Women's History Month

March is Women's History Month and to celebrate, we're shining a spotlight on phenomenal women who improved the world at KCU and beyond. We also included unique information about women's history in our communities: Kansas City, Joplin and the state of Missouri.

Women Doctors Have Been Part of KCU History Since the Beginning

Pioneering women have been key players from the founding of our university in 1916. Four of the twelve original board members of the university were female DOs. KCU's first graduate in 1917 was a transfer student, Mamie Johnston, DO (COM ’17, ’18). She took another year of training, graduating again in 1918. 

Below are past and present notable women who've had an incredibly positive impact on KCU, and in all cases, their impact reached far beyond our campuses.

Margaret Jones, DO (COM ’22)

Dr. Jones was one of the first female osteopathic surgeons.

Read The Only Female Surgeon Present, compiled from our digital archive by Robyn Oro, Access Services/Special Collections Coordinator, at the D’Angelo Library.

Mary Lou Butterworth, DO (COM ’54)

Dr. Butterworth was one of only three women in her class. Financing her education was her biggest challenge The fact that women in the not-too-distant past could not borrow money from a lending institution makes her an even more enterprising individual!

Read about Dr. Butterworth's experiences as told by Robyn Oro: Dr. Butterworth in Her Own Words.

Elizabeth P. Clark, DO (COM '87)

Air Force Colonel Elizabeth Clark was KCU's Star Spangled Banner Alumni Award honoree in 2009. Dr. Clark is a military veteran with a career spanning 25 years and four tours in Iraq. Her patient-centered holistic focus and philosophy that "patients don't have a rank" is merely one of her many outstanding qualities. Dr. Clark saved countless lives on the battlefield, and all while wearing 45 pounds of body armor in the desert heat. She has received numerous decorations, among them the Legion of Merit, the Bronze Star, Defense Meritorious Service Medal and Meritorious Service Medal with four oak leaf clusters.

Read an article from a 2009 KCU magazine that tells a bit of Dr. Clark's story and lists her many accomplishments and accolades.

Renee Darko, DO (COM '06)

On March 8, 2021, KCU will host alumna Dr. Renee Darko to speak at our International Women's Day event. We are so excited to connect with her for this special event!

Dr. Darko (nee Volny) was an outstanding KCU student where she became well-known for her amazing energy, vision and ability to execute on ideas.

Since her commencement in 2006, Dr. Darko has created a stunning career as a doctor who specializes in obstetrics and gynecology as well as entrepreneur, yet still keeps her personal mission a priority: to help others be successful in their own goals, such as going to medical school. Dr. Darko's incredibly positive impact on others and empowered spirit continues to be an inspiration for all of us at the university, and beyond.

Read a 2012 article about Dr. Darko's student experience at KCU.

Read The Balancing Act of Team Darko (2018 KCU Magazine) story about Renee and her husband Nii.

Women in Osteopathic Medicine

WEDU, a PBS station in Tampa, Florida, developed an original documentary based on the book "The Feminine Touch: Women in Osteopathic Medicine" by Thomas Quinn, DO, a professor at Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine (LECOM) in Bradenton, Florida.  The film won a Suncoast Regional Emmy® Award in 2017! Source: AACOM - Women in Osteopathic Medicine

Notable Women in Kansas City History

Did you know Children's Mercy Hospital was founded by two sisters? Did you know a woman was the editor and publisher of the Kansas City Call for 70 years? Did you know that the Garment District at one time housed a company that was the world’s largest maker of dresses?

Below are some fun and notable facts, stories and achievements of outstanding women in Kansas City history.

• Lucile Bluford was a well-respected editor and publisher of the Kansas City Call, an important African American weekly newspaper. She was also a brave and persistent civil rights activist. In both her personal life and her career, she refused to remain quiet about racial injustice. Biographies are available by the State Historical Society of Missouri and the Kansas City Public Library. (Photo courtesy of the Black Archives of Mid-America.)
  
  
• Katharine Berry Richardson (ca. 1858-1933) and Alice Berry Graham (1850-1913) were the founders of Children’s Mercy Hospital. The two sisters became doctors at a time when it was rare for women to do so. 
  
  
• Kansas City has been home to many extraordinary women. Pioneers. Activists. Entrepreneurs. Artists. Some were born here, others came and never left, but all helped shape our city into what it is today. Visit this KCLibrary page full of information about pioneering woman, and download a 16-page coloring book of KC women who made their mark.
  
  
• Kansas City’s First Ladies: 5 Women Entrepreneurs Who Built KC
  Ask people to list Kansas City’s most historic entrepreneurs, and certain names immediately spring to mind—Kauffman, Bloch, Hall to name a few. They’re men who achieved landmark success in business and left an important impact on the community. But not as many people know the women who built their own businesses here and who made significant contributions to Kansas City. Read about the women who shaped, and even designed, Kansas City.

Joplin Women's History

Did you know that the first woman county clerk in the United States was elected in Jasper County? Did you know that Bonnie and Clyde had a hideout in Joplin?

The articles and stories (and coloring books!) below celebrate notable women who made history in Joplin, Missouri.

• Download Coloring JOMO: Women Who Made Their Mark - a coloring book celebrating many of the extraordinary women who made their mark on Joplin history (from the PostArt Library).
    
• On the Joplin Globe's website, read a story about the first U.S. woman to serve as county clerk, Jasper County’s Annie White Baxter, who was inducted into the Hall of Famous Missourians on August 26, 2020, on the 100th anniversary of the passage of the 19th Amendment.
  
  
• Learn more about Bonnie and Clyde's hideout in Joplin. Missouri can't claim Bonnie Parker as a native daughter, but she was regularly seen in the Show Me State.

Celebrate Women's History Month by Volunteering

Yes, we're living in a COVID world, but there are ways to have a positive impact while keeping a physical distance!

VolunteerMatch.org has a user-friendly website featuring a robust search of all volunteer positions. Search by virtual- or location-based opportunity, cause area, skill set, and geography. We identified nearly 20,000 VIRTUAL ways you can have an impact and make a difference for WOMEN.

Here are local in-person volunteer opportunities for women's causes: over 500 in Kansas City and more than 1,000 in Joplin.