Dr. Helen Johnston was born on February 5, 1891 Columbus City, Iowa. She was educated at Drake University and the University of Iowa. In 1919, she earned her medical degree from Cornell University.
The Cornell Medical School Class of 1919
After medical school, she took some addition training in Massachusetts hospitals before returning to Iowa to set up practice. By 1922, she was Treasurer of the State Society of the Iowa Medical Women. She specialized in internal medicine and limited her Des Moines practice to serving women and children.
In 1939, Johnston lived in the Wetherell at 4024 Grand Avenue in Des Moines, Iowa, just a few blocks where P.E.O. International Headquarters was built in the late 1960s.
Johnston was a member of many medical associations and served as president of the American Medical Women’s Association from 1946-47. She was a member of the Iota Chapter of Delta Zeta at the University of Iowa and she served as Delta Zeta’s National Treasurer from 1930-36. Before that, she was National President of Altrusa International, a women’s service organization.
In 1956, she was named Iowa’s “Medical Woman of the Year.” Delta Zeta honored her with Delta Zeta’s “Woman of the Year” Award in 1957. She died in 1969 and is buried in the city in which she was born.
© Fran Becque, www.fraternityhistory.com, 2016. All Rights Reserved. If you enjoyed this post, please sign up for updates. Also follow me on twitter @GLOHistory and Pinterest www.pinterest.com/glohistory.
