GIDDINGS, HELEN MARSHALL (16 May 1870-5 July 1950), osteopathic surgeon, served as president (1934-36) and later chair of the finance and budget committee of the Osteopathic Women's National Association. She was born in Green Springs, OH, to Frederick S. and Mary Elizabeth Marshall Giddings. Educated at Green Springs Academy, she received her medical degree from the American School of Osteopathy (1899, also called the Kirksdale College of Osteopathy and Surgery) in Kirksdale, MO. Giddings opened a private practice in an office on EUCLID AVENUE, which she later shared with her sister, Mary Giddings (d.1940), also an osteopathic physician. In addition to the national association, Giddings belonged to local and state osteopathic groups as well as the American Electronic Research Association and the American Society of Ophthalmology and Otolaryngology.
Giddings was also active in organizations for WOMEN, as a charter member of the WOMEN'S CITY CLUB OF CLEVELAND and a member of groups such as the LEAGUE OF WOMEN VOTERS, the Women's Civic Club of Cleveland Heights, the Federation of Women's Clubs on local, state and national levels, and the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom. A Unitarian, she worked with the local VISITING NURSE ASSOCIATION and LEGAL AID SOCIETY, was a life member of the CLEVELAND MUSEUM OF ART, and belonged to the Cleveland Foreign Affairs Council and the CONSUMERS' LEAGUE. Unmarried, Giddings resided with her sister in Cleveland Heights and later in the New Amsterdam Hotel in Cleveland.