Getting Mouthy: The Displayed Authority of Dr. Katharine Berry Richardson

Abstract

Female physicians in the late 1800s and early 1900s struggled to carve out space for themselves in the male-dominated medical profession. They were rare and generally unwelcome in most public and professional discourses. It was in this time and place that Katharine Richardson, M.D. raised enough money from the Kansas City, Missouri, community to build and operate a free pediatric hospital. This essay seeks to delineate the rhetorical approaches she employed to gain the respect and funds of Kansas City, using the hospital newsletter she wrote for and edited as source material. The research of Carolyn Skinner and Susan Wells provide a framework through which the ethos of Richardson can be examined more closely. Her stances as both a physician and as a philanthropist are contrasted with one another and often found complementary.