Edward H. (Edward Hammond) Clarke

Edward Hammond Clarke was a Harvard Medical School professor (1855-1872) and physician. He courted controversy in 1875 following the publication of his book Sex in Education, arguing that women were inherently less physically and intellectually capable than men. He claimed that a woman's health would deteriorate as a result of higher education, and moreover that the education of women would come at the expense of their reproductive health. He was not alone in holding such unsubstantiated and antifeminist views at a time when women were asserting their right to higher education. His claims were notably rebutted by physician Mary Putnam Jacobi in 1876.