BOOK REVIEW
AMERICAN QUEENMAKER: HOW
MISSY MELONEY BROUGHT
WOMEN INTO POLITICS
AUTHOR: JULIE DES JARDINS
PUBLISHER: BASIC BOOKS, HACHETTE BOOK GROUP. (JAN 2020)
Reviewed by Elizabeth A. Amin MD
The title of this book intrigued me.
The line in the review that caught
my eye was, “Marie Mattingly, an
ambitious young woman from Kentucky…”
I knew I needed to read
this and downloaded the book right
away to iBooks. The preface written
by the author whetted my appetite
further, revealing fascinating historical facts about Marie’s family.
The entire book is a “Who’s Who” in journalism and politics from
the 1890s until Marie’s death in 1943. The medical connections were
an added bonus for me personally.
Marie Mattingly was born in 1878 in Bardstown, Kentucky to
Cyprian Peter Mattingly and his wife, Sarah Irwin. Sarah was the
second wife (although some sources say she may have been the
third) of her husband, who was 40 years older than she. Marie was
the youngest child of her father, who doted on her. She had one
older brother but little contact with any of her half-siblings, many
of whom are thought to have perished during the Civil War. Both
parents were highly educated, and Marie benefited greatly from the
time and attention that each of them bestowed upon her. Cyprian
may be known to those members of the Greater Louisville Medical
Society with historical knowledge of medicine in Kentucky in the
19 th century. He grew up in Marion County, where he attended St.
Mary’s College. He was the youngest student to graduate from the
University of Pennsylvania Medical School and at age 19 was too
young to obtain a medical license. He was issued a special permit
by the state of Kentucky and at the age of 20 established a practice
in Springfield. His reputation was enhanced by the fact that he
remained to treat patients during a cholera epidemic when other
physicians left the community. In 1834, he left Kentucky for Georgia
but after little more than a year, he returned to set up his permanent
practice in Bardstown.
Dr. Mattingly’s reputation soon spread far beyond Kentucky.
His papers on tetanus and yellow fever were translated into several
languages. Dr. Samual D. Gross of Philadelphia referred to
Dr. Mattingly’s work on tetanus in one of his books and had great
respect and praise for the Kentucky physician. In the mid-1850s, Dr.
Mattingly became President of the Kentucky Medical Association
and a prominent member of the American Medical Association.
He was also a member of the French Medical Society, and in 1876
was appointed honorary member of the Board of Health in Paris.
By the time Marie was 8-years-old, she had traveled with him to
Paris, Edinburgh and Washington, D.C.
Marie’s mother Sarah was born in North Carolina, but her family
suffered hardship and although the circumstances are unclear, it is
evident that Sarah, her mother and two sisters eventually arrived in
Bardstown. Sarah received a “stringent and demanding” education
at the Nazareth Academy in Bardstown. As a student there, she must
have known Dr. Mattingly who was the physician to the Academy.
Sarah went on to the Union Female College in Oxford, Mississippi
(later part of the University of Mississippi) where she graduated
in 1874. On returning to Bardstown, she and Dr. Mattingly were
married. Sarah pursued her interests in education after marriage. She
edited The Kentucky Magazine, a publication dedicated to literature
and science. Sarah was no less committed to Marie’s education than
she was to her own and that of her older child, Carroll.
Dr. Mattingly passed away in 1886 in Bardstown when Marie,
who was now using the more familiar name Missy, was not quite
8-years-old. Sarah left his property with his other surviving children
and took Missy, Carroll and her (Sarah’s) unmarried sister to
Washington. Their first address was impressive enough; Massachusetts
Avenue right in the center of the city. Missy’s mother soon
established herself as an influential hostess, literary and theatre
24 LOUISVILLE MEDICINE