Ida S. Scudder - Revision history

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← Older revision		Revision as of 23:37, 23 July 2021
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	[http://www.cmch-vellore.edu/pages/?id=scudder Ida S. Scudder profile, Christian Medical College] {{webarchive\|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070623044258/http://cmch-vellore.edu/pages/?id=scudder\|date=2007-06-23}}</ref>		[http://www.cmch-vellore.edu/pages/?id=scudder Ida S. Scudder profile, Christian Medical College] {{webarchive\|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070623044258/http://cmch-vellore.edu/pages/?id=scudder\|date=2007-06-23}}</ref>

	In 1928, ground was broken for the "Hillsite" medical school campus on 200 acres (0.8 km²) at Bagayam, Vellore. In 1928, [[Mahatma Gandhi]] visited the medical school. She traveled a number of times to the [[United States]] to raise funds for the college and hospital, raising a total in the millions. In 1945, the college was opened to men as well as women. In 2003 the [[Vellore Christian Medical Center]] was the largest [[Christianity\|Christian]] hospital in the world, with 2000 beds, and its medical school is now one of the premier medical colleges in India.<ref>{{Cite web \|url=http://citypatriots.com/asia/india/tamil-nadu/vellore \|title=Archived copy \|access-date=2015-05-31 \|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150707023153/http://citypatriots.com/asia/india/tamil-nadu/vellore \|archive-date=2015-07-07 \|url-status=dead ~~\|df=~~ }}</ref>		In 1928, ground was broken for the "Hillsite" medical school campus on 200 acres (0.8 km²) at Bagayam, Vellore. In 1928, [[Mahatma Gandhi]] visited the medical school. She traveled a number of times to the [[United States]] to raise funds for the college and hospital, raising a total in the millions. In 1945, the college was opened to men as well as women. In 2003 the [[Vellore Christian Medical Center]] was the largest [[Christianity\|Christian]] hospital in the world, with 2000 beds, and its medical school is now one of the premier medical colleges in India.<ref>{{Cite web \|url=http://citypatriots.com/asia/india/tamil-nadu/vellore \|title=Archived copy \|access-date=2015-05-31 \|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150707023153/http://citypatriots.com/asia/india/tamil-nadu/vellore \|archive-date=2015-07-07 \|url-status=dead }}</ref>

	==Last years==		==Last years==
	One day in 1953, aged 82, she was at "Hilltop", her bungalow at [[Kodaikanal]], and opened a stack of letters and telegrams. Her name is a famous one in India. A letter once reached her addressed simply, "Dr. Ida, India." But the mail was heavier than usual because friends around the world were congratulating her on winning the [[Elizabeth Blackwell (doctor)\|Elizabeth Blackwell Citation]] from the [[New York Eye and Ear Infirmary]], as one of 1952's five outstanding women doctors.<ref>[http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,817967,00.html?promoid=googlep "A Family Tradition"], ''Time Magazine'' (February 16, 1953)</ref>		One day in 1953, aged 82, she was at "Hilltop", her bungalow at [[Kodaikanal]], and opened a stack of letters and telegrams. Her name is a famous one in India. A letter once reached her addressed simply, "Dr. Ida, India." But the mail was heavier than usual because friends around the world were congratulating her on winning the [[Elizabeth Blackwell (doctor)\|Elizabeth Blackwell Citation]] from the [[New York Eye and Ear Infirmary]], as one of 1952's five outstanding women doctors.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20121018003729/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,817967,00.html?promoid=googlep "A Family Tradition"], ''Time Magazine'' (February 16, 1953)</ref>

	She died on May 23, 1960, aged 89, at her bungalow.<ref>biographical information on ISS and the Scudder family, see the inventory for Ida Sophia Scudder, MC 205, Scudder, Ida S. 1870-1960. Papers, 1843-1976 (inclusive), 1888-1960 (bulk) (84-M159) Arthur and Elizabeth Schlesinger Library on the History of Women in America, Radcliffe College, February 1985 [http://oasis.harvard.edu:10080/oasis/deliver/~sch00898 Ida Scudder paperws] {{webarchive\|url=https://archive.is/20120214084532/http://oasis.harvard.edu:10080/oasis/deliver/~sch00898 \|date=2012-02-14 }}</ref><ref>''Notable American Women, The Modern Period'' (Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1984).</ref>		She died on May 23, 1960, aged 89, at her bungalow.<ref>biographical information on ISS and the Scudder family, see the inventory for Ida Sophia Scudder, MC 205, Scudder, Ida S. 1870-1960. Papers, 1843-1976 (inclusive), 1888-1960 (bulk) (84-M159) Arthur and Elizabeth Schlesinger Library on the History of Women in America, Radcliffe College, February 1985 [http://oasis.harvard.edu:10080/oasis/deliver/~sch00898 Ida Scudder paperws] {{webarchive\|url=https://archive.today/20120214084532/http://oasis.harvard.edu:10080/oasis/deliver/~sch00898 \|date=2012-02-14 }}</ref><ref>''Notable American Women, The Modern Period'' (Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1984).</ref>

