Mary Starr Tudor, born in 1840, was the first woman doctor in South Windsor. 
She was born at 621 Main Street, where she lived until her death at the age of 77 in 1917. She attended district schools in Windsor and the East Windsor Hill Seminary before graduating from the Women’s Medical College in Philadelphia. During her training, she completed course work at a hospital in the American West, but returned to South Windsor to serve her local community.
Dr. Tudor had many interests, including history and the advantages of country life. A member of the Martha Pitkin Wolcott Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution, at one meeting she delivered a paper on Southern Women in the Civil War. She also spoke at the 1886 Convention of the CT Board of Agricultural with a piece entitled, A Farm View of Education (see below). (You can read all 16 pages of her paper here.)
She was active in medical circles in Hartford, which led to an interesting episode in her life: A friendship with another local Doctor sparked Dr. Tudor’s involvement in the fringes of the Chinese Reform Association (see Kang Tongbi).
Photos courtesy of Bob and Edie Starr.
