Virginia Apgar (1909 - 1974)

Born 7 Jun 1909 in Westfield, Union, New Jersey, United States

Ancestors

Died 7 Aug 1974 at age 65 in New York City, New York, New York

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Biography

Virginia Apgar is Notable.

• Noted physician in several fields and invented the Apgar score for newborns.^[1][2]

Virginia Apgar was born in 1909. She was the daughter of Charles Emery Apgar and Helen May Clarke. ^[3][4][5][6] She grew up in Westfield, New Jersey, where she graduated from Westfield High School in 1925. She aimed to become a doctor as early as her high school years, if not earlier. Published biographies suggest that her interest in medicine may have stemmed from her father's interest in science or from concern about medical problems of her brothers,^[7] but it seems likely that one important source of inspiration was her step-grandmother Dr. Margaret (Gaskill) Clarke (1840-1933), who was a practicing physician in New Jersey for over four decades.

Virginia attended Mount Holyoke College, majoring in zoology, with minors in physiology and chemistry. After graduating from Mount Holyoke in 1929, she enrolled in the Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons to obtain a degree in medicine. She graduated in 1933, and completed a surgical residency in 1937. The chair of the surgery department encouraged her to pursue training in anesthesiology, saying that the women he had trained in the field of surgery had been unable to obtain careers as surgeons. Following his advice, Virginia obtained certification in anesthesiology that same year. ^[8][2]

After six months training at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and another six months at Bellevue Hospital in New York, Dr. Virginia Apgar returned to Columbia University in 1938 as the director of the division of anesthesia and as an attending anesthetist. her impressive title was misleading. Anesthesiology was not yet generally recognized as a medical specialty, anesthesiologists were not accepted as equals by the surgeons they worked with, and pay was low. Until the mid-1940s, Apgar was the only staff member. By 1946, however, anesthesia began to be acknowledged as a medical specialty. In 1949 anesthesia research became an academic department, and Dr. Apgar became the first woman full professor at the Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons.^[8]

Concerned that modern medicine had been having success in reducing overall infant mortality, but death rates in the first 24 hours were unchanged, she investigated the causes of infant mortality in the first 24 hours to identify trends that could distinguish infants in trouble. This work led to the creation in 1952 of a standardized scoring system to assess a newborn's health after birth, known as the Apgar Score. The Apgar Score determines the condition of newborn babies -- and the possible need for medical interventions -- based on simple observations of heart rate, respiratory effort, muscle tone, reflex response, and color at one and five minutes of life. It is still used around the world as an important tool for obstetric practice.^[8][9]

During a sabbatical leave in 1959, Dr. Apgar earned a master's degree in public health from the Johns Hopkins University. She decided not to return to the university, and instead devoted herself to the prevention of birth defects. She became the director of the division of congenital defects at the National Foundation for Infantile Paralysis (which later became the March of Dimes Foundation).^[8] Virginia was the vice president of Medical Affairs for March of Dimes and also directed the foundation's research program that focused on preventing and treating birth defects. Through her work at the March of Dimes, she also brought attention to the problem of premature birth.^[2]

Dr. Apgar never married. When asked why she never married or had babies of her own, she is said to have responded, "It's just that I haven't found a man who can cook."^[10]

Dr. Virginia Apgar died on 7 August 1974 at Columbia-Presbyterian Medical Center.^[11] She is buried in Fairview Cemetery in Westview, New Jersey.^[12] She was commemorated with a U.S. postage stamp in 1994,^[13] and she was inducted into the National Women's Hall of Fame in 1995.^[11]

Sources

1. ↑ Wilson, Tracy V. and Holly Frey. "Dr. Virginia Apgar." Stuff You Missed in History Class (podcast). 6 July 2015. How Stuff Works.com. (Note: rebroadcast as a SYMHC Classic on 30 June 2018.)
2. ↑ ^{2.0 2.1 2.2} https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virginia_Apgar
3. ↑ United States Census, 1910," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MK1Q-R24 : accessed 23 November 2016), Virginia Apgar in household of Charles E Apgar, Westfield Ward 3, Union, New Jersey, United States; citing enumeration district (ED) ED 118, sheet 9A, family 162, NARA microfilm publication T624 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 1982), roll 911; FHL microfilm 1,374,924.
4. ↑ New Jersey State Census, 1915", database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QV9W-8F53 : 8 October 2014), Virginia Apgar in entry for Charles E Apgar, 1915.
5. ↑ United States Census, 1920," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:M4YT-C1G : accessed 23 November 2016), Virginia Apgar in household of Charles Apgar, Westfield Ward 3, Union, New Jersey, United States; citing enumeration district (ED) ED 166, sheet 12A, line 49, family 255, NARA microfilm publication T625 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 1992), roll 1072; FHL microfilm 1,821,072.
6. ↑ United States Census, 1930," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:X4N7-V8Z : accessed 23 November 2016), Virginia Apgar in household of Charles E Apgar, Westfield, Union, New Jersey, United States; citing enumeration district (ED) ED 174, sheet 3A, line 50, family 57, NARA microfilm publication T626 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 2002), roll 1390; FHL microfilm 2,341,125.
7. ↑ Blakemore, Erin. The Doctor Who Saved Countless Newborn Babies, Time magazine, 29 August 2016.
8. ↑ ^{8.0 8.1 8.2 8.3} Biography of Virginia Apgar, U.S. National Library of Medicine. Accessed 20 April 2021.
9. ↑ American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, The Apgar Score, Committee Opinion, Number 644, October 2015. Accessed online, 20 April 2021.
10. ↑ Pirani, Fiza. Who was Virginia Apgar? Google honors trailblazing doctor who saved millions of babies, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, 7 June 2018.
11. ↑ ^{11.0 11.1} Biographical Overview, The Virginia Apgar Papers, U.S. National Library of Medicine. Accessed 21 April 2021.
12. ↑ Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com : accessed 20 April 2021), memorial page for Dr Virginia Apgar (7 Jun 1909–7 Aug 1974), Find A Grave: Memorial #6652218, citing Fairview Cemetery, Westfield, Union County, New Jersey, USA ; Maintained by Find A Grave.
13. ↑ Smithsonian National Postal Museum - Women on Stamps Virginia Apgar

• Virginia Apgar, National Women's Hall of Fame

• The Virginia Apgar Papers, National Library of Medicine, U.S. National Institutes of Health https://profiles.nlm.nih.gov/CP/Views/Exhibit/narrative/biographical.html