Ellen Potter

August 5, 1871 (age 86)

Potter was a member of the Third Baptist Church, the missionary activities of which, in which she participated during her youth, influenced her later career in social service. In 1895 and 1896 she served at the Baptist-run Morning Star Mission in the Chinatown district of New York City, a typical urban mission that developed social services, including a medical dispensary. Carrying her art supplies with her in a little black bag as she performed her duties, she was often taken for a physician. According to her own accounts, these incidents persuaded her to study medicine. After serving her internship and residency at the Woman's Medical College Hospital, she entered private practice in Philadelphia, specializing in obstetrics and gynecology. For the next fifteen years, while maintaining her private practice, Potter participated in the social justice progressive movement in Philadelphia. Between 1912 and 1918 she served as a public school medical inspector. Potter served on the dispensary staffs of both the Howard and Germantown hospitals, and continued her affiliation with the gynecology and obstetrics departments at the Philadelphia General Hospital and the Woman's Medical College Hospital, where she was the nonresident medical director during World War I. Between 1918 and 1920 she supervised the Pennsylvania state program of the Social Hygiene Division of the War Department Commission on Training Camp Activities. This project sought to reduce the incidence of venereal disease and to promote abstinence from alcohol in and around military camps. In 1920, Potter became head of the Division of Child Health in the Pennsylvania Department of Health. She was named secretary of welfare by governor-elect Gifford Pinchot. She took office early in 1923. After leaving office in 1927, Potter transferred her activities to New Jersey. In that same year she helped to develop the new North Jersey Training School at Totowa. She served as its medical director until 1928, when she became acting superintendent at the State Reformatory for Women at Clinton. From 1928 to 1930, Potter headed the New Jersey State Home for Girls at Trenton. In 1932 she was elected president of the Conference of Superintendents of Correctional Institutions for Women and Girls. Potter was appointed director of medicine for the New Jersey Department of Institutions and Agencies, a position she held for nineteen years. In this position she influenced many important programs, some of which ranged beyond the strict confines of her office. She also influenced the development of community mental health clinics. Potter expanded her social welfare activities to the national level in the 1930's. During the Great Depression transiency increased markedly, and in 1932 she and other social workers established the National Committee on Care of Transients and Homeless, a voluntary agency that she chaired from 1933 until its demise in 1938. as a consultant to the Federal Emergency Relief Administration (1933), Potter influenced the establishment of the Federal Transient Service. After this program was dismantled in 1935, she led the Committee on Care of Transients and Homeless in urging a coordinated national policy similar to the coordinated movements she had headed in Pennsylvania and New Jersey. Potter's activities decreased in the 1940's, but she continued to write and to speak, and she served as president of the National Conference of Social Work in 1945. The following year she was named deputy commissioner of the New Jersey Department of Institutions and Agencies, a post she held until she retired in 1949. She developed new interests, especially in the care of the chronically ill and the aged. She died in Philadelphia.

Ellen Culver Potter

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administrator physician

Background

She was born on August 5, 1871 in New London, Connecticut, United States, the daughter of Thomas Wells Potter, a grocer, and Ellen Culver.

Education

She graduated from high school in 1890. In 1893-1894, Potter studied at the Art Students' League in New York City. In the next few years she also attended the Academy of Art in Boston and art school in Norwich, Connecticut.

After traveling to Europe in 1898 and 1899, Potter entered the Woman's Medical College of Pennsylvania in 1899, graduating in 1903.

Career

Potter was a member of the Third Baptist Church, the missionary activities of which, in which she participated during her youth, influenced her later career in social service. In 1895 and 1896 she served at the Baptist-run Morning Star Mission in the Chinatown district of New York City, a typical urban mission that developed social services, including a medical dispensary. Carrying her art supplies with her in a little black bag as she performed her duties, she was often taken for a physician. According to her own accounts, these incidents persuaded her to study medicine.

After serving her internship and residency at the Woman's Medical College Hospital, she entered private practice in Philadelphia, specializing in obstetrics and gynecology. For the next fifteen years, while maintaining her private practice, Potter participated in the social justice progressive movement in Philadelphia. Between 1912 and 1918 she served as a public school medical inspector. Potter served on the dispensary staffs of both the Howard and Germantown hospitals, and continued her affiliation with the gynecology and obstetrics departments at the Philadelphia General Hospital and the Woman's Medical College Hospital, where she was the nonresident medical director during World War I.

Between 1918 and 1920 she supervised the Pennsylvania state program of the Social Hygiene Division of the War Department Commission on Training Camp Activities. This project sought to reduce the incidence of venereal disease and to promote abstinence from alcohol in and around military camps.

In 1920, Potter became head of the Division of Child Health in the Pennsylvania Department of Health. She was named secretary of welfare by governor-elect Gifford Pinchot. She took office early in 1923. After leaving office in 1927, Potter transferred her activities to New Jersey. In that same year she helped to develop the new North Jersey Training School at Totowa. She served as its medical director until 1928, when she became acting superintendent at the State Reformatory for Women at Clinton. From 1928 to 1930, Potter headed the New Jersey State Home for Girls at Trenton. In 1932 she was elected president of the Conference of Superintendents of Correctional Institutions for Women and Girls.

Potter was appointed director of medicine for the New Jersey Department of Institutions and Agencies, a position she held for nineteen years. In this position she influenced many important programs, some of which ranged beyond the strict confines of her office. She also influenced the development of community mental health clinics. Potter expanded her social welfare activities to the national level in the 1930's. During the Great Depression transiency increased markedly, and in 1932 she and other social workers established the National Committee on Care of Transients and Homeless, a voluntary agency that she chaired from 1933 until its demise in 1938.

as a consultant to the Federal Emergency Relief Administration (1933), Potter influenced the establishment of the Federal Transient Service. After this program was dismantled in 1935, she led the Committee on Care of Transients and Homeless in urging a coordinated national policy similar to the coordinated movements she had headed in Pennsylvania and New Jersey.

Potter's activities decreased in the 1940's, but she continued to write and to speak, and she served as president of the National Conference of Social Work in 1945. The following year she was named deputy commissioner of the New Jersey Department of Institutions and Agencies, a post she held until she retired in 1949. She developed new interests, especially in the care of the chronically ill and the aged. She died in Philadelphia.

Achievements

Ellen Culver Potter served as a government administrator in both Pennsylvania (eventually becoming the Secretary of Welfare and the first woman to hold a state cabinet post) and New Jersey (eventually becoming the Deputy Commissioner in charge of welfare in the Department of Institutions and Agencies). Under her leadership more than 200 local child hygiene stations were established. She also organized the Bureau of Children in the Department of Public Welfare, that conducted a much-needed study of nearly 150 institutions and agencies that cared for children, initiated regional conferences, and encouraged county systems of child care. Potter was very popular among women's and social welfare organizations, she encouraged women physicians to become medical missionaries. Potter received numerous awards, including the first W. S. Terry, Jr. , Award of the American Public Welfare Association (1948).

Connections

Potter never married.

Father:: Thomas Wells Potter
Mother:: Ellen Culver

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Ellen Culver Potter

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W. S. Terry

Jr.

Award of the American Public Welfare Association