Rena Sarah Eckman

Rena Sarah Eckman (March 30, 1868 – November 8, 1946) was an American dietitian, a founding member and leader of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, and founder of the Pennsylvania Dietetic Association. She was co-author of a 1916 book on a dietary protocol for the treatment of diabetes.

Rena Sarah Eckman
Rena Sarah Eckman, from a 1921 publication.
Born
Serena Sarah Eckman

March 30, 1868
Schenley, Pennsylvania
DiedNovember 8, 1946(1946-11-08) (aged 78)
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
NationalityAmerican
Occupationdietitian
Known forworked on dietary protocol for treatment of diabetes

Early life

Serena Sarah Eckman was born in Schenley, Pennsylvania, one of the six daughters of Andrew L. Eckman and Elizabeth Jane Seevers Eckman. Her parents were farmers.[1] She trained to be a teacher at Indiana State Teachers College, and studied domestic science at Drexel University. She earned a master's degree at Teachers College, Columbia University.[2]

Career

Eckman was a hospital dietitian.[3] She was director of dietetics at Massachusetts General Hospital until 1915,[2] and at Columbia University in 1918.[4] In 1921 Eckman was chief dietitian at University of Michigan Hospital in Ann Arbor, Michigan.[5] In 1923 she was associated with Michael Reese Hospital in Chicago.[6] From 1926 to 1942, she was head dietitian at Montefiore Hospital in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.[7]

She was a founding member and served on the executive board of the American Dietetic Association.[8][9] She spoke to women's clubs,[10] and was a featured speaker at the 1941 meetings of the Pennsylvania Dietetic Association (which she helped to establish) and the Maryland Dietetic Association.[11][12]

Rena Eckman was author of The Starvation (Allen) Treatment of Diabetes (1916, with Lewis Webb Hill), describing the dietary protocol used by Frederick Madison Allen at Massachusetts General Hospital to treat patients with diabetes.[13][14] She also worked on food waste in institutional kitchens,[15] and on the protein value of peanut flour.[16]

Later life

In March 1941 she was among the injured after a train accident in Baden, Pennsylvania.[17] Rena Sarah Eckman died in 1946 at Montefiore Hospital in Pittburgh; she was 78 years old.[7][2]

References
  1. Oran Raber, Biographical Sketches of the Samuel Olin Family (Tracy & Kilgore 1921): 64.
  2. "Rena Eckman, Widely Known Dietician, Dies" Pittsburgh Press (November 9, 1946): 6. via Newspapers.com
  3. Lynn K. Nyhart, "Home Economists in the Hospital, 1900-1930" in Sarah Stage and Virginia B. Vincenti, eds., Rethinking Home Economics: Women and the History of a Profession (Cornell University Press 1997): 125-144. ISBN 9780801481758
  4. "Dietitians' Conference in Cleveland" Cleveland Medical Journal (October 1917): 706.
  5. Rena S. Eckman, "The Dietitian as an Asset to the Hospital" Modern Hospital (October 1921): 354.
  6. "American Home Economics Association in Annual Meeting" Nation's Health (September 15, 1923): 630.
  7. "Miss Rena Eckman Dies at Pittsburgh" The Courier (November 10, 1946): 16. via Newspapers.com
  8. "Rena Eckman" Modern Hospital (October 1921): 343.
  9. "News from the Field" Journal of Home Economics (August 1921): 381.
  10. "Montefiore Dietician Will Address Club" Pittsburgh Press (November 5, 1941): 29. via Newspapers.com
  11. "Irene Willson to Give Talks at Dietitians' Meet" Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (May 22, 1941): 11. via Newspapers.com
  12. "Dietitians' Meeting" The Evening Sun (April 18, 1941): 18. via Newspapers.com
  13. Lewis Webb Hill and Rena S. Eckman, The Starvation (Allen) Treatment of Diabetes (W. M. Leonard 1916).
  14. Thea Cooper, Arthur Ainsberg, Breakthrough: Elizabeth Hughes, the Discovery of Insulin, and the Making of a Medical Miracle (St. Martin's Press 2010): 10. ISBN 9781429965699
  15. "Controlling Food Waste" Hospital Management (October 1922): 58.
  16. Walter H. Eddy and Rena S. Eckman, "Protein Value of Peanut Flour" Journal of Biological Chemistry 55(1923): 119-129.
  17. "List of Dead and Injured in Wreck" Pittsburgh Press (March 17, 1941): 2. via Newspapers.com
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.