Biographical entry Kenny, Elizabeth (1880 - 1952)

Summary

Elizabeth Kenny developed a new treatment for poliomyelitis during the 1930s and established clinics in Brisbane with the backing of the State government but opposition from the medical profession. In 1940 she moved to the USA where her methods were widely acclaimed.

Details

Events

1910 - 1915

Career position - Self-appointed Nurse working from the family home in the Darling Downs area of Queensland

1915 - 1917

Career position - Staff Nurse with the Australian Army Nursing Service, serving on troopships bringing wounded home to Australia

1917 - 1919

Career position - Sister in the Australian Army Nursing Service

1919 - 1932

Career position - Returned to her home nursing practice

1932

Career position - Established a backyard clinic in Townsville to treat long-term poliomyelitis victims and cerebral palsy patients

1940

Career position - Travelled to the USA with an introduction to the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota

1942

Career position - The Sister Kenny Institute was established in Minneapolis, USA

1951

Life event - Retired to Toowoomba, Queensland

Archival resources

Fryer Library and Department of Special Collections, University of Queensland

• Elizabeth Kenny - Records, 1930 - 1952; Fryer Library and Department of Special Collections, University of Queensland. Details

Published resources

Encyclopedia of Australian Science Exhibitions

• McCarthy, Gavan; Morgan, Helen; Smith, Ailie; van den Bosch, Alan, Where are the Women in Australian Science?, Australian Science and Technology Heritage Centre, 2003, http://www.austehc.unimelb.edu.au/wisa/wisa.html. Details

Book Sections

• Mackie, Sue, 'Elizabeth Kenny (1880-1952) nurse', in Heather Radi (ed.), 200 Australian Women: A Redress Anthology, Women's Redress Press Inc, Sydney, 1988. Details
• Patrick, Ross, 'Kenny, Elizabeth (1880-1952), nurse', in Bede Nairn and Geoffrey Serle (eds), Australian Dictionary of Biography, vol. 9, Melbourne University Press, Melbourne, 1983, pp. 570-571. Also available at http://www.adb.online.anu.edu.au/biogs/A090570b.htm. Details
• Rogers, Naomi, 'Elizabeth Kenny, 1880-1952', in Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, Oxford, 2004. Details

Edited Books

• Radi, H. (ed.), 200 Australian Women: a Redress Anthology, Women's Redress Press Inc, Sydney, 1988, 268 pp. Details

Online Resources

• 'Kenny, Elizabeth', Trove, National Library of Australia, 2009, http://nla.gov.au/nla.party-493848. Details

See also

• Alexander, John A. (ed.), Who's Who in Australia 1944, vol. 12, The Herald and Weekly Times Ltd, Melbourne, 1944, 906 pp. Details