Angel of Ashland: Practicing Compassion and Tempting Fate - Hardcover

Genovese, Vincent

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1573928313 ISBN 13: 9781573928311

Publisher: Prometheus, 2000

Synopsis

For over fifty years Dr. Robert Spencer (1889-1969) practiced medicine in the small coal-mining town of Ashland, PA. As the only town doctor, he was known by everyone as a dedicated medical professional who spent long hours at his clinic, charged a modest fee for his services, never turned anyone away who couldn't pay, and was the person the townspeople turned to with their many ailments and injuries.But he also gained another kind of notoriety as well, about which there was generally a discreet silence in the town: he would willingly perform safe and reliable abortions. Women "in trouble" could consult him without shame or fear, and he would perform the procedure quickly and efficiently with no questions asked. This was unique in the era before Roe v. Wade, especially in the 1920s when Dr. Spencer opened his practice. As a result he soon became a much-sought-after physician, to whom doctors throughout the country would refer women who wished to end their pregnancies.Of course, many disapproved of his not-so-secret and illegal abortion practice. Despite the townspeople's reliance on him for his medical expertise, over the years he was blackmailed, robbed, often shunned in public, censured by the American Medical Association, and arrested by the police.This is the first biography of Dr. Spencer. Vincent Genovese has done yeoman's work in reconstructing Dr. Spencer's life and career by researching his correspondence, interviewing surviving Ashland residents who knew him, and combing through old newspaper archives. This unique biography is a must read for anyone interested in the issue of abortion.

About this title

About the Author

Vincent J. Genovese, M.S. (Minersville, PA), a retired high school guidance counselor, is a freelance writer currently working on a novel.

From the Inside Flap

One evening in late January of 1969, the lead story on the 'Huntley-Brinkley Report' was the death of Dr. Robert D. Spencer, also known as the "Angel of Ashland." It was reported that Spencer had performed 100,000 abortions during his medical career, which spanned over half a century, from the 1920s to that day. All this occurred in the sleepy little coal-mining town of Ashland, Pennsylvania.

Mesmerized by the news story, then college student Vincent J. Genovese, who was himself raised in Minersville, a similar mining town not more than ten miles from Ashland, began a quest to find out more about Spencer. The result is THE ANGEL OF ASHLAND, the biography of a courageous and principled doctor.

Opening his eleven-room clinic in 1925, Spencer won the hearts of the local coal miners and their families with his devotion to their plight. He became an expert on black lung disease and often treated injuries suffered in the mines. He was progressive in his use of technology and new medical procedures, often treating patients referred by other physicians. But Spencer also became known as a doctor who would perform safe and reliable abortions. Women "in trouble" could consult him without shame or fear. Thousands of these women would lie in the recovery rooms of the Spencer Clinic, just feet away from the main street, literally in the shadow of the police station.

While many disapproved of his not-so-secret and illegal abortion practice, Spencer was so committed to the principle of choice that he endured the threat of blackmail, censure by the American Medical Association, police arrest, and court trials. Despite all this, he never spent a night in jail and his clinic remained open throughout his long career.

In researching this compelling biography, Genovese interviewed Spencer's widow, Eleanor Becker Spencer, and his longtime friend and assistant, Steven Sukunda. He studied court proceedings, interviewed jurors, researched national and local periodicals, and listened to eye-witness accounts. The result is the story of a dynamic, progressive doctor who was not only skilled in medical procedures, but who offered abortion services long before Roe v. Wade became the law of the land.

Reviews

Robert Spencer received his M.D. in 1915 and then served in the army during the flu epidemic. Except for a few years as chief pathologist in a U.S. Miners Hospital, he spent his career as a general practitioner in Ashland, Pennsylvania, which is in the state's coal mining district. He first performed an abortion in 1919. By the mid-1960s, he had performed more than 100,000. His patients came from throughout the U.S and from overseas. Despite the fact that abortion was strictly illegal throughout his career, he seldom got into legal trouble, except in the last few years, and he never got rich. If a friend told him the cops were about to turn up the heat on his clinic, he just closed up and went on a trip. Spencer's second wife burned all his patient records, preventing a scholarly biography, but Genovese's engaging, anecdotal book is still a revealing depiction of underground medicine. William Beatty
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Edition details

• Publisher: Prometheus
• Publication date: 2000
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1573928313
• ISBN 13: 9781573928311
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 156