Mary S. Sherman Explained

Mary S. Sherman
Birth Name:Mary Stults
Birth Date:21 April 1913
Birth Place:Evanston, Illinois, U.S.
Death Place:New Orleans, Louisiana, U.S.
Occupation:Orthopedic surgeon, cancer researcher
Alma Mater:Evanston Township High School
Northwestern University
University of Chicago
Spouse:Thomas Watson Sherman

Mary Stults Sherman (April 21, 1913 – July 21, 1964) was an American orthopedic surgeon and cancer researcher affiliated with the University of Chicago and the Oschsner Foundation Hospital in New Orleans. Her 1964 murder remains unsolved.

Early life and career

Mary Caroline Stults was born in Evanston, Illinois to Walter Allen Stults and Monica Edith Graham, both singers and music educators.[1] She had initially trained in opera, studying in Paris before returning to Evanston and earning degrees in French at Northwestern University.[2] [3] She taught at the University of Illinois French Institute in Paris and then went on to earn her medical degree from the University of Chicago in 1941. [4] [5] [6] She married Dr. Thomas Watson Sherman in 1936. [5]

After graduating from medical school, Sherman served as an associate professor of orthopedic surgery at the University of Chicago during which time she focused her research on bone cancer and polio treatments. [7] [8] In 1949 and 1950, she traveled through Alaska performing medical surveys in remote communities and serving for a time at Mount Edgecumbe hospital on Kruzof Island. [9] [10] [11]

In 1952, Sherman was appointed to the Ochsner Foundation Hospital as director of the Bone Pathology Laboratory and served as orthopedic surgeon in the clinic. She was also an associate professor of clinical orthopedics at Tulane University’s School of Medicine. [12] [5] In 1963 she and a colleague received the Kappa Delta Award for Orthopedic Research for their work studying the causes of clubfoot.[13]

Publications

Sherman was the author or coauthor of numerous articles about bone and joint diseases. As examples, her works included:

Death

On July 21, 1964, firefighters responding to a call from Sherman's neighbors discovered her body beneath a burning mattress in her apartment on St. Charles Avenue in New Orleans.[18] The coroner classified Sherman's death as a homicide citing lethal stab wounds and severe burns to her upper torso and right arm. [19] [20] Police stated that her purse was missing and somebody had attempted to pry open a jewelry box on the premises.[1] [12] Her car would be discovered hours later abandoned on a city street several blocks from the crime scene.[12]

While police theorized that Sherman fell victim to a botched burglary or was murdered by an acquaintance, conspiracy theories link her to the alleged Kennedy assassination conspirator David Ferrie and propose that Sherman participated in clandestine scientific research that led to her death. [21] [22] [23]

In Popular Culture

Edward Haslam wrote a book about Dr. Sherman titled Dr. Mary's Monkey (2007)[24]

References

  1. News: . July 22, 1964 . Ex-Chicago Researcher Found Slain. Chicago Tribune . Chicago, Illinois . February 10, 2023.
  2. News: Hassard . Kathy . June 16, 1964 . Traffic Accidents Keep Surgeons in Business . The Vancouver Sun . Vancouver, British Columbia . February 10, 2023.
  3. Northwestern University Commencement Programs . https://archive.org/details/annualcommenceme1936nort/page/31/mode/1up?q=stults . June 13, 1936 . 31 . Northwestern University Digitized Publications . Campus Publications . https://www.library.northwestern.edu/libraries-collections/mccormick-library/collection-highlights/northwestern-history/digitized-publications.html . McCormick Library of Special Collections and University Archives. Northwestern University. Evanston, Illinois .
  4. University of Chicago Convocation Program . https://campub.lib.uchicago.edu/view/?docId=mvol-0447-1941-0610#page/14/mode/1up/search/Sherman . June 10, 1941 . 14 . University of Chicago Convocation Programs . Campus Publications . https://campub.lib.uchicago.edu/ . University of Chicago. Chicago, Illinois .
  5. Aseel. Dib . 16 March 2022. The Pioneering Women of Orthopedic Surgery . The Orthopaedic Forum . A . 10 February 2023.
  6. Web site: Mary S. Sherman, MD FAOA . . American Orthopaedic Association . February 8, 2023 .
  7. News: . June 16, 1950 . 100 to Attend Cancer Clinic . Port Huron Times . Port Huron, Michigan . February 10, 2023.
  8. Sherman . Mary . May 13, 1944 . The Natural Course of Poliomyelitis. Journal of the American Medical Association . 125 . 2 . 99–102 . 10.1001/jama.1944.02850200007003. February 10, 2023.
  9. News: . August 14, 1950 . North Star Leaves Friday Evening . Sitka Sentinel and Arrowhead Press . Sitka, Alaska . February 10, 2023.
  10. News: . October 25, 1950 . Dr. Mary Sherman Here Briefly . Sitka Sentinel . Sitka, Alaska . February 10, 2013.
  11. News: . January 30, 1951 . Miss Zena Kizute to Chicago . Daily Sitka Sentinel . Sitka, Alaska . February 10, 2023.
  12. News: . Surgeon is Slain, Set Afire . The Cincinnati Enquirer . Associated Press . July 22, 1962 . February 8, 2023 . none.
  13. News: . January 22, 1963 . Kappa Delta Honors Trio for Research . Miami Herald . Miami, Florida . February 10, 2023.
  14. MS Sherman and DB Phemister (1947). "The pathology of ununited fractures of the neck of the femur". The Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery, 29(1):19–40. .
  15. MS Sherman and DT Hellyer (1950). "Infantile cortical hyperostosis; review of the literature and report of five cases". The American Journal of Roentgenology, 63(2):212–222. .
  16. MS Sherman (1951). "The non-specificity of synovial reactions". Bulletin of the Hospital for Joint Diseases, 12(2):110–125. .
  17. MS Sherman and GB McFarland Jr (1965). "Mechanism of pain in osteoid osteomas". Southern Medical Journal, 58(2):163–166. .
  18. [United Press International]
  19. Monroe S. Samuels. Autopsy Protocol, Orleans Parish Coroner's Office, July 21, 1964, p. 1.
  20. Brobson Lutz. A review of Dr. Mary's Monkey . New Orleans Magazine, July 2007.
  21. Web site: In the death of Doctor Mary Sherman, strange myths pale next to stranger facts. Times-Picayune. NOLA com The. NOLA.com. 19 July 2014 . en. 2020-05-21.
  22. Wilkes . Donald E. . 2010 . Lee Harvey Oswald's Last Lover? . Popular Media . 83 . February 8, 2023.
  23. Book: Haslam, Edward T. . Dr. Mary's Monkey: How the Unsolved Murder of a Doctor, a Secret Laboratory in New Orleans and Cancer-Causing Monkey Viruses Are Linked to Lee Harvey Oswald, the JFK Assassination and Emerging Global Epidemics . 2007 . Springfield, Oregon . TrineDay. 9780977795307.
  24. 2023-03-17 . List of Books about Oschner Hospital . 3096393 . Riddick Jr . F. A. . The Ochsner Journal . 7 . 3 . 140–146 . 21603532 .

Further reading

External links

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