, and to remove from their path the 

 stumbling block of scornful indifference." He was undaunted by opposi- 

 tion and unwavering in his adherence to his convictions. That ostracism 

 followed such a course mattered not; that he was openly assailed as a man 

 who was defiant of public opinion did not move him. Defeats of women 

 candidates to election to membership in the Philadelphia County Medical 

 Society did not deter him from repeatedly renewing the attempt. 



At a meeting of the Pennsylvania State Medical Society, held in Pitts- 

 burgh, in May, 1878, Dr. Hiram Corson presented a resolution to the effect 

 that every Hospital for the Insane in the State be administered by two 

 medical attendants, one a man and the other a woman. The resolution 

 met with great opposition, and at the ensuing meeting at Chester it was 

 actively discussed. In the course of the debate Dr. Smith spoke stoutly 

 in favor of the resolution, and throughout the struggle which agitated the 

 society defended the position taken by Dr. Corson. The resolution was 

 lost by a close vote of 40 to 35. 



Dr. Smith lived to see the opposition to the medical advancement of 

 women in great part overcome and to enjoy the gratitude of those whose 

 cause he had so valiantly espoused. When the warning of failing health 

 compelled him to relinquish his practice and to seek relief abroad, he was 

 the recipient of the most touching expressions of regard from the physi- 

 cians and the students of the Woman's Hospital. On the occasion of his 

 death a meeting of the Alumni of the Woman's Medical College was called 

 and largely responded to. Messages of sympathy were received from 

 graduates from distant cities. In commemoration of his self-appointed ser- 

 vice in their behalf and the interests whidh they represented, a portrait in oil 

 was ordered to be painted and presented to the Hospital. In pursuance 

 of this intent a portrait now adorns the parlor of this institution. 



The prolonged illness of Dr. Smith called out as much sympathy from 

 his friends and patients as he had extended to others. It may be here re- 

 lated that when it was found desirable to remove him from his city resi- 

 dence to his cottage at Beach Haven, the equipment of the city ambulance 

 service became available and the interest taken by the mayor of the city, 

 by the police surgeon, Dr. Morris Stroud French, and by the police corps 

 in seeing that the beloved physician was painlessly and expeditely taken 

 from his sick-room to the cars — the streets being cleared for the purpose 

 — made the occasion in a degree a public one. 



His attitude to children was all but reverential. It was beautiful to see 



* Public Ledger, Dec 15, 1888. 



