Partner Elizabeth Willard "Bessie" Greene
Queer Places:
130 E Main St, Washington, NC 27889, United States
University of Zurich, Rämistrasse 71, 8006 Zürich, Switzerland
Dimock Community Health Center, 55 Dimock St, Roxbury, MA 02119, USA
Forest Hills Cemetery and Crematory, 95 Forest Hills Avenue, Boston, Massachusetts 02130 United States
Saint Peters Episcopal Cemetery, 101 N Bonner St, Washington, NC 27889, United States
Dr. Susan Dimock (April 24, 1847 - May 8, 1875) was a pioneering American physician and one of the first female surgeons in the United States. While some accounts have
incorrectly placed her birth in Washington, D.C., she was born in Washington, North Carolina.
Born on April 24, 1847, Dimock was the daughter of Henry and Mary Malvina Dimock. Henry Dimock, a native of Maine, was the editor of the North State Whig. He married Mary Malvin, the daughter of the local sheriff, and they purchased the Lafayette Hotel in Washington. Susan was raised in the hotel.
From a young age Dimock was associated with Solomon Samson Satchwell, who lived across the street. Dr. Satchwell was a very strong influence on Dimock, allowing her to attend to patients and make house calls with him, eventually inspiring Dimock to pursue the medical profession.
The Dimocks were living in the Lafayette Hotel when Union soldiers invaded Washington, and some of the troops stayed at the Lafayette with fellow New Englander Dimock. Henry Dimock died early in the war though, at which time Susan and her mother moved to Sterling, Massachusetts, to live with Henry Dimock’s sister. Susan Dimock continued her education briefly in Sterling, having been taught previously by her mother and at a Washington girls school. At age seventeen she began teaching at an academy in Hopkinton.
Dimock’s interest in medicine was sparked early, and she was encouraged by Elizabeth "Bessie" Greene, the daughter of the Boston reformer William Batchelder Greene. In 1866, she began her studies at the New England Hospital for Women and Children in Boston. When she was denied admission to Harvard Medical School due to her gender, she sought advanced training in Europe, earning her medical degree from the University of Zurich in 1871.
Upon returning to Boston in 1872, Dimock was appointed resident physician at the New England Hospital for Women and Children. During her tenure, she:
Established the first graded nursing school in the United States.
Performed complex surgeries and developed a respected practice in obstetrics and gynecology.
Became the first woman admitted (as an honorary member) to the North Carolina Medical Society.
In May 1875, while on a leave of absence to tour Europe with her close friends, Bessie Greene and Caroline Crane, Dimock boarded the steamship SS Schiller. On May 7, 1875, the ship struck the Retarrier Ledges in heavy fog off the Isles of Scilly, England. Dimock, Greene, and nearly everyone else on board perished.
Her loss was widely lamented by the medical community, who considered her a uniquely talented surgeon whose place would be difficult to fill. Reflecting the depth of their bond, a biographer later wrote of Dimock and Greene: "They were lovely in their lives, and in death they were not divided".
Susan Dimock is buried in Massachusetts at Forest Hills Cemetery and Crematory. In 1996, the marble marker at her Boston grave was replaced with a more durable granite duplicate, and the original moved to her home town of Washington, NC, where it was erected as a cenotaph in the Saint Peters Episcopal Cemetery. She is also remembered, along with other victims of the shipwreck of the SS Schiller, at St. Mary's Old Town Churchyard on the island near the site of the wreck.
Today, the Dimock Community Health Center in Boston is named in her honor.
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