Early Female Physicians

Harriet Judd Sartain (1830-1923) is today remembered primarily for her work in homeopathic medicine in Philadelphia, but she was also the first woman with a medical degree to practice in Waterbury, returning here after finishing her education in 1854. She was one of two Connecticut women to earn medical degrees from the Female Medical College of Pennsylvania in 1853; the other was Ellen Boyle of Farmington. They were the first women from Connecticut to attend that college and may very well have been the first two women from Connecticut to earn medical degrees. Sixty years later, Judd Sartain was hailed as "the pioneer woman physician of America."

Forest City (SD) Press, 22 July 1914
Courtesy of Chronicling America

Community Cleanup at Scovill Homes

There are people who sit around complaining about problems, and then there are people who dive right in and solve the problems. Today was a good day for the problem-solvers in the Scovill Row Homes.

ACT For America Protest in Waterbury

A group called ACT for America organized "March Against Sharia" protests in two dozen cities around the country. The protest in Connecticut was held in front of Waterbury's City Hall. A counter-protest was held in front of the Silas Bronson Library.

The scene at City Hall just after 10 a.m.

Waterbury Democrat Newspaper

The Waterbury Democrat began in July 1881 as a weekly newspaper called the Valley Democrat in Waterbury, Connecticut. The newspaper became The Sunday Democrat on January 7, 1886, and The Waterbury Evening Democrat on December 5, 1887. Founded by an Irish Catholic Democrat, Cornelius Maloney, the Democrat was known for its promotion of the Democratic Party’s principles and for its coverage of Irish and Catholic topics. The paper focused its local reporting on Waterbury news and sports, along with a column for the neighboring towns of Naugatuck, Oakville, and Watertown.

Irish Catholics made up approximately half of Waterbury’s population at this time. The city’s first Irish immigrants arrived during the early 1830s. By the 1880s, they had largely overcome discrimination from the city’s Protestant community and were establishing themselves as a formidable force in local politics.

Cornelius Maloney was joined by his brother, Michael Thomas Maloney, in 1882, establishing the publishing firm name C. & M. T. Maloney. The Maloney brothers learned the printing and newspaper business in New Britain. Cornelius apprenticed with Oviatt & Guernsey, and later worked for the New Britain Record and the New Britain Observer before moving to Waterbury. He served as a Representative in the Connecticut General Assembly in 1887 and 1888, and he was the founder and first Grand Knight of the local Knights of Columbus, Sheridan Council, No. 24.

Editorial, Waterbury Democrat, 1887
Courtesy of Library of Congress Chronicling America