Anna M. Fullerton diaries--ACC-1992.012

Date created 1915-1933
Creator Fullerton, Anna M. (Anna Martha), 1853-1938
Abstract Dr. Fullerton, a surgeon, spent the latter half of her life as a missionary to India after training and lecturing at Woman's Medical College of Pennsylvania and serving as the head of the West Philadelphia Hospital for Women. These diaries document her time at Dehra Dun from 1915 to 1933. Although Fullerton comments on the war, local customs, and her work in the hospital, she devotes the bulk of her writing to the weather, friends she heard from or saw, home improvements, legal and business transactions, quotes from the Bible, other books, and friends' letters.
Research Interest A number of interesting themes run through these diaries. The first is US participation in the war, a development of which Fullerton did not approve. The second, and most prominent, concerns her paternalistic attitudes toward locals and their customs, however, attention to such issues is sporadic. Attitudes of missionaries toward local customs, particularly child brides, is dealt with more extensively in WMCP's Alumnae Transactions, as is American medical women's participation in the war. Since Fullerton often transcribes friends' letters in full, it is often difficult to determine where quoted material ends and her own thoughts begin.
Size 0.5 linear feet
Local identifier 1992.12
Contributing institution Drexel University College of Medicine Legacy Center
Digital materials View items from the Anna M. Fullerton diaries--ACC-1992.012