	In 1960, [[Rajendra Prasad]], then the President of India, while inaugurating the jubilee celebrations of the Christian Medical College, paid rich tributes to the late Dr. Ida Scudder and hailed her as a “great lady, whose dedication and planned working are exemplary”.<ref>{{Cite news\|url=https://www.thehindu.com/features/friday-review/history-and-culture/This-Day-That-Age-August-13-1960/article16129272.ece\|title=This Day That Age (August 13, 1960)\|date=2010-08-12\|work=The Hindu\|access-date=2019-07-30\|language=en-IN\|issn=0971-751X}}</ref>		In 1960, [[Rajendra Prasad]], then the President of India, while inaugurating the jubilee celebrations of the Christian Medical College, paid rich tributes to the late Dr. Ida Scudder and hailed her as a “great lady, whose dedication and planned working are exemplary”.<ref>{{Cite news\|url=https://www.thehindu.com/features/friday-review/history-and-culture/This-Day-That-Age-August-13-1960/article16129272.ece\|title=This Day That Age (August 13, 1960)\|date=2010-08-12\|work=The Hindu\|access-date=2019-07-30\|language=en-IN\|issn=0971-751X}}</ref>

201.141.39.112 at 07:43, 12 November 2020

2020-11-12T07:43:05Z

New page

[[Image:Ida S. Scudder 1899.jpg|thumb|Ida S. Scudder as a young woman]]

'''Dr. Ida Sophia Scudder''' (December 9, 1870 – May 23, 1960) was a third-generation American medical missionary in [[India]]. She dedicated her life to the plight of Indian women and the fight against [[bubonic plague]], [[cholera]] and [[leprosy]].<ref name=ISS/><ref>The Scudder Association [http://www.scudder.org/genealogy Scudder family genealogy site]</ref> In 1918, she started one of Asia's foremost [[teaching hospital]]s, the [[Christian Medical College & Hospital]], [[Vellore|Vellore, India]].<ref>[[Image:Sound-icon1.png|20px]] [http://www.cmch-vellore.edu/pages/?id=scudder Hear Dr. Ida Scudder tell her own story] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070623044258/http://cmch-vellore.edu/pages/?id=scudder |date=2007-06-23 }}</ref>

==Early life==
{{cleanup|section|reason=Many single-sentence paragraphs, spelling errors, non-neutral language|date=December 2017}}

{{See also|Scudders in India}}
Ida was born to Dr. [[John Scudder (physician)|John Scudder]] and his wife, Sophia (née Weld), part of a long line of medical missionaries that started with Ida's grandfather, Rev. Dr. [[John Scudder Sr.]] They were members of the [[Reformed Church in America]]. Growing up as a child in India, Ida witnessed famine, poverty and disease. She was invited by [[Dwight Moody]] to study at his [[Northfield Seminary]] in [[Massachusetts]], where she earned a reputation for pranks.<ref name="ISS">Wilson, Dorothy Clark. ''The Story of Dr. Ida Scudder of Vellore'', McGraw-Hill Book Company, Inc. [https://archive.org/stream/dridathestoryofd010071mbp/dridathestoryofd010071mbp_djvu.txt Full text] (1959), p. 18</ref> Ida initially expected to get married and settle down and to have a family in the United States after seminary. In 1890, Ida went back to India to help her father when her mother was ailing at the mission bungalow at [[Tindivanam]] in the [[Madras Presidency|Madras Province]].

Ida had earlier expressed a resolve not to become a doctor or a medical missionary.{{r|ISS|p=9}} But during her stay in India after her return from the US, she had a life-changing experience one night when she witnessed the death of three women who died during childbirth and was unable to help them during the trauma. These women did not want to be treated by male doctors due to their orthodox customs. As there were no female gynaecologists or even a female general physician, these three women could not be treated properly and therefore died. Witnessing the death of women due to lack of a female doctor convinced Ida Sophia that God wanted her to become a female physician to help women of India. She never married and stayed single throughout her life to fulfill her mission.

