Dr. Mary Hill Fulstone

Dr. Mary Hill Fulstone

“Dr. Mary,” as she was affectionately known, began her practice in 1920, a year when the status of women was a hotly contested issue. Women were competing with men on a near equal basis, but the acceptance of a woman doctor was slow. Mary Hill Fulstone, California/Berkeley - Mu, married Fred Fulstone, a rancher in Smithville, Nevada. She had a government contract putting her in charge of health services for the Indians. She cared for them without the assistance of drugs and often without running water or electricity. Mary established an office in the 1920s, treating people in the vicinity where she lived. In 1938 she began traveling to other areas, using a not very reliable car and sometimes even a horse and buggy. In the 1950s, she crusaded for a new hospital to replace a poorly-equipped one. The bond issue to fund it passed through Mary’s efforts and one wing was named in her honor. She was the first alumna to receive the Woman of the Year Award in 1950.