Nell Morgan Austin Enlows grew up in West Virginia where her father was a doctor. She married Harold Franklin Enlows on September 7, 1910.
She earned a bachelor’s degree with distinction from George Washington University in 1915. The Enlows were involved in fraternity life; she was a Sigma Kappa and he was a Sigma Nu. She immediately began working on a master’s degree in bacteriology at GWU and her husband began his career as a lawyer.
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1915
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1916
An active Sigma Kappa alumna, she wrote the 1917-1918 report from the DC alumnae chapter. That year, according to a report in The Triangle, “Nell Enlows and Mary Newcomb, accompanied by Nell’s mother and three friends (all girls) drove Ally Enlows – Nell’s Dodge – to Atlantic City, returning by way of Philadelphia.”
Another report written during that time includes this information:
Our last alumnae meeting was held jointly with the active chapter on January 2. Red Cross contributions, TRIANGLE subscriptions, and Panhellenic rules regarding rushing were the engrossing topics of the evening. We find here at Zeta that joint meetings are very helpful on both sides. After the meeting in January several of the active girls came to me and said how very much they had enjoyed hearing the alumnae tell them of the difficulties and joys of Panhellenic rushing rules of the past. The long rushing season of this year has been to say the least very unpleasant. The greater part of every business meeting is taken up by a discussion of rushing. And practically all the free hours the girls have about college are claimed by the business of rushing.
She helped install Sigma Kappa’s Rho chapter at Randolph-Macon Woman’s College on June 2, 1917, and the Omega chapter at Florida State College for Women on May 29, 1920.
Enlows worked for several years in the field for the United States Public Health Service while doing doctoral work.
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Triangle, December 1921
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New Castle Herald, June 18, 1921
Enlows earned a Ph.D. from George Washington in 1923. With her husband’s encouragement, she enrolled in medical school at Johns Hopkins University. She graduated in 1929 at the age of 40. She was the only woman in her class who passed the qualifying exams.
Enlows practiced otolaryngology (ENT – ears, nose and throat) in DC. She was the first female doctor to join the staff of Washington’s Episcopal Hospital. She later recounted that because there were no facilities for women doctors to change their clothes, she was forced to change in the telephone booth. The female nurses then invited her to use their facilities.
In 1942, she and her husband each received the Alumni Achievement Award from GWU.
The Enlows moved to Florida in 1945. She practiced part time until 1956, when her husband died. She then retired and spent her time volunteering. She taught first aid and life saving and served as medical officer at the Aquatic Schools founded by her husband. Enlows also volunteered with the Florence Crittenton Home. She was instrumental in organizing Florida Medical Women.
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Fort Lauderdale News, April 15, 1948
She remained active in Sigma Kappa alumnae chapters and was a member of the alumnae Panhellenic association. She was also active in AAUW and medical organizations. Enlows was honored by the American Medical Women’s Association, at a mid-year meeting in Hot Springs, Arkansas in 1959.
Enlows died on June 25, 1973, at the age of 83.