She graduated from [[Weill Cornell Medical College|Cornell Medical College, New York City]] in 1899, as part of the first class that accepted women as medical students. She then headed back to India, fortified with a $10,000 grant from a Mr. Schell, a Manhattan banker, in memory of his wife. With this money, Ida started a tiny medical dispensary and clinic for women at Vellore, 75 miles from Madras. Her father died in 1900, soon after she arrived in India. In two years, she treated 5,000 patients.

==Christian Medical College, Vellore==
[[Image:Ida S Scudder.jpg|thumb|250px|Ida S. Scudder with Mahatma Gandhi, 1928]]

Ida opened the Mary Taber Schell Hospital in 1902.<ref>Graves Dan (2005) Glimses, issue #113, Christian History Institute, retrieved 9/8/2007 [http://www.vellorecmc.org/images/Glimpses/Glimpses.pdf ''Ida Scudder, A Woman Who Changed Her Mind''] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070221150941/http://www.vellorecmc.org/images/Glimpses/Glimpses.pdf|date=2007-02-21}}</ref> Realizing that it would be impractical to go on alone in her fight to bring better healthcare to South India's women, she decided to open a medical school for girls only. Her decision was viewed skeptically by some and it was told that that Ida would have consider herself lucky even if she got at least three women applicants. On the contrary, Ida got 151 applications the first year (1918) and had to turn many away subsequently. At first, the Reformed Church in America was the main backer of the Vellore school, but after Dr. Scudder agreed to make it coeducational, it eventually gained the support of 40 missions. Of the 242 students today, 95 are men.<ref>Christian Medical College (2005)

[http://www.cmch-vellore.edu/pages/?id=scudder Ida S. Scudder profile, Christian Medical College] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070623044258/http://cmch-vellore.edu/pages/?id=scudder|date=2007-06-23}}</ref>

In 1928, ground was broken for the "Hillsite" medical school campus on 200 acres (0.8 km²) at Bagayam, Vellore. In 1928, [[Mahatma Gandhi]] visited the medical school. She traveled a number of times to the [[United States]] to raise funds for the college and hospital, raising a total in the millions. In 1945, the college was opened to men as well as women. In 2003 the [[Vellore Christian Medical Center]] was the largest [[Christianity|Christian]] hospital in the world, with 2000 beds, and its medical school is now one of the premier medical colleges in India.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://citypatriots.com/asia/india/tamil-nadu/vellore |title=Archived copy |access-date=2015-05-31 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150707023153/http://citypatriots.com/asia/india/tamil-nadu/vellore |archive-date=2015-07-07 |url-status=dead |df= }}</ref>

==Last years==
One day in 1953, aged 82, she was at "Hilltop", her bungalow at [[Kodaikanal]], and opened a stack of letters and telegrams. Her name is a famous one in India. A letter once reached her addressed simply, "Dr. Ida, India." But the mail was heavier than usual because friends around the world were congratulating her on winning the [[Elizabeth Blackwell (doctor)|Elizabeth Blackwell Citation]] from the [[New York Eye and Ear Infirmary]], as one of 1952's five outstanding women doctors.<ref>[http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,817967,00.html?promoid=googlep "A Family Tradition"], ''Time Magazine'' (February 16, 1953)</ref>

She died on May 23, 1960, aged 89, at her bungalow.<ref>biographical information on ISS and the Scudder family, see the inventory for Ida Sophia Scudder, MC 205, Scudder, Ida S. 1870-1960. Papers, 1843-1976 (inclusive), 1888-1960 (bulk) (84-M159) Arthur and Elizabeth Schlesinger Library on the History of Women in America, Radcliffe College, February 1985 [http://oasis.harvard.edu:10080/oasis/deliver/~sch00898 Ida Scudder paperws] {{webarchive|url=https://archive.is/20120214084532/http://oasis.harvard.edu:10080/oasis/deliver/~sch00898 |date=2012-02-14 }}</ref><ref>''Notable American Women, The Modern Period'' (Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1984).</ref>

In 1960, [[Rajendra Prasad]], then the President of India, while inaugurating the jubilee celebrations of the Christian Medical College, paid rich tributes to the late Dr. Ida Scudder and hailed her as a “great lady, whose dedication and planned working are exemplary”.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.thehindu.com/features/friday-review/history-and-culture/This-Day-That-Age-August-13-1960/article16129272.ece|title=This Day That Age (August 13, 1960)|date=2010-08-12|work=The Hindu|access-date=2019-07-30|language=en-IN|issn=0971-751X}}</ref>

