Dr. Margaret Ellen Douglass (1878-1950)

Dr. Ellen Margaret Douglass was born in New Brunswick and studied medicine at the University of Toronto. She did some postgraduate training in England and America and after starting practice in St. John. She settled in Winnipeg in 1909 where she practised medicine all her career, except for the war years. In 1914 she organized the Winnipeg Women's Volunteer Reserve. During the First World War she distinguished herself by becoming an officer in the Royal Army Medical Corps (RAMC) and serving with the Women's Auxiliary Army Corps. She served in France with the RAMC, holding the rank of major, and was awarded the Allies Medal and the British War Medal for her service.

She was a gifted speaker and used this talent in her many public relations endeavours. In 1927 she went on a trip around the world to visit medical centres in places like India and China to teach specifically about better methods for caring for women. During her lifetime she held a number of offices in women's organizations. She served as president of both the Canadian Federation of Business and Professional Women's Clubs and the Winnipeg Women's Canadian Club. She received numerous awards including being made a life member of the University Women's Club in 1950, and being elected Honorary President of the Federation of Medical Women in 1946. In 1948 she was given the title of Commander Sister of the Order of St. John of Jerusalem by the St. John's ambulance Brigade in recognition of her services.

She died in her home in Winnipeg in 1950.

Additional Reading

Mitchell, Rosslyn Brough. Medicine in Manitoba: the story of its beginnings. Winnipeg: Stovel-Advocate Press, c1954.

Copy from Business and Professional Woman (Archival material held in the Faculty of Medicine Archives housed in the Archives, Neil John Maclean Health Sciences Library, Biographical Folder: Douglass, Margaret Ellen).

Obituary. Manitoba Medical Review v. 30 (1950): 7.

Obituary. Canadian Medical Association Journal v. 63 (1950): 313.