Honoring the Women Who Stopped Whooping Cough

In the 1930s, when whooping cough (pertussis) was one of the deadliest diseases for children, three women scientists stepped forward to change history. Their names—Pearl Kendrick, Grace Eldering, and Loney Gordon—aren’t widely known, but their work has saved countless young lives.

Kendrick and Eldering were bacteriologists at the Michigan Department of Health in Grand Rapids. At a time when few women were recognized in science, they set out to tackle a disease that was killing thousands of children each year. Working long hours during the Great Depression, they partnered with local doctors, schools, and even parents to gather data, test treatments, and refine their research.

They didn’t do it alone. Loney Gordon, a Black dietitian and later bacteriologist, joined the team and played a vital role in testing cultures of the pertussis bacterium—work that was crucial to developing an effective vaccine. Together, these women faced skepticism, limited funding, and the barriers of sexism and racism. Still, their persistence paid off. By the mid-1940s, their pertussis vaccine was being distributed widely, leading to a dramatic drop in childhood deaths.

Today on Women’s Equality Day, it seems fitting that they be honored for their ground-breaking achievement, which remains a cornerstone of public health. Every child who grows up protected from whooping cough owes a debt to Kendrick, Eldering, and Gordon—three trailblazers who refused to accept limits, and in doing so, safeguarded generations.