7-26-1886 - 5-30-1956

On this site, Dr. Kate Pelham Newcomb, a well-respected and loved physician, provided medical care from her office and treatment room during the 1940s and 1950s. One of only two doctors for the vast northern Wisconsin area, she treated local residents and tourists, traveling over 300 square miles to make house calls through blizzards and subzero temperatures. Her modes of transportation included a canoe, her modified Model T car equipped with tracks and skis, on foot or by snowshoe. She delivered over 3,000 babies without ever losing a mother or baby.
By 1949 it became clear that the northern region desperately needed a hospital. Dr. Kate had to travel with her patients to hospitals in bigger communities or as far as Ironwood, MI. The Arbor Vitae-Woodruff Lions Club as well as churches, civic clubs, tourists and residents literally dug in and poured a foundation on land donated by a local couple. After funding resources dwindled in 1952, the Arbor Vitae-Woodruff High School Geometry teacher, Mr. Otto Burich, and his class came up with an idea that caught on nationwide. The goal was to collect a million pennies, and on Memorial Day 1953 The Million Penny Parade was held in Woodruff with 10,000 people in attendance to celebrate the collection of pennies from all 48 states and all continents. The Lakeland Memorial Hospital located
in Woodruff opened debt free in March 1954. Community spirit, generosity, hard work, imagination and faith built a hospital for Dr. Kate.
Dr. Kate's remarkable life has been commemorated in books, articles in Reader's Digest, LOOK magazine, Woman's Day magazine, US News, and publications throughout the world. She was a guest on the television show hosted by Ralph Edwards "THIS IS YOUR LIFE" in March 1954. Her unique role as a female physician is taught to today's students throughout Wisconsin social studies classes. This site commemorates Dr. Kate's contributions to the medical community in the Arbor Vitae-Woodruff area and in the state of Wisconsin, where her legacy lives on.

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Show me all markers in:  Woodruff, WI  |  Oneida County  |  54568  |  Wisconsin  |  United States of America

The Million Penny Parade
Veterans Memorial
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Forest Restoration
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Lac du Flambeau
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