Mary J. Safford

Mary Jane Safford-Blake was a nurse, physician, educator, and humanitarian. As a nurse in the Union Army during the American Civil War, she worked closely with Mary Ann Bickerdyke treating the sick and injured near Fort Donelson, and was nicknamed the "Cairo Angel" for her service in Cairo, Illinois. After the war, she became one of the first female gynecologists in the United States and was the first woman to perform an ovariotomy. She later taught at Boston University, and was one of the first women elected to the Boston School Committee.