Pioneering women homeopaths - Julia Minerva Green

- S. Nielsen

Julia M. Green graduated in 1898 from the Boston University School of Medicine. At that time it was still a homeopathic school. She was one of 15 women in the class. She was a member of the International Hahnemannian Association, and was a regular at all the meetings. In 1922, with the closing of all the homeopathic schools, she realized that homeopathy might be lost. With a group of like-minded physicians she formed the American Foundation for Homeopathy. The AFH had several "bureaus" -those of investigation (education), research, publication, and publicity. The education was offered as a six-week postgraduate course taught, initially, by Drs. Dienst, Gladwin, Woodbury, Green, and Boger. The AFH course was responsible for training the generation of homeopaths before and during WWII -Dixon, Spalding, Shupis, Neiswander, Wright-Hubbard, and the generation after -Williams, Panos, Clark. Julia Green held a tight reign in the running of the AFH as her archived correspondence makes clear. She had a solid vision of what homeopathy was and how its business should be conducted.
 She practiced in Washington DC. She is said to have made house calls on a bicycle -having lead weights sewn into the hem of her skirt to keep it in place while she pedaled. Julia Green was a soft-spoken woman who loomed larger than life. Her practice was taken over by Dr. Maesimund Panos, who had preceptored with her, but she continued to see patients almost until she died. Dr. Julia Green died December 11, 1963 at the age of 92.
 By Julian Winston