==Legacy==
* The [[Ida Scudder School]] in Viruthampet, [[Vellore]], is named in her honour
*In 2019, the American Heritage Girls announced that she would be replacing Lewis and Clark as the Explorer Level Award namesake in their 2020 Handbook.
*A commemorative stamp was released by the [[India Post|Department of Posts]] on August 12, 2000, as part of the centenary celebrations of the Christian Medical College. The [[First day of issue|First-day cover]] portrays Dr Ida Scudder<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.financialexpress.com/old/fe/daily/20000912/fpe10007.html|title=Theme stamps mark this year's Independence Day|last=|first=|date=September 12, 2000|website=Financial Express|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130929203859/http://www.financialexpress.com/old/fe/daily/20000912/fpe10007.html|archive-date=2013-09-29|url-status=dead|access-date=}}</ref>

==Other==
*Her niece, [[The Scudder family of missionaries in India#Fourth generation|Ida B. Scudder]] (1900–1995), was also a physician
* Dr. [[Paul Wilson Brand|Paul Brand]], a noted [[leprosy]] researcher worked with Dr. Ida Scudder at Vellore.

==Biographies==
* Graves Dan (2005) Glimses, issue #113, Christian History Institute, retrieved 9/8/2007 [https://web.archive.org/web/20070221150941/http://www.vellorecmc.org/images/Glimpses/Glimpses.pdf ''Ida Scudder, A Woman Who Changed Her Mind'']
*''Legacy and Challenge: The Story of Dr. Ida B. Scudder'', published by the Scudder Association [https://web.archive.org/web/20060702171037/http://www.scudder.org/resources.html]
*''Ida S. Scudder of Vellore: The Life Story of Ida Sophia Scudder'' by Dr. M. Pauline Jeffery, Wesley Press 1951
*''With: Ida S. Scudder and her gleam'' : memorial supplement, 1960–1961, by M. Pauline Jeffery. Vellore : Christian Medical College of Vellore, 1961
*''Dr. Ida'' by [[Dorothy Clarke Wilson]] 1959
*''The Doctor Who Never Gave Up'' by Carolyn Scott 1975
*''A Thousand Years In Thy Sight'' by Dorothy Jealous Scudder (1984) Chapters 25-27
*''Ida Scudder: Healing Bodies Touching Hearts'' by Janet Benge and Geoff Benge 2003
*''Dr. Ida Skudder'' by Veena Gavhankar, Raj Hans Prakashan, 1983 [[Marathi language|Marathi]].
The things that changed her path was not able to save some Hindu and Muslim women who died due to child birth

==References==
{{Reflist|2}}

==External links==
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20031128075920/http://cmch-vellore.edu/ Vellore Christian Medical College and Hospital]
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20031203024229/http://cmch-vellore.edu/htm/scudder.htm Vellore CMCH Ida S. Scudder page]
*[http://www.vellorecmc.org/ Vellore Christian Medical College Board (USA), Inc.]
*[http://www.scudder.org/ The Scudder Association]
* [http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:RAD.SCHL:sch00897 Ida Sophia Scudder Papers.] [http://www.radcliffe.edu/schles Schlesinger Library], Radcliffe Institute, Harvard University.

==Other sources==
* [https://books.google.com/books?id=0A6ruPk7-lcC&pg=PA430&lpg=PA430&dq=%22ida+scudder%22+kodaikanal&source=bl&ots=6PZmo_B7Zg&sig=ml-dN0f6bo_l6qknDGELJngZoqg&hl=en&sa=X&oi=book_result&resnum=5&ct=result#PPP1,M1 ''From Mission to Church: The Reformed Church in America Mission to India''] By Eugene P. Heideman, Published by Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing, 2001, {{ISBN|0-8028-4900-8}}, {{ISBN|978-0-8028-4900-7}}, 512 pages.

{{Protestant missions to India}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Scudder, Ida S.}}
[[Category:American Protestant missionaries]]
[[Category:Protestant missionaries in India]]
[[Category:Weill Cornell Medical College alumni]]
[[Category:1870 births]]
[[Category:1960 deaths]]
[[Category:Female Christian missionaries]]
[[Category:Christian medical missionaries]]
[[Category:American expatriates in India]]
[[Category:American evangelicals]]
[[Category:Northfield Mount Hermon School alumni]]