History of Scudder Service
Scudder Memorial Hospital
The four institutions founded by Scudder in South India and granted funds by the Foundation are:
Scudder Memorial Hospital, Ranipet: founded in 1866:
Christian Medical College & Hospital, Vellore: founded in 1902
Arni Secondary School, Arni,: founded in 1876
Walter Scudder High School, Tindivanam: founded in 1922
Haystack Prayer Monument – Williams College
“Service to Others” can be traced to a thunderstorm at Williams College in Massachusetts in 1806 when five students took shelter in a haystack. In what became known as the “Haystack Prayer Meeting” they came to the common conviction that “the field is the world” and inspired the creation of the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions in 1810. These young men were part of the Great Awakening of religious fervor that swept the country in the early to mid-19th century. Dr. John (“Pioneer John”) Scudder and all of his descendants served under the American Board of Commissions for Foreign Missions.
Over a 1000 Years of Service
Dr. John and Harriet Scudder
A recent medical graduate of Princeton University, John Scudder, responded to the thunderclap call heard that fateful day in Williamstown, Massachusetts. He was the first of many generations of Scudders to hear it. In 1819, young Dr. Scudder and his devoted wife, Harriet, left Boston to begin a tradition of family service that has left a legacy of more than 1,250 combined years of medical mission assistance by four generations of the Scudder family in Sri Lanka, India and Saudi Arabia. The spirit of “Service to Others” that John Scudder responded to continues to live through The Scudder Association Foundation. As Scudders, we take pride in the pioneering medical mission work our relatives embarked on. The Foundation was founded to assist in supporting and perpetuating this work. The Foundation’s purpose is to provide a base and a voice, for those members of the founding American Scudder families, to gather in support in fulfilling Dr. John Scudder’s vision. The Foundation provides a direct connection for Scudders from around the world, with the vast medical community, in India, that resulted from that vision. A medical network that is nothing short of miracle.
Every miracle requires a saint. Enter Aunt Ida.
A freshly minted doctor, Ida Scudder makes a house call in her mobile office.
Ida Scudder was the granddaughter of Dr. John Scudder, Sr. She grew up in India. At an early age she recognized that the women of India were denied the advantages of western medicine due to the cultural taboo of India women being attended by male doctors. Ida returned to America to attend the Cornell Medical School, becoming one of America’s first woman doctors.
She returned to Vellore, India and began a medical practice catering to the women of Vellore and surrounding countryside.
Her dedication and unswerving commitment of “service to others”, over the course of 70 years, resulted in what is today India’s finest and largest private hospital and medical schools. In time, she became known to the people of India affectionately as, “Aunt Ida”. To those Scudders back in America, she became a source of pride and inspiration.
Ida Scudder – one of the first women graduates of the Cornell Medical College.
That was then, this is now
Today the Scudder Association hopes to continue and support that family tradition of “service to others”. In order to do so, we need your participation and help. There is no shortage of areas for you to take an active interest. We encourage you to take a moment to discover the many opportunities listed below to become involved.
Educational Grants
Educational Grants for Medical, Humanitarian and Spiritual Studies
The Scudder Association has had a long standing educational grant fund to assist those who wish to pursue a career in medicine, social and spiritual professions. To learn more on how you can help that fund grow or start your own specific educational grant Learn More
Medical Missions
Since its founding the Scudder Association has played an active role in supporting two primary medical missions in India:
Christian Medical College – Vellore
CMC Vellore – Begun as a one room clinic, last year CMC served over 2,000,000 patients.
Founded in 1900 by Dr. Ida S. Scudder, CMC has grown to become India’s largest and most prestigious teaching hospital and medical educational institution. Serving 1.3 million inpatients a year and offering 179 courses in nursing and medical postgraduate specialties, as well as PhD in a number of related disciplines.
You won’t believe what Aunt Ida’s Donkey Cart has turned into – Learn More
Scudder Memorial Hospital, Ranipet, India Founded 1866, Silas Scudder
Scudder Memorial Hospital
Silas Scudder, John Scudder’s son and Ida’s uncle, started the Scudder Memorial Hospital, in Ranipet, India, in 1866. It is one of India’s oldest hospitals and provides the healthcare needs for Ranipet and over 65 surrounding villages.
Discover what John and his son’s vision have become today. – Learn More
Please Make Yourself at Home, You’re Family.
We encourage you to spend time exploring our website and be witness to what one family’s commitment to helping others can accomplish. We think you’ll be impressed. Of course, any time you visit a hospital (or their web page), you run the risk of picking something up. We hope you do.
Catch the spirit – We have the cure for it.
Donate Here
Please help us keep the spirit alive.
Current Campaigns
JAWADHI HILLS APPEAL
Please join our effort to help Christian Medial College (CMC) build a maternity hospital in the Jawadhi Hills region of South India. The Scudder Association Foundation (SAF) is working to continue the legacy of Aunt Ida’s calling to provide desperately needed care for women in childbirth. As you know, Ida responded to the pleas of these women by dedicating her life to their care.
“What Goes Round, Comes Round,” Again, History Can Repeat Itself – Scudders Launch a Maternity 2.0 Campaign
After Ida Scudder bore witness to the deaths of three expectant mothers, Ida determined, “I could not bear to think of these young girls as dead…I must go home and study medicine and come back to India to help such women.” On her return, Dr. Ida Scudder began a professional journey that would touch tens of thousands of patients and impact millions of lives.
Jawadhi Hills Campaign – Background Information
The Jawadhi Hills (also Javadhu, Jawadhu, Javadi Hills) are an extension of the Eastern Ghats mountains about 40 miles south and west of Vellore. This range of granite peaks is 50 miles wide by twenty miles long, reaching an altitude of 4000 feet. Their height is sufficient to produce rainfall, which leaves them clothed in green, in vivid contrast to the dry plains surrounding Vellore.
3 Knocks and a Miracle
Share in the 24 hour celebration of Aunt Ida Scudder's 150th around the world birthday party. Last December, CMC Vellore staged a virtual 24 hour celebration of Dr. Ida Scudder birthday. The virtual celebration followed the sun around the world spotlighting the...
Christian Medical College – CMC
CMC Vellore was founded by an American, Dr. Ida S. Scudder. Born in South India in 1870, she spent most of her childhood in the US and was educated there. In 1899 was one of the first woman graduates of Cornell Medical as a doctor, she returned to Vellore to provide...