What do Drs. Marilyn Woolfolk, Sharon Brooks, Nisha D’Silva, and Jeanne Sinkford have in common?  Or Drs. Jane Slocum Hayward, Ida Gray, and Clara McNaughton?

Give up?  Here’s the answer.  Each of them and 16 other female dentists are featured in a new exhibit, Women Dentists: Changing the Face of Dentistry, in the Sindecuse Museum at the University of Michigan School of Dentistry.  Unveiled in October, the new exhibit complements an earlier one, Inside the Dental Practice: 1860-1940, which has been open to the public since March 2011.

“As we gathered information for Inside the Dental Practice, it was very clear that women have played a significant role in the growth and development of dentistry,” said Museum Curator Shannon O’Dell.  Many visitors, she added, who viewed that exhibit often asked if there would be another at a later date showcasing women’s role in dentistry.  “Since that thought was frequently on my mind, we began planning the Women Dentists exhibit not long after the first one was unveiled,” O’Dell said.

A Wealth of Information

As the Women Dentists exhibit was moving from planning to becoming reality, O’Dell said “we collected an incredible amount of data on more than 60 women whose determination and achievements had a major impact on dentistry.” 

The information included photos, notes, and articles from university alumni journals and dentistry publications, the Bentley Historical Library and other museums across the country; information from state and national dental organizations and government agencies, historical societies and publishers; and artifacts in the Museum collected or borrowed from School of Dentistry alumni and families related to the dentists featured in the exhibit.

“Since space in the exhibit is limited, we had to make some difficult decisions about who would be featured and what would be displayed,” O’Dell said.  Working with Brynn Raupagh, who helped create the Inside the Dental Practice exhibit and who has worked with curators at the Detroit Institute of Arts, The Henry Ford, and other museums, O’Dell narrowed the focus for the new exhibit to 23 women.  Nine of them earned their dental degree from the U-M School of Dentistry.  “Each has had an interesting life and has been a pioneer in dentistry in one way or another,” she said. 

Notable Women

Some were on what she labeled as “a must include list.”  These include:

• Dr. Lucy Beaman Hobbs, the first woman in the country to receive a dental degree (1866).
• Dr. Clara MacNaughton (DDS 1885), who was the first woman elected to an executive office (Vice President) in the Michigan State Dental Society (1887) and later became a key figure in the women’s suffrage movement in Washington, D.C., as she continued her dental practice.
• Dr. Ida Gray, the first African-American woman to earn a dental degree and U-M graduate (DDS 1890).
• Dr. Vida Latham (DDS 1892), who graduated at the top of her medical class in Chicago and founded the American Association of Women Dentists.
• Dr. Jeanne Sinkford, the first female dean of any dental school (1975, Howard University College of Dentistry).
• Dr. Geraldine Morrow, the first woman president of the ADA (1991).

Another, Dr. Leonie Von Zesch, had her autobiography posthumously published featuring photos of her service as an emergency relief dentist following the 1906 earthquake in San Francisco.  She later became Alaska’s first female dentist and is now included in the Alaska Women’s Hall of Fame.

Earning a dental degree was a challenge.  “Since they wanted to become dentists in a profession that was exclusively male, these women pioneers had a tough road to travel,” according to O’Dell.  “Fortunately, there were some leaders who were strong advocates for women in dentistry, including Dr. Jonathan Taft.”  Taft, the U-M School of Dentistry’s first dean (1875-1903), frequently sparred with men in the profession who believed women should not be allowed to practice dentistry.

In one section of the exhibit, beneath Taft’s picture, are his words from a letter he wrote in 1890:  Women can accomplish good work and I have observed they are always above men in their class.  This is accounted for in that she is self-reliant.  Women know they will meet opposition, and prepare for it; they determine to succeed…and will be a means of elevating the profession.

Becoming Role Models

Under Taft’s leadership, women were members of nearly every dental class at U-M beginning in 1880.  “Because of Taft’s pioneering mindset and focus more colleges and universities with dental schools began accepting more and more women into their dental programs beginning in the 1880s,” O’Dell said.  Another dental dean, Dr. James Truman, at the Pennsylvania College of Dental Surgery, also supported Taft’s position.

In the process, these female dental pioneers became role models.   “They were not afraid to be the only woman in their dental class.  They also showed young girls that there were new career opportunities for them, not just in dentistry, but also in dental education, administration, and even specialized areas of dentistry,” O’Dell said.  “As more women were accepted into and graduated from dental programs across the country, they also learned their dental degree was a lifesaver since some were later widowed or divorced,” she added.

O’Dell also praised the work of exhibit designer and installer Lawrence Hutchinson and exhibit graphic designer Andrea Cardinal of Detroit.  “Working together they presented a three-dimensional layout, with distinctive graphics in a color scheme that complements the Atrium décor and the exhibit on the opposite wall.  The appearance of this exhibit is strikingly different than our first exhibit, Inside the Dental Practice: 1860-1940,” O’Dell said.  She added that new museum-quality energy saving LED track lights allow better viewing inside the case.”

O’Dell was responsible for research and selecting topics and artifacts.  She said it was especially difficult locating artifacts used by the women featured in the new exhibit.  “Photos of women dentists in their offices and their instruments are rare,” she added, noting that she “was amazed to stumble upon a set of 19^th century dental patient record books belonging to Dr. Jesse Castle LaMoreau (DDS 1890) of Battle Creek, Michigan.  Tracking borrowed items and permission agreements was managed by the newest staff member of the Sindecuse Museum, Kathy Daniels, collections coordinator.

Women Dentists: Changing the Face of Dentistry will be on display until December 2014.  For more information, including making arrangements in advance for tours for donors and groups, contact Shannon O’Dell, at dentalmuseum@umich.edu, or call (734) 763-0767.  Information about planning a visit and donating is on the Museum’s Web site. 

A Dental Dynasty

Dr. James S. Hayward (DDS 1973) had a keen interest in the Women Dentists exhibit when he recently visited the School of Dentistry.

He donated several items to the Sindecuse Museum for the exhibit that his late mother, Dr. Jane Slocum Hayward (DDS 1943), used when she practiced dentistry.  They included her dental cabinet, dental instruments, dental diploma, as well as photos of her with her husband, Dr. James R. Hayward (DDS 1944, MS oral surgery 1947).  She taught at the School of Dentistry (1943-1944) while her husband finished work on his dental degree and then practiced in downtown Detroit with her father (1945-1977).  From 1947 to 1950, she and her husband, and their fathers all practiced dentistry in the Whitney Building in Detroit.

A section of the exhibit labeled “Dental Dynasties” notes the Slocum/Hayward dental heritage:  When Jane Slocum married dentist James Rogers Hayward, they merged two families that included five generations of dentists dating back to 1890 on the Slocum side.  Two of their children chose to work in dentistry, one as a dental hygienist.  Of the seven practitioners, five were University of Michigan graduates.

The display also included an exhibit of baby teeth.  “Grandfather Slocum began our family’s tradition of displaying his children’s baby teeth after they were exfoliated,” Hayward said.  “My mother continued that tradition and I did too with my children.”

After touring the exhibit, Hayward added, “I was always enamored of Jonathan Taft’s values including compassion for his patients, and saw these values practiced by my parents and grandfathers.  It was also interesting to learn from this exhibit that Taft was also an early advocate of women’s inclusion in the profession.”