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Elizabeth Fleischman (5 March 1867 - 3 August 1905) was an American of Austrian-Jewish descent, who is considered an X-ray pioneer. Fleischman-Ascheim was the first woman to die from the effects of her work with X-rays.
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Life and times
Elizabeth Fleischman was born in Placerville, California on March 5th, 1867. In 1880, the family moved to San Francisco where Elizabeth's father, Jacob Fleischman, worked as a baker and later became a merchant who sold various sundries and cigars. Elizabeth Fleischman attend the Girls’ High School, and dropped out in her senior year in 1882. She then took courses in bookkeeping and office management, and for a time she worked as a bookkeeper at Friedlander & Mitau, a San Francisco underwear manufacturer.
Upon the death of her mother, Fleischman moved in with her sister Estelle, was married to physician and surgeon Dr. Michael Joseph Henry Woolf. Fleischman worked in the office of Woolf's medical practice, where Dr. Woolf encouraged her curiosity in the new medical technology of X-rays. Fleiscman quickly exhibited a keen interest and became proficient with the various apparatus that were necessary to produce the X-rays.
In 1900, Fleischman married Israel Julius Aschheim. The announcement of their marriage was printed on 5 September 1900 in The San Francisco Call. The announcement, as follows, said: "Israel J. Aschheim, 45, city, and Elizabeth Fleischman, 32, city."
On 3 August 1905, Fleishman died due to complications as a result of her work with X-rays. The notice of her death published in the San Francisco Examiner read as follows:
“Aschheim – In this city, August 3, 1905, Elizabeth Aschheim, beloved wife of I. J. Aschheim, and daughter of Jacob Fleischman, and sister of Mrs. M.J.H. Woolf, Mrs. I. Augstem and N. Y. and M. R. Fleischman, a native of California. (Pacific Coast papers please copy.) Funeral Sunday, August 6, at 10 o’clock a.m., from the residence of Dr. M. J. H. Woolf, 1017 Oak street, thence to Third and Townsend streets for 11:30 a.m. train. Interment Salem Cemetery.”
The San Francisco Chronicle published the following obituary:
"DEATH OF A FAMOUS WOMAN RADIOGRAPHER...Mrs. Elizabeth Fleischmann-Aschheim, the wife of I.J. Aschheim, grand secretary of the Independent Order of B'nai B'rith, died last Thursday after suffering for months from injuries sustained in the pursuit of her profession as a radiographer. In her demise the community loses one of the most admirable women of science and of the most ardent workers in the interests of afflicted humanity. "For years Mrs. Aschheim had been operating with the X-ray, and had acquired fame as one of the greatest experts in that line. She became indispensable to the Army physicians during the Philippine War, when wounded and crippled soldiers came here on the transports, and she located the bullets and splinters and exposed them to the eyes of the surgeons. Her work attracted the attention of the Surgeon-General of the Army, who rated her work as the best known.
Her gravestone states simply: “I think I did some good in this world.”
X-ray pioneer
In 1896, Fleischman read of Wilhelm Röntgen's breakthrough with x-rays in Vienna, Austria: “A new photographic discovery” and drew her attention to pursuits on radiography. She was sure to pore over the latest literature and publications on the subject, including Something About X-Rays for Everybody, Practical Radiography by Henry Snowden Ward and Prof. Roentgen’s X Rays by August Dittmar. In August 1896, Professor Albert Van der Naillen of the Van der Naillen School of Engineering, gave a public lecture and presentation on X-ray apparatus. In 1896, Fleischman enrolled in the Van der Naillen School of Engineering and took a course of study in electrical science, in part influenced by her physician brother-in-law and Van der Naillen's lecture. Upon completion of the course of study, she borrowed funds from her father to purchase X-ray apparatus and a fluoroscope.
In July 1900, the American X-ray Journal described the work and accomplishments of Fleischman including recognition by the Surgeon General of the Army George Miller Sternberg. She was an inaugural member of the Roentgen Society of the United States and the Society’s president wished to express thanks for her many contributions.
"Roentgen Society of the United States. COMMITTEE ON NECROLOGY. Miss Elizabeth Fleischman, San Francisco, Cal.
