Dr. Amelia Keller, 1871-1943
Location: Near the IUPUI Medical Library, 988 W. Walnut St., Indianapolis (Marion County), Indiana 46202
Installed 2022 Indiana Historical Bureau, Indiana Women’s Suffrage Centennial Commission, IUPUI, and the Indiana University School of Medicine
ID#: 49.2022.1
Learn more about Keller's work with the Woman's Franchise League and Indiana Suffragists' 1913 March to the Statehouse on the Indiana History Blog.
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Side One
Physician and suffragist Amelia Keller was born in Ohio. She moved to Indianapolis and by 1893 earned her medical degree from the Central College of Physicians and Surgeons. Specializing in gynecology and pediatrics, Dr. Keller lectured on social hygiene and child welfare. By 1908, she became one of the first women to teach at the Indiana University School of Medicine.
Side Two
Keller espoused equal pay for women and their entrance into public sectors like business and law enforcement. She co-founded the Woman’s Franchise League of Indiana in 1911. As president, she formed a statewide network of suffragists, who appealed to lawmakers and spoke at street meetings. These efforts helped secure Indiana’s 1920 ratification of the 19th Amendment.
Annotated Text
Side One
Dr. Amelia Keller, 1871-1943[1]
Physician and suffragist Amelia Keller was born in Ohio.[2] She moved to Indianapolis and by 1893 earned her medical degree from the Central College of Physicians and Surgeons.[3] Specializing in gynecology and pediatrics, Dr. Keller lectured on social hygiene and child welfare.[4] By 1908, she became one of the first women to teach at the Indiana University School of Medicine.[5]
Side Two
Keller espoused equal pay for women and their entrance into public sectors like business and law enforcement.[6] She co-founded the Woman’s Franchise League of Indiana in 1911. As president, she formed a statewide network of suffragists, who appealed to lawmakers and spoke at street meetings. These efforts helped secure Indiana’s 1920 ratification of the 19th Amendment.[7]
[1]1900 United States Census, Amelia R. Buchler, District 0150, Indianapolis, Marion County, Indiana, accessed AncestryLibrary.org; Death Certificate, Dr. Amelia R. Keller, January 28, 1943, Indiana State Board of Health, Bureau of Vital Statistics, accessed AncestryLibrary.org; “Dr. Amelia R. Keller,” Indianapolis News, January 30, 1943, 6, accessed Newspapers.com.
[2]1900 United States Census, Amelia R. Buchler, District 0150, Indianapolis, Marion County, Indiana, accessed AncestryLibrary.org; Jacob Piatt Dunn, Indiana and Indianans (Chicago: American Historical Society, 1919), 1881; Death Certificate, Dr. Amelia R. Keller, January 28, 1943, Indiana State Board of Health, Bureau of Vital Statistics, accessed AncestryLibrary.org.
[3] “Aboard the Car of Life,” Indianapolis News, February 14, 1889, 4, accessed Hoosier State Chronicles; “Individual Mention,” Indianapolis News, August 25, 1890, 1, accessed Newspapers.com; R. L. Polk & Co.’s Indianapolis City Directory for 1892 (Indianapolis: Carlon & Hollenbeck, Printers and Binders, 1892), 81; R. L. Polk & Co.’s Indianapolis City Directory for 1894 (Indianapolis: Carlon & Hollenbeck, Printers and Binders, 1894), 80, 477;
“Publisher’s Department,” The Central States Medical Monitor (1906): 648, accessed HathiTrust Digital Library; “Faculty of the School of Medicine,” Indiana University Bulletin (June 1, 1912): 24, 28, Indiana State Library; Jacob Piatt Dunn, Indiana and Indianans (Chicago: American Historical Society, 1919), 1881; “Worked as Leader in Drive for Woman Suffrage,” Indianapolis Star, January 29, 1943, 1, accessed Newspapers.com.
[4] “Faculty,” Central College of Physicians and Surgeons Session of 1896-’97, accessed HathiTrust Digital Library; “School of Medicine,” Indiana University School of Medicine Register, 1906-07 and Announcements, 1907-08 (July 1907): 13, Indiana State Library; Central States Medical Monitor (1908): 348, accessed HathiTrust Digital Library; Amelia R. Keller, M. D., “Concerning the Child During School-Life,” Central States Medical Monitor (May 15, 1908): 204, accessed HathiTrust Digital Library; “School of Medicine,” Indiana University School of Medicine Register, 1907-08 and Announcements, 1908-09 (July 1908): 13, Indiana State Library; “Consulting Staffs Named by Health Board,” Indianapolis Star, September 21, 1909, 5, accessed Newspapers.com; “A Weak Place in Child Labor Law,” Richmond Palladium, April 25, 1911, 3, accessed Hoosier State Chronicles; “School Notes,” Indianapolis Recorder, February 21, 1914, 1, accessed Newspapers.com; “Faculty of the Normal College,” Normal College of the North American Gymnastic Union, 1914-15 (Indianapolis: Normal College, 1914): 11, accessed HathiTrust Digital Library; “Says Manual Training is Hotbed of Disease,” Indianapolis News, April 12, 1916, 1, accessed Hoosier State Chronicles; “Club Speaker Favors State Birth Control,” Garrett Clipper, February 25, 1926, 4, accessed Newspapers.com; “Birth Control Topic at Council Meeting,” Indianapolis Star, January 3, 1932, 37, accessed Newspapers.com; A Historical Sketch of School No. 19 (Indianapolis Public Schools, 1953), 7, accessed Indianapolis Public Library Digital Collections.
