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DR. CHARLES BYRON LESHER and his wife, DR. MABEL GRIER LESHER, practiced medicine and taught in Camden for many years. Charles Byron Lesher was born in Council Bluffs, Iowa on May 31, 1878, one of five children born to Charles H. and Edith Lesher. His parents, natives on Pennsylvania, returned there shortly after his birth. His father was afarmer. Charles Byron Lesher graduated from Northumberland PA High School in 1897 and from there went to Bucknell University, where he graduated in 1901. He studied medicine at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, receiving his M.D. in 1908. He apparently married fellow doctor Mabel Grier, a classmate at Bucknell, shortly after the 1910 Census. Dr. Lesher interned at St. Agnes Hospital in Philadelphia, then spent the next two years as an intern at Cooper Hospital in Camden. Mabel Grier Lesher was born in Salem NJ in on July 30, 1880. She graduated from Salem High School in 1897, and like her husband, Bucknell in 1901, then on to John Hopkins University School of Medicine where she completed her studies in 1905. She interned at the Women's and Children's Hospital in Syracuse NY prior to her marriage. The Lesher's daughter, Mabel, was born in Syracuse on August 1, 1909. The family had settled in Philadelphia at 5624 Kingsessing Avenue when Dr. Charles Lesher registered for the draft in September of 1918, and were at 4606 Springfield Avenue by the end of 1919. They were in general practice and Charles Lesher was doing some surgery, and in 1918 completed some post-graduate work at the Polyclinic Hospital in Philadelphia. His wife received specialized training from the United States Public health Service in 1920. Between 1910 and 1927 the Drs. Leshers spent time in China with a hospital affiliated with the American Baptist missions. Dr. Lesher was director of the Chaoyany Dispensary and Kit-yang Hospital, Kityang, South China up until 1927. Dr. Mabel Lesher was Physician in charge of the Women's Clinic, Kit yang Hospital from 1922 to 1925; then was employed as physician by the Shanghai American School in Shanghai, China from 1925 to 1927. She also taught at the Women's Medical College at Shanghai in 1926 and 1927. The Lesher's returned to the United States in June of 1927 via England aboard the SS Berengaria. They eventually settled at 331 Penn Street in Camden. There daughter, Mabel, graduated from Camden High school and then, in June of 1933, from Bucknell University. Dr. Charles Lesher went back into practice. Dr. Mabel Lesher, after receiving training from the American Social Hygiene Association in 1927 and 1928, followed a career in education. She taught at Camden High School, Clara Burrough Junior High School, was professor of social Hygiene at New York University, Rutger's University, Trenton State Teacher's College; Temple University, in 1946 at the University of Utah, and the Teacher's College of Rhode Island. Besides being with his wife a member of the Camden County Medical Association, Dr. Charles Lesher was a member of the China Medical Missionary Association. Dr. Mabel Lesher was active with the American Social Hygiene Association. The author of several books and articles, she was, without a doubt, a pioneer in the field of social hygiene, what we today would call sex education. Dr. Charles Lesher gained a bit of unwanted notoriety when he was prosecuted on drug charges in 1930, for prescribing narcotics to a known addict. The charges were dismissed on the day of the trial. The
Leshers were still at 331 Penn Street as late as 1947. Dr. Charles B.
Lesher passed away in
1951. In 1958 Dr. Mabel Grier Lesher was award the Service to Humanity
Award by the Bucknell University Alumni Association. Last a resident of
Lewisburg PA |
Camden
Courier-Post Doris
Jenkins |
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Camden Courier-Post - June 2, 1932 |
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Dr. Mabel Grier Lesher - Camden High School |
Camden Courier-Post * June 17, 1932 |
Dr.
Mabel Grier Lesher -
Camden
High School -
Dr. Helen A. Shrack - Dr. Jennie Sharp Mrs. A. Haines Lippincott - Mrs. Arthur J. Casselman - Mrs. Orris W. Saunders Mrs. Alexander MacAlister - Mrs. William A. Wescott |
Camden Courier-Post * June 5, 1933 |
DR.
LESHER TO TEACH AT
N.Y. SUMMER SCHOOL Dr. Mabel Grier Lesher, social science
instructor for girls in Camden senior and junior high schools, will
take part as a teacher in the 1933 program at the Chautauqua (N. Y.)
Summer School. Miss Lesher will
instruct in social science at the Chautauqua Institution, conducting
their sixtieth annual six weeks' courses. |
Camden Courier-Post * June 5, 1933 |
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BUCKNELL
TO HONOR SOUTH JERSEY GIRlS Miss Mabel Lesher, daughter of Dr. and
Mrs. C. B. Lesher, 331 Penn
Street;
is scheduled to be graduated by Bucknell University, Lewisburg, Pa., this
year. She will receive the degree of bachelor of arts in biology. A graduate of
the Camden High
School, Miss Lesher has been active in religious organizations at
Bucknell, where she was a member of the Student Volunteers and the
Student' Fellowship. Miss, Gretchen
Fisher, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Grover C. Fisher, of Berlin, and Miss
Mabel B. Smith, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Charles A. Smith, of Moorestown,
are also members of the graduating class at Bucknell. They are members
of a class of more than 200 seniors, who will receive their diplomas at an
out-of-doors ceremony on the campus in front of Hunt Hall this afternoon.
Dr. Kenneth B. Murdock, dean of the faculty, of arts and sciences at
Harvard University, will make the commencement address.
Bucknell's
three-day commencement program opened Saturday, which was designated as
Alumni and Fraternity Day. Cap and Dagger, the college dramatic society,
presented the play, "The Queen's Husband," Saturday night. Dr. Homer P. Rainey, president of Bucknell, preached the baccalaureate sermon yesterday, morning. The corporation dinner for graduates and their parents tonight completes the commencement calendar.
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Camden Courier-Post * June 29, 1933 |
Dr.
Lesher to Lecture At the Chautauqua
Dr. Mabel Grier Lesher, of 321 Penn Street, accompanied by her daughter, Miss Mabel Lesher, a recent graduate, of Bucknell University, leaves today for Chautauqua, N. Y., to remain until the end of August. For
the second consecutive year, Dr. Lesher will conduct· a lecture
course at the Chautauqua Summer School on "Adolescent
Adjustment." The course is planned for teachers, parents and
social workers. It is accredited by the New York University |
Camden
High School Dr. Paul T. Ebner, Dr. Mabel G. Lesher, Anna M. Bendinger |
Click on Image to Enlarge |