Dr. Mary Holloway Wilhite

Physician and women’s rights leader Dr. Mary Wilhite was born and raised in Montgomery County. She graduated from Penn Medical University in Philadelphia in 1856 and opened a practice in Crawfordsville, becoming one of the first trained female physicians in the state. A local philanthropist, she helped found the Montgomery County Orphan’s Home in the early 1880s. A longtime proponent of women’s equality, she helped revive the women’s suffrage movement in Indiana after the Civil War and was integral in founding the Montgomery County Woman Suffrage Association in 1869. Through her writings and speeches, she advocated for equal pay for equal work, increased educational opportunities for women, and full equality under the law.

Crawfordsville, Indiana · United States