Dates

• Existence: 1878 - 1943

Biography

Dr. Zella White Stewart, an allergist, was born in St. Johns, New Brunswick, Canada, on January 9, 1878. She received her medical degree from Cornell University in 1903. In 1904, she married George Walter Stewart, a physicist. They had one son, Rodney, and also raised two nephews, Paul and LymanWhite. The Stewarts also helped at least two other relatives, their nieces Mary and Betty White, through college. Stewart died at her home on August 4, 1943 after several months of ill health.

During her life, Zella White Stewart participated actively in both professional and social endeavors. She practiced medicine in Grand Forks, North Dakota, from 1904until 1910 and in Iowa City, Iowa, from 1910 until 1938. For the last twenty years of her career, she specialized in the study and treatment of allergies. Stewart authored many professional papers in this field and was a member of both the American Association for the Study of Allergies and the International Correspondence Club for the Study of Allergy. She also founded a chapter of the League of Women Voters in Iowa City and was a charter member of the Business and Professional Women's Club, the Iowa City Women's Club and the University Club. In addition, her husband's position as head of the University of Iowa's physics department involved Stewart in the university community. The Stewart home was used for several years "as an international house for university students of all nationalities."

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