Kristine Mann

Kristine Mann (1873–1945) writings at the University of Chicago. Mann was a follower of Henry James Sr., whose anti-ecclesiastical approach had brought him into conflict with the New Church in Chicago, resulting in the family moving to Orange. Thus Kristine grew up in a somewhat unorthodox New Church family setting.

Kristine Mann was born August 29, 1873 in Orange, New Jersey. In 1885 the Kristine and her family began spending summers at Bailey Island (Maine), a location that was reminiscent of her mother's native Denmark. Summering at Bailey Island would prove to be a lifelong ritual for Kristine.

Kristine's education began at age four at the Dearborn Morgan School in Orange which she graduated from at age eighteen. In 1891 she entered Smith College receiving an A.B. in 1895. From there she returned to Orange where she helped her father as editor of the New Church Messenger, the official organ of the Swedenborgian General Convention. However, her father's conflicts with the New Church were deepening to the point that in 1897 ties were severed and Mann founded a new society in Elkhart, Indiana and a new periodical called The Secular Church.

Kristine Mann remained in Orange, teaching science at the Dearborn Morgan School. In 1899 she went to Berlin, Germany to teach English and ancient history in the Willard School for American Girls. She became proficient in German there and attended lectures in science and literature at the Berlin University. On her return home in 1900 she went to the University of Michigan where she received a Master of Arts degree. From there she went on to teach English for four years at Vassar College then several years in New York, New York teaching at the Brearley School while pursuing graduate studies in education, philosophy, and psychology at Columbia University.

At this point in her career she became very concerned about women's health issues and came to believe strongly in better health education for women. She began the study of anatomy at Women's Medical School in 1907, then at the age of thirty-six she entered Cornell Medical School receiving her MD degree in 1913. At Cornell she met Eleanor Bertine who would become a lifelong friend and colleague. She went on to teach in the Physical Education Training School of Wellesley College, having charge of corrective exercises and freshman hygiene.

In 1911 Mann had returned to New York to begin a two year investigation of health conditions of saleswomen for the New York Department Store Education Association, and after the beginning of World War I joined the Ordnance Department supervising the health of women in munition plants. After the Armistice she joined the Work Council of the Y.W.C.A. where she traveled the United States lecturing and putting on health demonstrations at educational institutions. In 1920 she went on to become director of the Health Center for Business and Industrial Women in New York.