Vetnuus | August 2025 19 It’s possible some of her peers and professors were less than welcoming to a woman. An American Veterinary Medical Association article reported that one of Michigan State University’s earliest female vet students, Dr. Dorothy Segal, ran into barriers three decades later. According to the article, the dean called Segal and the six other female students into his office and told them to “go back to the kitchen.” Segal, at least, didn’t listen. And today, women account for about 80% of U.S. veterinarian college students. As Nicholson neared her graduation, she was featured in a 1902 article in the Chicago Tribune, which declared: “No other woman, so far as known, has done this kind of work.” Within six months of graduating, in September of 1903, she married a man named John Jackson, coowner of a Chicago restaurant called Becker & Jackson. It’s unclear if she continued practising after her marriage, but later news articles would imply she was struggling with alcohol addiction. Her marriage fell apart. Finally, just three years after becoming the first female to earn a veterinarian degree in the U.S., her life came to a tragic end. Dr. Howard Erickson, Kansas State University: “She’d gone to the café to try to patch things up again, and he said, ‘It’s no use.’They had gone back together once before, and she’d gone back to drinking again, and he said it’s no use. So she stood up and pulled out a revolver and shot herself, right there in the cafe.” Back then, Dr. Erickson points out, alcohol and mental health treatment were less advanced than today, and her struggles should not diminish her accomplishments. Dr. Howard Erickson, Kansas State University: “I would just say that there is suicide in all professions today, and it happens in veterinary medicine too…You gotta admire her that she had enough, you know, grit to go through the curriculum at McKillip.” By Colleen Bradford Krantz, colleen.krantz@iowapbs.org v Elinor McGrath In 1950, Dr. Elinor McGrath wrote to the Women’s Veterinary Medical Association (WVMA) Bulletin: “The only rule I made [in my life] was that if I had a goal to reach, I overcame the obstacles involved.” Dr. McGrath is widely acknowledged as the first female veterinarian in the U.S. Born around 1888, Dr. Elinor McGrath developed an affection for animals early on and was determined to overcome barriers to enter the male-dominated field. She endured bullying and harassment from schoolmates, but persevered and graduated in 1910—a decade before U.S. women were granted the right to vote. She was successful in this endeavor, and in 1907, she became the first woman admitted to Chicago Veterinary College. At the time, the nation relied heavily on farm animals, but Dr. McGrath chose to build her practice around pets—a decision that many thought odd. Dr. McGrath practiced veterinary medicine for 37 years, and she also established Chicago’s first pet cemetery, recognizing the strength and importance of the human-animal bond. v >>>20 Article
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