Mary Putnam Jacobi and the Politics of Medicine in Nineteenth-Century America by Carla Bittel

Author:Carla Bittel [Bittel, Carla]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Biography & Autobiography, Women, Medical (Incl. Patients)
ISBN: 9781469606446
Google: u-rA4igX19UC
Publisher: UNC Press Books
Published: 2012-06-01T05:30:15+00:00

Ernst Jacobi. Courtesy of Prints and Photographs Division, Library of Congress.

Marjorie Jacobi. Courtesy of Prints and Photographs Division, Library of Congress.

The Jacobi marriage was now child-centered, just like Abraham’s professional life. Ernst and Marjorie formed the heart of their home and emotional lives. As Mary said, “They are … our constant companions… [and] we never have any greater enjoyment than their companionship.” The children were raised to reflect their parents’ politics and values, as the couple worked intensely to shape them into good thinkers and citizens. Mary boasted of their effective parenting style to her second cousin, Mary Tyler Peabody Mann, wife of Horace Mann and sister of Elizabeth Palmer Peabody, all educators and reformers.70 The doctors Jacobi were intensely didactic parents, constantly encouraging the children to study and learn a wide range of subjects. Abraham was determined to teach the children German, making it the dominant language in his home. Ernst and Marjorie responded well: “They think the acquisition of new knowledge or new ideas, the most delightful possible pursuit,” Mary wrote. The couple had high expectations, wanting their children to have sharp and curious minds, acquire a wide range of knowledge, and share in their parents’ lives and interests. Although they were allowed to play, play was edifying and practical; the children were exposed to “true” stories, not “fairy stories.” Spiritually, the Jacobis taught them their own values: “They have never heard of religion, or even the name of God or the Bible: they therefore never ask who made them, nor who lives in the sky, nor where they would go if they died.” Mary believed Ernst and Marjorie were “perfectly sympathetic to their parents” and to each other. She remarked that “the mutual sympathy, confidence, and pleasure is so great, that we have nothing to do but just live into their lives and allow them to live into ours.”71

If the arrival of children nourished the Jacobi marriage, other factors weakened their bond, including their different temperaments. Extremely bold and eager to speak her mind, Mary was independent and determined to live life on her own terms. Although her husband was joyful around the children, Mary thought he was “unsocial” with adults and did not easily mix with new people; he was most comfortable in the company of old friends, preferring fellow physicians and activists, most importantly, Carl Schurz. A former Union army general who became a leading Republican as well as a journalist, orator, reformer, and the first German-born U.S. senator, Schurz shared Jacobi’s political sensibility and memories of European radicalism. The two men were often described as “inseparable.”72 Over time, Abraham found intellectual inspiration more often in his male companions than in his wife. While she cared deeply for her children, she was not a model of nineteenth-century maternalism and did not relish their daily care. Abraham, by contrast, was more affectionate with the children, playing, cuddling, and singing them lullabies. Mary acknowledged their different parental relationships, predicting Ernst would adore his father and see her more as the disciplinarian and custodian.

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