Emily Dunning Barringer (September 27, 1876[1] - April 8, 1961)[2] was the world's first female ambulance surgeon and the first woman to secure a surgical residency.

The well-to-do New York family fell on hard times when she was about ten years old, and her father left for Europe to try to recoup his fortune, leaving her mother with five children.

[3] During World War II, Barringer advocated for the Army Medical Reserve Corps to commission female doctors.

Barringer's lobbying efforts resulted in Congress passing the Sparkman Act in 1943, which allowed women to serve as commissioned officers in the Army Medical Reserve Corps, as well as the Navy and Public Health Service.

Her autobiography, Bowery to Bellevue: The Story of New York's First Woman Ambulance Surgeon, was made into a 1952 film, The Girl in White, by MGM.