Ides 62: Dr Stowe’s “Take Two and Call Me in the Morning”

Doctors have justifiably been in the limelight over the past year or so and, in many cases here in Canada, these doctors have been women. Theresa Tam and Eileen de Villa are obvious examples for any Torontonian.

But it wasn’t so long ago that female doctors were simply unheard of. That was all changed by a young Torontonian named Emily Stowe. Ms Stowe was a keen herbalist and eager learner, and she eventually apprenticed with a neighbour in homeopathic medicine. Her success with herbal remedies led her to pursue medicine further. Though graduating with first-class honours from the Normal School for Upper Canada, she was unable to continue to medical school, because women were not accepted in medical programs in Canada in 1865.

Studying at the New York Medical College for Women, Dr Stowe received her first degree in Homeopathic medicine in 1867, and returned home to a practice on Richmond Street, becoming the first female physician in Canada. A few years later, in 1871, she became the first woman to attend classes at the University of Toronto, finally receiving her license in 1880, after practicing medicine for over a decade.

Not satisfied with just one groundbreaking achievement, Emily also went on to become the first female principal of a public school in Ontario,  helped found the women’s suffrage movement in Canada and campaigned for the country’s first medical college for women. To toast Emily’s steadfast ambition, we’ve brewed this classic pale ale with conifer tips and boughs providing the aroma and flavour usually given by hops, as a nod to her early years as an herbalist.