Jennie Dean Beaver was born in Athens, PA in 1887. She attended Cornell in New York graduating with a BA in 1907 and went on to Cornell Medical School in New York City were she graduated in 1910 as a medical doctor. She did her internship in Philadelphia for a year. Her first professional position was in Morristown were she was the first Resident, pathology and anesthesiology at Morristown Memorial Hospital. When the United States entered the First World War Jennie was appointed Inspector for the American Red Cross as bacteriologist and she sailed for England in November. In this position she worked at the Bacteriological Laboratory of the American Red Cross Hospital #109 at Evreaux France.
Following the war she went to work with the Palestine Relief Commission at the American Red Cross Base Hospital Jerusalem. It was during this period that she met her husband Reginald Parker Beaver, a former British soldier turned business man working in Egypt. The two returned to Morristown in May 1920 to marry. The eventually had two children Arnold Richardson Beaver, born 1922, and Reginald Dean Beaver, born 1929. After the wedding the couple returned to Egypt for Reginald's job with the Anglo-Egypt Bank. Shortly thereafter Jennie contracted Sand Fly Fever while there and they had to return to Morristown in 1922.
Upon their return to Morristown Dr. Beaver resumed her position with the Morristown Memorial Hospital and Reginald worked for Morristown Securities. Dr. Beaver was involved in many different aspects of Morristown's public health. She was appointed medical inspector of Hanover Township schools and she was involved in the creation of the Morristown chapter of Planned Parenthood.
In the 1930's Dr. Beaver continued her formal education by attending the Post Graduate Hospital to study as an allergist, becoming one of the first female allergists in the country. She was later affiliated with this hospital and traveled there twice a week to attend patients. In 1960 she received the Golden Merit Award from the New Jersey Medical Society for 50 years of medical practice. She retired from medicine about two years before her death in 1965.
Reginald Beaver later found employment with Coggeshell and Hicks, a New York brokerage house where he remained until his retirement. He eventual became a U.S. citizen. He died in 1974.
The Jennie Dean Beaver papers document the career and life of one of Morristown's first female physicians, veteran of World War I, and staff member of the Morristown Memorial Hospital. The majority of the records are either created by or for Jennie Dean Beaver in her role as a student, doctor, and Red Cross member. The collection is divided into five series spanning the years 1907-1967. The collection contains personal and professional correspondence, photo albums from both Jennie and Reginald's World War I service, academic records for both Dr. Beaver and Reginald, and professional papers created by Dr. Beaver that span the breadth of her career. The collection also includes many letters written to her husband Reginald Parker Beaver. Many of these letters are addressed to Pvt. Beaver, a World War I British soldier and some were written to Rex Beaver, Esq. the ex patriot businessman working in Egypt following the war. This collection will be useful to researchers interested in the trail blazing female physician Dr. Jennie Dean Beaver and those interested in the business and personal attitudes of a British citizen working in colonial Egypt.
Correspondence, 1908-1951: This series contains letters received by Dr. Dean Beaver throughout several phases of her life, including her years as a student, the first few years of her professional career, her service in France with the American Red Cross, her service with the Red Cross Committee to Palestine, and letters addressed to both Dr. Beaver and her husband Reginald Parker Beaver. The great wealth of information about Dr. Beaver is to be found in this series. These letters provide a detailed view into the personal and professional life of Dr. Beaver. They are from family, friends, and colleagues and the subjects touch on every aspect of her life.
Academic career, 1900-1911. The records pertaining to her academic career are sparse and supply relatively little personal information about Dr. Beaver. More information is available in the correspondence she received as a student. This series contains Dr. Beaver's grade school report cards, she attended Athens Borough, a graduation program for the Cornell class of 1907 where she attended both undergraduate and medical school, and her diploma from medical school. There are also some letters of recommendation written on her behalf by medical school personnel as she sought an internship in Pennsylvania.
Professional career, 1907-1936. Dr. Beaver's career spanned almost the entirety of the first half of the twentieth century and she witnessed one of the most dramatic events in history as a doctor with the American Red Cross Hospital in France during the First World War. This service was followed closely by her participation in the Red Cross Committee to Palestine before returning to the United States for a position at the Morristown Memorial Hospital and as the Inspector of the Hanover District schools. This series is arranged chronologically and contains official communication to Dr. Beaver from the American Red Cross, to include wire grams, travel documents and instructions, copies of speeches and essays written or given by Dr. Beaver throughout her career , professional memorabilia to include awards, citations, and note cards re: patients, financial and legal documents, and artifacts, including medical note book and an award presented to Dr. Beaver by Morris County Medical Society. The earliest records are civil service testing requirements that she needed to take in order to qualify for a job within the state following graduation from Cornell Medical School.
Reginald Beaver, 1908-1967. The larger portion of this series contains correspondence to Reginald, primarily professional in nature, though as noted above there are several letters written to him as he served in Egypt during World War I and a few written before the war. There are some records from the Anglo-Egyptian Bank, his employer while he was in Egypt and records from his school King Edward VI. Middle School.
Photo Albums, 1908-1920. There are three albums in this collection two of Jennie's and one is Reginald's. Jennie's first album contains pictures of school, both college and medical. The second is a record of her time in France during the First World War. There are pictures of the hospital structure as well as patients and staff. The third album is a record of Reginald's war period and immediate post war Period in Egypt. This series provides powerful documentary evidence of the Beaver's early careers.
This material is open for research without restriction under the conditions of the North Jersey History Center archives access policy. Records may be copied for use in individual scholarly or personal research, however, as with all materials in the History Center, researchers are responsible for obtaining copyright permission to use material from the collection. Material in the Jennie Dean Beaver, M.D. collection may be photocopied, but because this material is a permanent part of the History Center's collections, researchers are advised to photocopy with care, using only the edge copier for bound material.
Jennie Dean Beaver, M.D. Papers were acquired as a gift from Alice Caulkins.
Jennie Dean Beaver, M.D. Papers, North Jersey History Center, The Morristown and Morris Township Library.
Arranged by Lois Densky, Winter 1990. Updated June 2022.