"The President quoted from a letter received from Elizabeth Fleischman, a worker in x-rays in San Francisco, who has taken a great deal of interest in this Society, and is a member. She has been employed by the officers of the U. S. Government to do x ray work on the Pacific Coast. She sent a large collection of her pictures for the Society. We desire to acknowledge the receipt of a number of radiographs received today from Miss Elizabeth Fleischman of San Francisco. The high grade work of this lady radiographer deserves public commendation for her painstaking and tireless energy to promote x-ray science. The excellence of her work has been mentioned through the lay press but especially commented upon by medical and scientific journals. Possibly the highest distinction one could receive in this country has been awarded her by the head of the medical department of our Government. One of the radiographs received from Miss Fleischman is of the ape family. In it are plainly seen the large intestines distinct from the small convolutions, the stomach is clearly seen, the liver, heart, and lungs readily outlined. The picture is twenty inches in length and the articulations are clear throughout. The radiograph of a fish, red snapper, is certainly the best we have thus far seen. Every detail of the harder structure of the fish that could be seen under dissection with the unaided eye is here shown. An interesting specimen is that of a bead showing non-erupted second molar above and below and the still more delayed wisdom teeth which are yet in the pulp. This entire specimen is unique, head and trunk, and we desire to know more about it. The lizzard and hands are all good. If Miss Fleischman is a fair criterion of what other women may do in radiography it will be well for us that the infection should spread. Miss Fleischman has improved the art and made diagnosis more certain and she has succeeded financially and socially. She is a member of the Roentgen Society of the United States.
In the 1902 edition of The International Text-Book of Surgery, a case is reviewed that involved a radiograph of the skull taken by Fleischman on 20 August 1899 at San Francisco. The radiograph was taken to locate a Mauser 7 mm bullet lodged in the skull of Private John Gretzer, Jr., of the 1st Nebraska Volunteers, wounded at Mariboa, Philippine Islands on 27 March 1899 during the Spanish American War. The private returned to duty as a mail clerk.
In 1903, the San Francisco city directory published a listing for Fleischman as follows: “Fleischman-Aschheim Elizabeth Mrs., radiographer X-ray Laboratory, 611 Sutter, hours 9 a. m to 12 m. and 2 to 5 p. m. Sundays and evenings by appointment”. Her name was printed in bold, which meant an added cost and note the correct name spelling.
In 1905, the Dietetic and Hygienic Gazette published the following details regarding the cause of her injuries:
“The exposure to powerful X-rays in nine years of practical work as a “radiographer” has caused Mrs. Elizabeth Fleischmann Aschheim to lose her right arm. The burns did not appear on the surface, but a gradual disintegration of the tissue occurred under the skin, and at last became so painful that Mrs. Aschheim was forced to go to the hospital. The amputation of her arm was the only way to save her life. For years she had maintained the most complete laboratory on this coast, and she had done all the radiograph work for the United States Army. Her skill as a radiographer was first shown when wounded soldiers came back from the Philippines. Surgeon-General Sternberg then declared Mrs. Aschheim’s radiographs were the best he had ever seen. – San Francisco Letter to N. Y. Tribune.”
On 4 March 1905, the journal Electrical World and Engineer published the details regarding the amputation of Fleishman’s right arm and her withdrawal from the field of radiography as follows:
“Mrs. Elizabeth Fleischmann-Aschheim, of San Francisco, who has won much fame by her work in radiography and X-ray treatments during the past eight years, is convalescing after an operation removing her right arm at the shoulder. She admits that almost constant exposure to the rays had much to do with the trouble, which finally necessitated amputation. On September, 1903, the end of a finger on her right hand was accidentally crushed. Continued exposure to the rays in the course of business helped to prevent healing and aggravated the X-ray burns which had affected both hands. For nearly a year past Mrs. Aschheim has taken great precautions while at work using rubber gloves and a plate glass screen to protect herself, but it was too late to repair the damage done during her earlier experiments. The leading medical and scientific men of the Coast are full of sympathy and regrets that Mrs. Aschheim has been forced to give up her eminent work as a radiographer in the midst of a brilliant career. It will be a serious loss to them to be deprived of her professional services in the most difficult cases for X-ray examination and radiography.”
The 25 March 1905 edition of Medical Review of Reviews reported on the effects of X-rays to Fleischman-Aschheim and noted her membership in the Röntgen Ray Society. She had her right arm amputated as a result of X-ray burns. The initial effects of the X-rays appeared in her right hand about 1904 and she continued the work despite the development of injury.