Emeline Horton Cleveland
Emeline Horton Cleveland (September 22, 1829 – December 8, 1878) was an American physician and one of the first women to perform major abdominal or gynecologic surgery in the United States. She was also among the first women connected with a large public hospital and helped start one of the country’s early nursing assistant programs.
Born Emeline Horton in Ashford, Connecticut, she was the second of eight children. After her father died, she funded her college education by teaching. She attended Oberlin College, graduating in 1853, and married Giles Butler Cleveland. They hoped to be missionaries, but his illness stopped that plan. To support them, Emeline opened a medical practice in Oneida Valley, New York.
In 1856 she began teaching anatomy at the Female Medical College of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia. After her husband became ill again, she moved back to Philadelphia. She later studied obstetrics, gynecology, and hospital administration in Paris and London, with support from Ann Preston and local Quaker women. Returning to Philadelphia in 1862, she became chief resident at the Woman’s Hospital of Philadelphia, a training site for medical students.
When Preston died in 1872, Cleveland became dean of the Woman’s Medical College. She started training programs for nurses and nursing assistants. Her health declined, and she resigned as dean in 1874. In 1878 she was appointed gynecologist for the Pennsylvania Hospital Department for the Insane, one of the first times a woman held such a position at a large public hospital. She died later that year of tuberculosis.
Cleveland is remembered for her medical skill and for proving that women could succeed as surgeons. She is buried in Philadelphia beside Ann Preston. Her son Arthur Horton Cleveland also became a doctor, and her colleague Anna Broomall succeeded her as chair of obstetrics.
This page was last edited on 2 February 2026, at 15:43 (CET).