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Born in Denton County on February 3, 1881, Claudia Potter was one of eight children of William Thomas Carr and Laura Elmira Smith Potter. Claudia Potter graduated from the University of Texas Medical Branch in 1904, the only woman in a class of 23, and only the sixth woman to graduate from the Medical Department. After an internship at John Sealy Hospital in Galveston, Dr. Potter worked as a physician in San Antonio for a year. Hired in 1906 by Dr. Arthur C. Scott, Dr. Potter was the first woman to serve as a line physician for the Gulf, Colorado and Santa Fe Railway, and as an anesthetist for the Temple Sanitarium. Her initial salary was $420 a year, plus room and board, much less than her male counterparts received. Dr. Potter was regarded by her peers as the first full time anesthesiologist in Texas, and was the first to administer nitrous oxide by machine. During her tenure, she trained many nurse anesthetists, and helped to develop Temple Sanitarium (Scott and White Hospital) into an outstanding surgical center. Dr. Potter excelled in her medical speciality and was widely respected. She retired from Scott and White in 1947 after 41 years of service, and died in 1970. (1997) |
