Physician, Legislator, Suffragette
June 3, 1856 - June 28, 1943
Physician Harriet B. Jones (June 3, 1856-June 28, 1943) was born in Ebensburg, Pennsylvania, but she grew up in Terra Alta, Preston County. She attended the Wheeling Female College and graduated from the Women’s Medical College of Baltimore in 1875. Specializing in gynecology and abdominal surgery, Jones opened a private practice in Wheeling in 1886, becoming the first woman licensed to practice medicine in West Virginia.
Jones served as the assistant superintendent of the state hospital in Weston from 1888 to 1892, when she returned to Wheeling to open a women’s hospital. A public health crusader, Jones was secretary of the West Virginia Anti-Tuberculosis League, which sponsored educational programs in every county. She campaigned vigorously for the establishment of Hopemont Sanitarium, which opened near Terra Alta in 1913. She also supported the creation of the West Virginia Children’s Home and the West Virginia Industrial Home for Girls.
Jones was active in the West Virginia Federation of Women’s Clubs and the Women’s Christian Temperance Union. As a staunch advocate of women’s rights, Jones was an officer in the West Virginia Equal Suffrage Association. After women won the vote in 1920, she was elected as a Republican from Marshall County to a term in the state House of Delegates in 1924.
-Source: Kreiser, Christine M. "Harriet B. Jones." e-WV: The West Virginia Encyclopedia. 07 December 2015
▶ Read a biographical sketch of Dr. Jones from "History of Wheeling and Ohio County, West Virginia and Representative Citizens," Cranmer, Hon. Gibson Lamb, 1902
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Related resources in our library
Materials in the Library: (circulating)
▶ History of Wheeling city and Ohio County, West Virginia and representative citizens (Cranmer, Gibson Lamb, 1902 [1995 reprint]. p. 365-366) CALL NUMBER: 975.415 C851h 1995
[Additional non-circulating copies in the Wheeling Room and Reference section]
Materials in the Library's Reference Section: (non-circulating)
▶ The West Virginia Encyclopedia (Conley, Phil, 1929. pg. 451), CALL NUMBER: R 975.4003 C761w
▶ West Virginia: in history, life, literature and industry (Shawkey, Morris Purdy, 1928. v. 3 pg. 118-119) CALL NUMBER: R 975.4 Sh28w v.3 [Additional copies in the Wheeling Room]
Materials in the Wheeling Room: (non-circulating, ask for access at the reference desk)
▶ Vertical File: Capitol Music Hall.
Materials in the Library's Archives: (non-circulating, view by appointment only*)
*Call 304-232-0244 or send an email to make an appointment to view archival materials.
▶ Archives Vertical File: Jones, Harriet B. (Photograph). Contains 2 press photographs - view photographs on Flickr.
➤Archives Collection: Wheeling National Heritage Area Corporation (WNHAC) Records, Box 8.
