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Dr. Ella Ware, 1870-1958, will be honored with an Official Texas Historical Marker on Saturday, May 13, in Stockdale, where she practiced medicine for 50 years. COURTESY/Stockdale Museum
The Texas Historical Commission has recognized Stockdale’s Dr. Ella Ware as a significant part of Texas history by posthumously awarding her an Official Texas Historical Marker. The designation honors Dr. Ware as an important part of local history.
Everyone is invited to a dedication ceremony on Saturday, May 13, at 10:30 a.m. at the Stockdale Museum at 507 West Main St. in downtown Stockdale. The date is in honor of “Dr. Ware Day,” originally declared by the City of Stockdale in 1954 to honor the doctor on her birthday, which also is the anniversary of her graduation from medical school.
Who was Ella Ware?
At the beginning of the 20th century, access to a formally educated physician impacted the citizens of Stockdale for generations to come. Their ticket to modernized health care came from an unexpected source, one of their fellow citizens, who ventured to gain her medical degree and return to her own community to fill a void. Ella Ware, M.D. became the second woman to graduate from the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston, in 1899. Rejecting an offer to teach at the medical school and forgoing a more profitable position at a hospital in a city, Ware returned home to treat the people of Stockdale and surrounding Wilson County for half a century. As a rural physician, she provided crucial services to an isolated region and filled her town with pride. Much like our health care heroes today, she even served her community throughout the 1918 influenza pandemic. She is remembered for what she treasured the most — delivering an endless number of babies (more than 6,000) and providing charitable, often lifelong, care to those in need. She practiced from 1899 until she broke her leg in 1949, and then, from her bedside until 1952.
Ella Ware graduated in 1899 from the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston, only the second woman to do so, and the first woman to complete the “new” four-year medical program. COURTESY/Stockdale Museum
The country doc’s office now houses the Stockdale Museum; artifacts include her medical diploma, medications, and the rocking chair from her waiting room. Not only is Dr. Ware highly significant to local history as the first woman physician in Wilson County, her adventurous life of service is noteworthy in the history of medicine in Texas and the new class of professional women in early 20th-century Texas. But, most of all, Ware’s presence made a difference for generations of people who were born and grew old around Stockdale. She devotedly saw many a patient both into and out of this world, from hearing their first cry to sitting with them until their last breath, and is long overdue for this historical marker recognizing her work.
Research and records
Stockdale resident Kassie Dixon first completed research on Dr. Ella Ware for her undergraduate degree in 2008, winning first place in the W. Curtis Worthington Jr. National Research Paper Competition. In 2016, Dixon completed her Master of Arts in History, with her thesis, ‘No night was ever too dark or road too long for her:’ Ella Ware, M.D., The Country Doc, A State-educated Woman Practicing Medicine in Early 20th-century Rural Texas. Dixon’s research on Ware and other early Texas women physicians has been published and shared in various locations. Dr. Ware was a great-aunt to the late San Antonio radio legend, Ricci Ware.
It is important that as we move forward, we do not forget the past. The marker provides awareness in the community of an important part of Stockdale’s fascinating history and is a building block in the promotion of local tourism.
Everyone is invited to visit Main Street May 13 to pay tribute to the incredible life of Dr. Ella Ware, and stay to explore the museum, a wonderful work in progress. You are even likely to meet some Dr. Ware babies, who get to sign the museum’s baby log!
Contributed by Kassie Dixon, president of the Stockdale Museum Association.
Marker dedication
Plan now to attend the dedication ceremony for the Texas Historical Marker honoring Dr. Ella Ware.
When: Saturday, May 13, 10:30 a.m.
Where: Stockdale Museum, 507 W. Main St., downtown Stockdale
Who: Everyone is invited! The Stockdale Museum, Wilson County Historical Commission, and Wilson County Historical Society welcome the public to share in and witness this exciting historical event.
Cost: Free
Special note: Folks who were delivered into the world by Dr. Ware — Dr. Ware babies — can sign the museum’s “baby log”!
More info: www.facebook.com/stockdalemuseum/.
