Education
After Dr. Travell graduated from Brearley High School in New York City. She went on to attend Wellesley College, her mother and sister's alma mater, and graduated Phi Beta Kappa in 1922. In 1926 Dr. Travell earned her M.D. from Cornell University Medical College (New York City), receiving the John Metcalf Polk Memorial Award for the highest scholastic standing during her four years in medical school. Two years of internship and residency at New York Hospital followed, in which she simultaneously served as ambulance surgeon on the New York City police force. She was given the rank of Lieutenant, and described the period as "really fascinating and valuable" to her medical training.
Selections from the Exhibit
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Medical Internship at New York Hospital
Dr. Travell's description of Cornell medical school in 1922: "Work began in the dissection room at
9 a.m. on the day that college opened. We spent every morning there until noon, six days a week for two trimesters of the first year. Anatomy was the major course that year. The Cornell medical school had no dormitory, no student cafeteria, and no facilities for exercise or recreation.…both Ginny's [Dr. Travell's sister] and my friends who found living in New York unnatural - came to our home to study and laugh by our open fires."
From Dr. Travell's autobiography, Office Hours: Day and Night.
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Dr. Travell and Her Sister With Tennis Rackets
Dr. Travell and her sister, Virginia, were outstanding tennis doubles champions at Wellesley College.
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Field Day Booklet From Wellesley College, October 29, 1921
Inside its pages, Dr. Travell is a featured tennis player.
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On a Cable Line
As a medical student at Cornell University, Dr. Travell enjoyed plenty of exercise and recreation. This photograph shows her coming across a cable line in an unidentified location, 1923.
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Class Notes
Original class notes on poisons, 1921.
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Letter From Virginia Powell to Her Father
This image is of a letter with circus drawings from Virginia Powell to her father, April 12, 1942. "In our Weekly Reader there was a story about something very exciting. It was that the Circus Is Here.
It is like the old fashion kind, except extra special…So when you come back, will you take us."
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Dr. Travell and Daughters, July 1936
Dr. Travell's first daughter, Janet Davidson Powell, was born December 16, 1933. As a child, little Janet loved to roller skate and
visit the animals at the Manhattan Zoo. Dr. Travell's second daughter, Virginia Gordon Powell, was born March 22, 1935.
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Young Dr. Travell Rowing a Boat
Dr. Travell often said in lectures, "Life is like a bicycle. You don't fall off until you stop pedaling." She followed her own advice and exercized extensively in her life by jumping rope, rowing, swimming, and playing tennis.
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