[5] “Officers and Faculty,” Indiana University Bulletin (May 1, 1908): 258, 260, Indiana State Library; “Officers and Faculty of School of Medicine,” Indianapolis News, June 23, 1908, 5, accessed Newspapers.com; “Faculty is Named,” (Muncie) Star Press, June 24, 1908, 6, accessed Newspapers.com; “School of Medicine,” Indiana University School of Medicine Register, 1907-08 and Announcements, 1908-09 (July 1908): 13, Indiana State Library; “Worked as Leader in Drive for Woman Suffrage,” Indianapolis Star, January 29, 1943, 1, accessed Newspapers.com.
[6] Louis Ludlow, “Women Set Page for Party Bosses,” Indianapolis Star, September 9, 1910, 1, accessed ProQuest; “Women to Show Council Need of Female Sleuths,” Indianapolis Star, November 17, 1911, 6, accessed Newspapers.com; Indianapolis Recorder, July 19, 1913, 2, accessed Hoosier State Chronicles; Daneva W. Donnell, “Of Interest to Women,” Indianapolis Recorder, March 27, 1915, 2, accessed Hoosier State Chronicles.
[7] Dr. Amelia Keller, Chairman, “Notice,” Indianapolis Recorder, November 13, 1909, 4, accessed Hoosier State Chronicles; Louis Ludlow, “Women Set Page for Party Bosses,” Indianapolis Star, September 9, 1910, 1, accessed ProQuest; Lannes McPhetridge, untitled clipping [1911], Grace Julian Clarke Correspondence and Papers, 1911-1912, Women in Hoosier History Collection, accessed Indiana State Library Digital Collections; “Indiana,” The Woman’s Journal 42, no. 7 (February 18, 1911): 51, accessed HeinOnline; “A Weak Place in Child Labor Law,” Richmond Palladium, April 25, 1911, 3, accessed Hoosier State Chronicles; “Women Not Informed,” Star Press (Muncie), June 5, 1911, 7, accessed Newspapers.com; Clipping, “Professional Women, Likewise,” in Grace Julian Clarke Scrapbook, 1912-1914, accessed Indiana State Library Digital Collections; “Indiana Women Hold State Convention,” The Woman’s Journal 43, no. 17 (April 27, 1912): 131, accessed HeinOnline; “Franchise League Women at Meeting of the C. L. U.,” Indianapolis News, June 10, 1913, 5, accessed Newspapers.com; “Notes and News,” The Woman’s Journal and Suffrage News 44, no. 31 (August 2, 1913): 246, accessed HeinOnline; “Indiana,” The Woman’s Journal and Suffrage News 45, no. 18 (May 2, 1914): 139, accessed HeinOnline; “Woman’s Council,” Indianapolis Recorder, September 19, 1914, 2, accessed Hoosier State Chronicles; Harriett Noble, “Suffrage in Indiana,” The Woman’s Journal and Suffrage News 46, no. 10 (March 6, 1915): 73, accessed HeinOnline; Amelia R. Keller, M.D., President, “Indiana: Woman’s Franchise League,” The Hand Book of the National American Woman Suffrage Association and Proceedings of the Forty-Seventh Annual Convention held at Washington, D. C., December 14-19, 1915 (New York City, National Woman Suffrage Publishing Co., Inc.): 100, accessed HeinOnline; “How Women Elected a School Board Member,” Indianapolis News, November 1, 1916, 26, submitted by applicant; “Celebrate Victorious Campaign in Indiana,” The Woman’s Journal 48, no. 10 (March 10, 1917): 1, accessed HeinOnline; Jacob Piatt Dunn, Indiana and Indianans (Chicago: American Historical Society, 1919), 1881; “Dr. Amelia R. Keller,” Indianapolis News, January 30, 1943, 6, accessed Newspapers.com.
Learn more about Dr. Keller’s work via Indiana University’s School of Medicine and the Biographical Database of NAWSA Suffragists, 1890-1920.
Keywords
Science, Medicine, & Invention; Women; Political