A Ridgefield native, Dr. Alice E. Rockwell became one of the first women to practice medicine in Bridgeport, Connecticut’s largest city.
Born in 1895, she was a daughter of the Rev. Nathan Rockwell and Emily Lounsbury Rockwell. Her father spent many years overseas as a missionary and died in 1910 in Korea. The Rockwells were descended from the family that produced the two Lounsbury governors, as well as early Ridgefield settlers. One of those governors, Phineas C. Lounsbury, may have had some sort of falling out with his grand niece, for when his will was probated in 1925, The Bridgeport Telegram reported on its front page that Dr. Rockwell was not named in the document, though virtually all his other relatives were. During testimony at a Probate Court hearing, several people close to the governor were unable to explain why Dr. Rockwell was disinherited. Lounsbury’s estate was worth more than $1 million then ($13.7 million in 2016 dollars).
Dr. Rockwell studied at Wheaton School in Norton, Mass., graduated from Goucher College, and earned her medical degree from Johns Hopkins.
After her graduation in 1921, the Rockefeller Foundation sent Dr. Rockwell to the Peking Medical Institute in China, where she interned and served as assistant resident in medicine. (She was accompanied by her mother on the assignment to Beijing.)
She returned to Ridgefield for a while, living in the family homestead on East Ridge, and in 1932 joined the staff of Bellevue Hospital in New York, specializing in pediatrics.
Four years later, she opened her practice in Bridgeport, near Beardsley Park. In 1957, announcing the fact that Dr. Rockwell was in the hospital, The Connecticut Sunday Herald called her “one of the city’s most beloved physicians” and reported she had been crossing a Bridgeport Street when she tripped and fell. “She would not accept help and getting up quickly, returned to her car and drove home,” the newspaper said. The next morning, her nurse took her to Bridgeport Hospital where she was found to have a fractured hip.
Dr. Rockwell retired in 1959 and died in a Minnesota nursing home in 1972 at the age of 76. She’s buried in the Lounsbury Cemetery at the corner of North Salem Road and North Street.
Born in 1895, she was a daughter of the Rev. Nathan Rockwell and Emily Lounsbury Rockwell. Her father spent many years overseas as a missionary and died in 1910 in Korea. The Rockwells were descended from the family that produced the two Lounsbury governors, as well as early Ridgefield settlers. One of those governors, Phineas C. Lounsbury, may have had some sort of falling out with his grand niece, for when his will was probated in 1925, The Bridgeport Telegram reported on its front page that Dr. Rockwell was not named in the document, though virtually all his other relatives were. During testimony at a Probate Court hearing, several people close to the governor were unable to explain why Dr. Rockwell was disinherited. Lounsbury’s estate was worth more than $1 million then ($13.7 million in 2016 dollars).
Dr. Rockwell studied at Wheaton School in Norton, Mass., graduated from Goucher College, and earned her medical degree from Johns Hopkins.
After her graduation in 1921, the Rockefeller Foundation sent Dr. Rockwell to the Peking Medical Institute in China, where she interned and served as assistant resident in medicine. (She was accompanied by her mother on the assignment to Beijing.)
She returned to Ridgefield for a while, living in the family homestead on East Ridge, and in 1932 joined the staff of Bellevue Hospital in New York, specializing in pediatrics.
Four years later, she opened her practice in Bridgeport, near Beardsley Park. In 1957, announcing the fact that Dr. Rockwell was in the hospital, The Connecticut Sunday Herald called her “one of the city’s most beloved physicians” and reported she had been crossing a Bridgeport Street when she tripped and fell. “She would not accept help and getting up quickly, returned to her car and drove home,” the newspaper said. The next morning, her nurse took her to Bridgeport Hospital where she was found to have a fractured hip.
Dr. Rockwell retired in 1959 and died in a Minnesota nursing home in 1972 at the age of 76. She’s buried in the Lounsbury Cemetery at the corner of North Salem Road and North Street.
