Who She Was
In 1922, Sister M. Beatrice Merrigan of St. Anthony’s Hospital in Oklahoma City sent 10 required X-ray films, covering the body from sinus to knee, and her answers to 20 essay questions to a brand-new registry known today as the American Registry of Radiologic Technologists (ARRT). A few weeks later, she learned she had passed. She became the registry’s first Registered Technologist, and hers was the first of 89 certificates it awarded that year.
Why She Matters
In those early days, many doctors who owned X-ray machines recruited their receptionists and secretaries to crank the machine’s handle and rock the developer pan. The new registry gave technologists a way to prove their knowledge with films and an exam. The ASRT museum says Catholic nuns influenced the practice of radiologic technology more than any other group, and in 1927, more than a third of all radiologic technologists were nuns. ARRT still certifies technologists today, and its very first certificate went to Sister Merrigan.
