March 20, 2002 March is Women’s History Month; State Historical Society seeks information

PIERRE -- March is Women’s History Month. In honor of the month, the South Dakota State Historical Society is seeking material on the contributions of women in South Dakota. The Society is looking for objects, documents, photographs, manuscripts and any other material or information on significant women in the state.

According to State Historical Society Deputy Director Jay D. Vogt, the society is always interested in acquiring additional archival and museum materials on this history of South Dakota.

"Because March is Women’s History Month, we thought it would be an appropriate time to make a concerted effort to collect resources related to the lives of important women in the state," Vogt stated.

Vogt said the society is also making an effort to publicize some of the women who have significantly contributed to the history of South Dakota. This will be done each week in March, using information taken from "Dakota Images" profiles in South Dakota History, the society’s quarterly journal.

Earlier featured women were pioneering politicians Mary Pyle and Gladys Pyle, and American Indian activist Gertrude Simmons Bonnin. The third featured woman is Dr. Abbie Ann Jarvis of Faulkton, the first licensed woman physician and the first licensed woman pharmacist in South Dakota.

Dr. Jarvis was born Abbie Ann Hall in Zanesville, Ohio, on Sept. 16, 1854. Her family later moved to Reedsburg, Wis., where she met and married Matthew James Jarvis on Christmas Day in 1876.

In the spring of 1880, Matthew and Abbie and their two sons moved to Redfield, where they lived until 1883. They then homesteaded on various claims, including one in Faulk County near DeVoe. During that time the couple had three daughters.

The Jarvis family moved to Faulkton in 1890 and Matthew bought a drugstore. Shortly after that Abbie decided to fullfill her dream of becoming a doctor, after being encouraged by her father, a doctor in Faulkton.

Abbie entered the Woman’s Medical College of Northwestern University in Chicago. She had no previous college education and took two years off to care for her sick mother, but in June 1898 she graduated fourth in her class of 24.

In addition to being the first licensed woman doctor and pharmacist in the state, Dr. Jarvis was also elected vice president of the State Board of Pharmacy. Dr. Jarvis had a successful practice, making house calls over the prairie in both the heat of summer and the cold and blizzards of winter. Later in her practice, Dr. Jarvis moved her office from town to their home.

The very popular Dr. Jarvis died of cancer at the age of 67 on May 2, 1931.

The final featured woman of history will be well-known writer Edith Ammons Kohl.

If you have any material or information on famous women in South Dakota history, contact the State Historical Society, 900 Governors Drive, Pierre, SD 57501, or call (605) 773-3458. Headquartered in the Cultural Heritage Center in Pierre, the society is a division of the state Department of Education and Cultural Affairs.

South Dakota State Historical Society
900 Governors Drive
Pierre, SD 57501-2217
Voice:(605) 773-3458 Fax:(605) 773-6041