{{short description|American physical therapist}} {{Infobox person | name = Mary McMillan | image = MaryMcMillan1919.png | alt = A white woman wearing a cloth cap and dark dress | caption = Mary McMillan, from a 1919 newspaper | birth_name = Mary Jennie Livingston McMillan | birth_date = November 28, 1880 | birth_place = Boston, Massachusetts, U.S. | death_date = October 24, 1959 (age 78) | death_place = Boston, Massachusetts, U.S. | other_names = | occupation = Physical therapist | years_active = | known_for = | notable_works = | spouse(s) = | relatives = }}
'''Mary Jennie Livingston McMillan''' (November 28, 1880 – October 24, 1959) was an American physical therapist, and the founding president of the [[American Physical Therapy Association]].
==Early life and education== McMillan was born in [[Hyde Park, Boston]],<ref name=":2">{{Cite news |date=1946-06-18 |title=Physiotherapy Meet Brings Together Two of Pacific's Heroines |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-asheville-times-physiotherapy-meet-b/173681218/ |access-date=2025-06-02 |via=Newspapers.com |work=The Asheville Times |pages=1, [https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-asheville-times-physiotherapy-meetin/173681086/ 8] |archive-date=2025-06-02 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250602175116/https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-asheville-times-physiotherapy-meet-b/173681218/ |url-status=live }}</ref> the daughter of Archibald McMillan and Kate McMillan. Her father was born in Scotland. She was raised by Mary Livingston, an aunt in England, after her mother and sister died.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":3">{{Cite book |last=Dreeben-Irimia |first=Olga |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SAFeos1mHBsC&dq=%22Mary%20McMillan%22&pg=PA8 |title=Introduction to Physical Therapy for Physical Therapist Assistants |date=2010-10-22 |publisher=Jones & Bartlett Learning |isbn=978-0-7637-8130-9 |pages=8–10 |language=en}}</ref> She trained as a physical educator, and graduated from [[I.M. Marsh Campus|Liverpool Gymnasium College]] in 1905, with further training at hospitals in London.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Hershey |first=Henry |date=2002-10-23 |title=A History of Physical Therapy |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-ephrata-review-a-history-of-physical/173681305/ |access-date=2025-06-02 |work=The Ephrata Review |via=Newspapers.com |pages=21 |archive-date=2025-06-02 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250602175116/https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-ephrata-review-a-history-of-physical/173681305/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name=":1">{{Cite news |date=1918-06-23 |title=Reed Gets Expert; Miss Mary McMillan, of England, to be Instructor Here; War Experience of Value |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-sunday-oregonian-reed-gets-expert-m/173697189/ |access-date=2025-06-02 |work=The Sunday Oregonian |pages=12 |via=Newspapers.com |archive-date=2025-06-02 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250602205158/https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-sunday-oregonian-reed-gets-expert-m/173697189/ |url-status=live }}</ref> ==Career== McMillan worked in hospitals in Liverpool from 1914 to 1916 and in Maine from 1916 to 1918.<ref name=":1" /> In 1918 she began at [[Walter Reed Army Medical Center]], where she was the first "reconstruction aide" in the new Division of Physical Reconstruction.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Remembering the Reconstruction Aides |url=https://www.worldwar1centennial.org/index.php/communicate/press-media/wwi-centennial-news/4196-remembering-the-reconstruction-aides.html |access-date=2025-06-02 |website=World War I Centennial site}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Groves |first=Larry |date=1998-10-30 |title=Military training birthplace of the physical therapy profession |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/times-record-news-military-training-birt/173696684/ |access-date=2025-06-02 |work=Times Record News |pages=83 |via=Newspapers.com |archive-date=2025-06-02 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250602205158/https://www.newspapers.com/article/times-record-news-military-training-birt/173696684/ |url-status=live }}</ref> She trained rehabilitation aides at [[Reed College]]<ref>{{Cite news |date=1918-07-08 |title=Army Cases Varied; Work of Reconstruction Aides Explained by Nurse; Women Respond to Call |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-oregonian-army-cases-varied-work-of/173685352/ |access-date=2025-06-02 |work=The Oregonian |via=Newspapers.com |pages=12 |archive-date=2025-06-02 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250602175116/https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-oregonian-army-cases-varied-work-of/173685352/ |url-status=live }}</ref> to work with wounded and disabled soldiers.