This week in Brattleboro History we are going to focus on the first female doctor in Brattleboro, Grace Burnett. Miss Burnett was born in West Dummerston in 1886. She grew up around animals and loved horses. She always wanted to be a doctor and was determined to find a way to make this happen. As a young girl she practiced on her pets and farm animals, making medicines and dressing their wounds.
She attended a one room schoolhouse, about a half mile from her home, for grades 1 through 9. After 9th grade she then traveled to Brattleboro High School, on Main Street, where she graduated in 1905.
In order to pay for medical school she began teaching and performing janitorial duties in the one room school house she had attended in West Dummerston. To make more money, she also worked at the Overall Factory in Brattleboro producing double stitched overalls very popular with the workmen of the time.
After two years of working non-stop, in 1907, she attended the University of Michigan and enrolled in the Medical Course. Her brother found a job near there, and worked in the area until she knew her way around. Her parents were worried about her being so far away from home, studying in a field that was very new for women.
After completing her Michigan course in 1910 she transferred to the Women’s Medical College in Philadelphia where she graduated in 1912. She worked in hospitals in Virginia and New Jersey for almost two years to gain experience, then returned to Brattleboro and opened her own Doctor’s office in January, 1914 in the Market Building at 17 Elliot Street.
Even though she had an office in town, much of Dr. Burnett’s care was delivered in her patients’ homes. She made her morning rounds in the countryside in a carriage pulled by a pair of Morgan horses, and her afternoon calls in town were made in a buggy pulled by another Morgan horse.
By 1931 she had delivered more than 3,000 babies, most born at home; some born at the Mutual Aid Maternity Home at Harris Place where Richards Insurance is now located.
Dr. Burnett also treated patients at her office on Elliot Street until 1941, when she moved her office to her elegant Victorian home on Western Avenue. As cars became more popular, her large home and barn provided better parking for her patients.
In 1958 plans to construct the Interstate through Brattleboro were shared and it became apparent that the planned route would go through Dr. Burnett’s property on Western Avenue. She received $26,000 for her property before it was demolished to create the exit 2 interchange. Dr. Burnett moved back to her family home in West Dummerston and lived with her aging father.
Despite her busy practice she was always very active in the community, belonging to and supporting many groups. She was the Founder of the Green Mountain Horse Association, the Brattleboro Riding Club; the local chapter of the ASPCA and a Director of the Valley Fair.
Dr. Burnett’s office closed when the interstate arrived but she continued to see patients until the last year of her life. Dr. Burnett died in 1963. For almost 50 years the Doctor served Brattleboro and the surrounding towns as her name aptly suggests… with Grace.
In 1914 Dr. Burnett was opening her medical practice in downstreet Brattleboro. Her contributions and impact on our community were justifiably recognized in 1961 when she was named the Brattleboro Chamber of Commerce’s “Man of the Year”.