Legendary Photos

A young Ruth Jackson, MD.  (Courtesy of Rosemarie Morwessel, MD.)

The elder Ruth Jackson, MD with one of her tools.  (Courtesy of Rosemarie Morwessel, MD.)

Ruth Jackson, MD was an author, inventor and entrepreneur as illustrated by this display of some of her works.  (Courtesy of Rosemarie Morwessel, MD.)

Unveiling of portrait of Dr. Ruth Jackson at Baylor University School of Medicine.  (Courtesy of Rosemarie Morwessel, MD.)

Dedication of the Ruth Jackson Conference Center in the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery at Baylor Medical Center.  Dr. Adrian Flatt, her colleague, is seen on the left margin.  (Courtesy of Rosemarie Morwessel, MD.)

Bronze casts of Dr. Ruth Jackson’s hands, presumably created by Adrian Flatt, MD as part of his massive project. (Courtesy of Rosemary Morwessel, MD.)

Drs. Rosemarie Morwessel and Mary Lloyd Ireland interviewed Dr. Ruth Jackson at Baylor University in 1992.  Dr. Jackson passed away in 1994.  (Courtesy of Drs. Morwessel and Ireland.)

Graduation from residency led to the award of a necktie bearing the residency program’s name.  The group includes  graduating chief residents, Vicki Ratner and Debra Zillmer along with Senior Residents, Jo Hannafin, Cathy Compito and Mary Irene Flynn (head turned).  Dr. Ed Habermann, who had trained more women than anyone else at the time, stands with some of his flock.  (Montefiore/Einstein, 1989).  The editor’s fellowship program also gifted a necktie.

Dr. Francesca Thompson with husband and Drs. Helen Horstmann and John Gould overlooking canyon (1988).

Command photo of Dr. Alice Martinson from Naval Hospital Oakland, 1987.  Captain Martinson was the first female physician and first female orthopaedic surgeon to command a military hospital.

Obituary of Dr. Anna Brady, an often-overlooked pioneer who provided care to injured soldiers as a nurse at Normandy in World War II and later became an orthopaedic surgeon who cared for soldiers in Viet Nam.  (Obtained with subscription to the Archives of the Philadelphia Inquirer).

Retired naval hospital commander, Alice Martinson, and partner with the editor (Eureka Springs, Arkansas, 2024).

Dr. Helen Horstmann holding her landmark contribution to the pediatric orthopaedic literature which was published in 2007.  Photo from 2024.

Dr. Helen Horstmann and Dr. Ruth Jackson holding infant, Sara Horstmann, at RJOS meeting (1986).

Women at Mayo Clinic graduation celebration surrounding Dr. Frank Sim, a mentor to many women:  Drs. Diane Dahm, Holly Duck, Debra Zillmer and Amy McIntosh.  (Rochester, MN, 2017)

2010 Ruth Jackson Orthopaedic Society meeting where Dr. Jacquelin Perry was photographed with other past presidents and then saluted by the group.

Dr. Mary Powell, also known as Mary P. Lewis, was the 13th woman to be certified by the American Board of Orthopaedic Surgery in 1963.  She died at age 98 in 2024 (see obituary below).  This photo with one of her mentees, Dr. Yolanda Roth, was taken in 2023.

Dr. Ellen Raney (left) who was the first woman to receive the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) Section on Orthopaedics Distinguished Service Award in 2020.  The award recognizes an individual in the field of pediatric orthopaedic surgery who has contributed to AAP’s mission of excellence in patient care, research and teaching. Dr. Susan Scherl (right) was the second female recipient of the Award.

Women attending the combined AOSSM-AANA Annual Meeting applauding Dr. Jo Hannafin (in front) following her receipt of the Robert E. Leach Sports Medicine Leadership Award.  The following day she was inducted into the AOSSM Hall of Fame (2021)

Dr. Laura Tosi, a pediatric orthopaedic surgeon, who championed the effort to encourage orthopaedic surgeons to take their patient’s bone health into consideration while treating them.  She emphasized the importance of workup and treatment referrals for those with probable osteoporosis and metabolic bone disease.

Pioneers in Sports Medicine gather in front of the photo of Dr. Alexandra (Sandy) Kirkley (deceased) who was the first woman inducted into the AOSSM Hall of Fame:  Drs. Carol Teitz, Letha (Etty) Griffin, Rosemarie (Ro) Morwessel, Jo Hannafin, Mary Lloyd Ireland and Elizabeth Arendt. (1997)

Dr Hannafin was photographed as she was finishing her year as the first female (and only to date) AOSSM president.

The founding members of the Scoliosis Research Society in 1966 with Dr. Jacquelin Perry shown prominently.  (Posted with  permission of the Scoliosis Research Society).

Dr. Mary Morden was one of the organizers of the Ruth Jackson Orthopaedic Society and served as the 4th president of RJOS.  She died an untimely traumatic death in 2022.

Barbara Stimson, MD, an American, served in the Royal Armed Services Corps in England since women were not eligible for service in the United States Medical Reserves Corp.  She achieved the rank of Major.  (Borrowed from the New York Times Archives – no copyright infringement intended – for display purposes only.)

Obituary for Dr. Rosamond Kane who was the first female orthopaedic resident at the New York Orthopaedic Hospital.  She eventually left private practice to become Professor of  pediatric orthopaedics at Columbia’s College of Physicians and Surgeons. The residents there called her clinic “Baby Shoes.”  (From New York Times Archives).

2005:  Dr. Trish Kallemeier PGY 5, Dr. Amy Lelwica PGY 3, Dr. Tom Varecka, Dr. Colleen Linehan PGY 4, Dr. Jessie Cooper Fellow, Jacqueline Geissler, Medical Student.  Photo of first all women trainee team at Hennepin County Medical Center with a beaming Dr. Varecka.

2018: Dr. Nancy Luger, Dr. Jess Downes, Dr. Emily Wagstrom, Dr. Jacqueline Geissler, Dr. Gudrun Mirick comprise 50% of the orthopedic surgeons at the Level 1 Safety-Net hospital Hennepin County Medical Center in Minneapolis, MN. All remain employed there currently and are approximating 50%.

2011/2012: Dr. Jacqueline Geissler, Dr. Erin Meisel, Dr. Jen Hertz, Dr. Nina Lightdale, Dr. Jacqueline Perry, Dr. Dee Hargett, Dr. Sarah Lewis at the Los Angeles Jacqueline Perry Initiative.