<ref>{{Cite news |date=1919-04-22 |title=All Army Hospitals to Give Physio-Therapy Treatment |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/evening-star-all-army-hospitals-to-give/173684437/ |access-date=2025-06-02 |work=Evening Star |pages=4 |via=Newspapers.com}}</ref> In 1921, she was founder and first president of the American Women's Physical Therapeutic Association, now known as the American Physical Therapy Association.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Jenkins |first=Bess |date=1968-06-30 |title=Demand for Physical Therapists Growing |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-lincoln-star-demand-for-physical-the/173682453/ |via=Newspapers.com |access-date=2025-06-02 |work=The Lincoln Star |pages=10 |archive-date=2025-06-02 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250602175116/https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-lincoln-star-demand-for-physical-the/173682453/ |url-status=live }}</ref> She was also president of the Massachusetts Physical Therapy Association.<ref name=":0" />
Between the wars, McMillan worked at a private orthopedic practice in Boston, and published a textbook, ''Massage and Therapeutic Exercise'' (1921).<ref>{{Cite book |last=McMillan |first=Mary |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pgZFAQAAMAAJ |title=Massage and Therapeutic Exercise |date=1921 |publisher=W. B. Saunders |language=en}}</ref> She taught summer courses in physiotherapy to army nurses at [[Harvard Medical School]]. In 1932, she became director of physiotherapy at [[Peking Union Medical College]] in China.<ref name=":2" /><ref name=":0" />
During [[World War II]], McMillan worked at an American army hospital in Manila. She was held by Japanese authorities at [[Santo Tomas Internment Camp]] in the Philippines, and at Chapei prison camp in Shanghai, until 1944.<ref name=":0">{{Cite news |date=1945-04-09 |title=Mary McMillan Tells of Life in Jap Prison Camp |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-herald-sun-mary-mcmillan-tells-of-li/173682583/ |access-date=2025-06-02 |work=The Herald-Sun |via=Newspapers.com |pages=10 |archive-date=2025-06-02 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250602175116/https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-herald-sun-mary-mcmillan-tells-of-li/173682583/ |url-status=live }}</ref> She attended the 25th anniversary conference of the American Physical Therapy Association in 1946, and spoke about the organization's founding.<ref>{{Cite news |date=1946-06-18 |title=Therapists Cite History of Unit; Mary McMillan Recalls History; Round-Up is Conducted on Polio |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-news-and-observer-therapists-cite-hi/173684868/ |access-date=2025-06-02 |work=The News and Observer |pages=5 |via=Newspapers.com |archive-date=2025-06-02 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250602175116/https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-news-and-observer-therapists-cite-hi/173684868/ |url-status=live }}</ref> ==Personal life and legacy== McMillan died in 1959, at the age of 78, in Boston.<ref>{{Cite news |date=1959-10-26 |title=Morning Death Notices |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-boston-globe-morning-death-notices/173685057/ |access-date=2025-06-02 |work=The Boston Globe |pages=32 |via=Newspapers.com |archive-date=2025-06-02 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250602175116/https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-boston-globe-morning-death-notices/173685057/ |url-status=live }}</ref> In 1963, the American Physical Therapy Association named its Mary McMillan Scholarship Award in her memory.<ref>{{Cite news |date=1967-06-28 |title=Physical Therapy Award Goes to UI Senior |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/iowa-city-press-citizen-physical-therapy/173682277/ |access-date=2025-06-02 |via=Newspapers.com |work=Iowa City Press-Citizen |pages=9 |archive-date=2025-06-02 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250602175116/https://www.newspapers.com/article/iowa-city-press-citizen-physical-therapy/173682277/ |url-status=live }}</ref> ==References== {{reflist}}{{DEFAULTSORT:McMillan, Mary }} [[Category:1880 births]] [[Category:1959 deaths]] [[Category:Health professionals from Boston]] [[Category:American women in World War II]] {{Authority control}} [[Category:American physiotherapists]]