Bridging Science and Humanity: Dr. Mabel Satterlee Ingalls

In honor of International Day of Women and Girls in Science Day on February 11th, we’d like to highlight an important figure in Historic Sotterley’s story, Dr. Mabel Satterlee Ingalls.

Born to Louisa Pierpont Satterlee and Herbert Livingston Satterlee, Mabel was the last private owner of Sotterley. But her legacy extends beyond her creation of the Sotterley Foundation in 1961 to turn it into a historic resource. Her prolific scientific career began in 1918 when she graduated from the Brearley School in New York City and participated in a research project with the New York Zoological Society in British Guyana. From there, she went on to enter Barnard College and received her Bachelors of Science in 1925. In 1928, she earned her Masters from Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study at Harvard University, where she did bacteriological research. She then earned her Ph.D. in bacteriology from Columbia University in 1937, where her research focused on understanding bacterial infections in a microscopic level. 1954 would see her earn one more degree from Columbia University, a Master of Public Health degree.

From 1936 to 1943, Mabel remained in academia, serving as an instructor and associate professor in the department of bacteriology at Albany Medical School in New York, where she continued her diagnostic bacteriology research. World War II brought her to Washington to do medical research for the U.S. Military, but Mabel had far-reaching ideas that would eventually push her to the global medical stage.

From 1945 to 1946 she served with the United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration (UNRRA), which was an international relief initiative established to coordinate and administer relief to the victims of war in any area under one of the United Nations. At the time, Mabel’s work focused primarily on families and communities in Hungary and what was Czechoslovakia who had been displaced from their homes by the Nazis and Soviets. This marks a significant shift in Mabel’s career, and from here she became one of the leading scientists advocating for public health on a global scale.

She moved on from the UNRRA to serve as a liaison officer between the World Health Organization (WHO) and the United Nations from 1949 to 1957, during which she traveled extensively to study health services in developing countries, continuing her advocacy and becoming one of the world’s experts in responding to epidemics on a global scale. Her work with WHO included addressing the widespread tuberculosis epidemic affecting Hong Kong at the time. During this time, she was also an advocate for the use of the polio vaccine. Her work with both diseases resulted in her personally administering TB and polio vaccines to the public.

After her work as a liaison officer, she became an adjunct professor of public health at Columbia School of Public Health, continuing to focus on public health in developing countries, until her retirement in 1964.

In addition to her impressive career, Mabel was a dedicated advocate for women’s health and a staunch supporter of providing affordable care. Her work in both this sphere and global public health sphere bridges the gap between science and civil rights, bringing attention to disparate levels of care due to socio-economic class and working toward equality in medicine.

Dr. Mabel Satterlee Ingalls represents the crucial role that women have long played in the sciences, often without proper recognition for their significant contributions.

Of course, we’re also thankful to her contribution to preserving history. She recognized the historic significance of her family’s property and set the course for our organization to protect and share Sotterley’s story with the world. To learn more about her connection to Sotterley and hear from Mabel directly, you can watch the video interview below.