A Ridgefield native, Dr. Alice E. Rockwell became one of the first women to practice medicine in Bridgeport, Connecticut’s largest city.
Born in 1895, she was a daughter of the Rev. Nathan Rockwell and Emily Lounsbury Rockwell. Her father spent many years overseas as a missionary and died in 1910 in Korea. The Rockwells were descended from the family that produced the two Lounsbury governors, as well as early Ridgefield settlers. One of those governors, Phineas C. Lounsbury, may have had some sort of falling out with his grand niece, for when his will was probated in 1925, The Bridgeport Telegram reported on its front page that Dr. Rockwell was not named in the document, though virtually all his other relatives were. During testimony at a Probate Court hearing, several people close to the governor were unable to explain why Dr. Rockwell was disinherited. Lounsbury’s estate was worth more than $1 million then ($13.7 million in 2016 dollars).
Dr. Rockwell studied at Wheaton School in Norton, Mass., graduated from Goucher College, and earned her medical degree from Johns Hopkins.
After her graduation in 1921, the Rockefeller Foundation sent Dr. Rockwell to the Peking Medical Institute in China, where she interned and served as assistant resident in medicine. (She was accompanied by her mother on the assignment to Beijing.)
She returned to Ridgefield for a while, living in the family homestead on East Ridge, and in 1932 joined the staff of Bellevue Hospital in New York, specializing in pediatrics.
Four years later, she opened her practice in Bridgeport, near Beardsley Park. In 1957, announcing the fact that Dr. Rockwell was in the hospital, The Connecticut Sunday Herald called her “one of the city’s most beloved physicians” and reported she had been crossing a Bridgeport Street when she tripped and fell. “She would not accept help and getting up quickly, returned to her car and drove home,” the newspaper said. The next morning, her nurse took her to Bridgeport Hospital where she was found to have a fractured hip.
Dr. Rockwell retired in 1959 and died in a Minnesota nursing home in 1972 at the age of 76. She’s buried in the Lounsbury Cemetery at the corner of North Salem Road and North Street.
Born in 1895, she was a daughter of the Rev. Nathan Rockwell and Emily Lounsbury Rockwell. Her father spent many years overseas as a missionary and died in 1910 in Korea. The Rockwells were descended from the family that produced the two Lounsbury governors, as well as early Ridgefield settlers. One of those governors, Phineas C. Lounsbury, may have had some sort of falling out with his grand niece, for when his will was probated in 1925, The Bridgeport Telegram reported on its front page that Dr. Rockwell was not named in the document, though virtually all his other relatives were. During testimony at a Probate Court hearing, several people close to the governor were unable to explain why Dr. Rockwell was disinherited. Lounsbury’s estate was worth more than $1 million then ($13.7 million in 2016 dollars).
Dr. Rockwell studied at Wheaton School in Norton, Mass., graduated from Goucher College, and earned her medical degree from Johns Hopkins.
After her graduation in 1921, the Rockefeller Foundation sent Dr. Rockwell to the Peking Medical Institute in China, where she interned and served as assistant resident in medicine. (She was accompanied by her mother on the assignment to Beijing.)
She returned to Ridgefield for a while, living in the family homestead on East Ridge, and in 1932 joined the staff of Bellevue Hospital in New York, specializing in pediatrics.
Four years later, she opened her practice in Bridgeport, near Beardsley Park. In 1957, announcing the fact that Dr. Rockwell was in the hospital, The Connecticut Sunday Herald called her “one of the city’s most beloved physicians” and reported she had been crossing a Bridgeport Street when she tripped and fell. “She would not accept help and getting up quickly, returned to her car and drove home,” the newspaper said. The next morning, her nurse took her to Bridgeport Hospital where she was found to have a fractured hip.
Dr. Rockwell retired in 1959 and died in a Minnesota nursing home in 1972 at the age of 76. She’s buried in the Lounsbury Cemetery at the corner of North Salem Road and North Street.
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