Dr Lillian Herald South
Born: January 31, 1879
Died: September 13, 1966
A native of Warren
County, KY, Lillian South exerted a powerful influence on Kentucky’s
public health. She was born the daughter of a doctor, JF South and his
wife Martha (nee Moore). Lillian went to public school in Bowling
Green and graduated with a BA degree from Potter College (at the present
location of WKU)
when she was only 18 years old.
She then traveled to
Patterson, NJ, where she studied for two years for her RN degree in
nursing. Having “aced” every course in nursing school, she decided to
pursue a doctoral degree in medicine. After 5 years, she earned her MD
degree from the Women’s Medical College of Pennsylvania (1904). She
returned to practice in Bowling Green, joining the successful practice
of Dr J N McCormack and Dr A T McCormack. Two years later the three
doctors established St Joseph Hospital in the South family home on (what
is now) 12th Avenue. The home was re-built to accommodate 42
beds.
Just a few years later,
in 1910, Dr South was appointed as state bacteriologist at the State Board of
Health in Louisville, a position that she held for 40 years. In this
capacity, she gained national recognition for her many years of research
on hookworms, rabies, and leprosy in Kentucky. She is credited for
virtually eradicating the once widely prevalent hookworm from the state,
through public health campaigns to exterminate houseflies which are the
vector. She also led the movement to ban the use of the public drinking
cup.
Dr South was also very
active in state and national organizations, and was the first woman to
be elected vice president of the AMA (1914). She was an active member of
the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the Kentucky
Medical Association, the Jefferson
County Medical Society, and the Tri-County Medical Society.
[Note: the
Warren County Medical Society was formerly called the Tri-County Medical
Society].
She was president of the
Association of Southern Medical Women, and councilor of the American Association of
Medical Women.
Dr South traveled
extensively to learn as much as she could about the science of medicine.
She studied at Johns Hopkins, Mayo Clinic, the Pasteur Lab in Paris, as
well as the Madame Curie Radium Institute. She was a delegate to the
International Hygiene Congress in Dresden, Germany, and to the Public
Health Division of the League of Nations in Geneva, Switz.
Gov. Martha Layne Collins "She not only turned out to be a strong governor but also was a real mentor to the many young women who saw her as a role model and are now today in public service. I count myself among them."
