I had not thought about my grand-aunt Dr. Asela B. Franco in a long time. I must admit that my interest in finding out more about her was sparked only because I became curious about my ancestry after seeing some episodes of “Who Do You Think You Are?” an American genealogy documentary series that features a celebrity on a quest to trace his or her family tree.
I checked out Ancestry.com but got discouraged by the fees (I’m a work-from-home mom on a budget) so I decided to search using Google and started with the names of relatives on the family plot at the cemetery in Cebu. I came up blank except for one.
Dr. Asela Bermejo Franco is the older, half-sister of Edergisto “Eder” Teafilo Rama Rodriguez, my grandfather on my mother’s side. I do not recall having any interaction with her, but maybe that was because I was too young. I don’t even know when she died.
My mother, Evelyn Rodriguez Luab, says Asela or Lola (grandmother) Ilang was a rural doctor practicing pediatrics in Lapu-Lapu City, although she was more widely known for her interest in and expertise on shells. “She would go to Japan to buy shells,” my mom recalls.
This would explain why I grew up knowing her only as the owner of the shell collection that Socorro Rama Rodriguez or Lola Bebing, my grandfather’s sister, housed in her basement. I particularly remember the heart-shaped ones (Corculum cardissa or the heart cockle) that Lola Bebing matched and tied with twine and the one I called “angel wings” because they were white and shaped like, yes, angel wings.
My mom says that Lola Ilang and Lola Bebing were very close, which would probably explain why the shell collection was with Lola Bebing.
She was a pediatrician
Other than that, Asela B. Franco was just a name. But Google revealed some interesting facts about her. She was one of 28 recipients of the Degree of Doctor of Medicine from the University of the Philippines on March 22, 1927.
Asela Franco is the first (native) delegate from the Medical Women of the Philippines to the Medical Women’s National Association, according to a document obtained from the Schlesinger Library on the History of Women in America, Radcliffe Institute, Harvard University. The captioned black and white photo, which is stored as part of the Kate Campbell Hurd-Mead papers, is attributed to the Milwaukee Journal and a certain Dr. Cushing.1
The photo shows a young Franco in traditional Maria Clara dress. “Dr. Franco was charming, spoke English perfectly, and was deeply interested in the whole program,” the caption reads.
What is interesting is that at the time, there were only about “50 native medical women,” about 12 of which are graduates of the University of the Philippines. “Medical women are highly regarded and honored and visit patients always with an attendant, not going about alone,” the caption adds.
Franco’s photo, which is part of a collection dated ca. 1910-1935, is one of several used to illustrate Hurd-Mead’s unpublished manuscript for the second volume of History of Women in Medicine, which covers the 19th and early 20th centuries and is confined to women physicians in the eastern hemisphere.
Whether or not Franco knew Hurd-Mead well is unknown, but she is listed as an advance subscriber of the 1933 publication of Hurd-Mead’s “Medical Women of America: A Short History of the Pioneer Medical Women of America and a few of their colleagues in England.” Apparently, a certain number of subscribers are required before a book was published in the 1930’s. It is interesting to note that Franco is the only subscriber outside of the U.S.2
Franco’s name also appears in the finding aid to the Elizabeth Bass Collection: Women in Medicine, which resides in the Rudolph Matas Medical Library at the Tulane University Medical Center in New Orleans, Louisiana.3
Dr. Bass, a 1904 graduate of the Woman's Medical College of Pennsylvania and one of the first women physicians on the faculty at Tulane University School of Medicine, amassed a vast array of materials pertaining to women in medicine that included newspaper clippings, pictures, photographs, glass magic lantern slides, books, medical school catalogs, etc. The finding aid lists Franco in part one of the collection, or the guide to the clippings, pictures and photographs.
She loved collecting shells
There are no other online references to her medical practice, but Mommy’s story about her seeing patients in Lapu-Lapu City explains why she frequented the island, which was also the site of her many explorations into shell collecting.
"Across from Cebu City separated only by a small channel is the small island of Mactan, where Magellan was killed. East and south of Mactan are several still much smaller islands. During low tide, one can walk from one to another of these islands in some places. The heart shells are found west, south, and east of Mactan, or in the waters between Cebu City and Mactan and between Mactan and the neighboring small islands on the south and east sides. Not only heart shells are found in these places, but most of my shells were collected there. It is my favorite collecting locality, as it is near the city. All these smaller islands mentioned belong to Cebu,” Franco writes Smithsonian zoologist Paul Bartsch.4
Bartsch, an American malacologist, cites Franco for sending him 25 specimens of Little Hearts (those heart-shaped shells) in “The Little Hearts (Corculum) of the Pacific and Indian Oceans” published in page 221 of the Pacific Science, Volume 1, Number 4, October 1947.
“Dr. Franco's sending is particularly rich in color markings, a fact which is helpful in interpreting what some of the names bestowed by the early writers embraced. Most of the early specific names were based upon coloration. That coloration was not a constant but a variable feature was then unknown, and this fact was responsible for the list of synonyms here noted. Dr. Franco's collection, combined with the 42 lots in the National Museum from various localities, enables me to revise the genus and bring the nomenclature up to date,” he says.4
Franco is also recorded to have contributed “265 specimens of marine mollusks from Cebu Island, Philippines” in a Report on the Progress and Condition of the United States National Museum for the Year ended June 30, 1947 by Alexander Wetmore, Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution and Director of the United States National Museum.5
The British Museum was also a beneficiary, based on an article published in Vol. XI, No. 5, New Series No. 30, March 1963 of Hawaiian Shell News, the official publication of the Hawaiian Malacological Society.
“Dr. Asela Franco of Cebu City presented specimens of Heart Shells from the Philippine Islands,” says E.H. Bryan Jr., Curator of Collections in “Shell Accessions at British Museum, 1962.”6
Although I found no records substantiating her membership, there is a perception that she was part of the Hawaiian Malacological Society.
"I started collecting shells only one year ago but I have steadily increased my collection. I only collect live shells. The potential of shelling in the Philippines is unlimited, but, unfortunately, in Cebu we do not have a shell club yet. But I get expert help from Mr. Fambo and Dra. Asela Franco, both I believe are quite well known members of your Society. If you have members who are interested in Philippine shells I would gladly exchange with them,” says Fe Asuncion Murillo of Cebu City, Philippines in “Market Place – Make Money – Save Money,” page 8 of Volume XV, No. 6, New Series No. 90, June 1967 of the publication.7
The lack of access to resources and expertise on the study of shells in Cebu City might have prompted Franco to reach out to a larger community.
Correspondence files that form part of the Records of the Department of Anthrolopology maintained by the Bancroft Library at the University of California records Franco to have corresponded “with EWG re shells” in 1951. It is safe to surmise that EWG stands for Edward W. Gifford, a professor of anthology and then director of the Museum of Anthropology at the University of California, Berkeley.8
Similarly, Franco is listed in the professional correspondence files that form part of the Angeline Myra Keen papers at the Smithsonian Institution Archives, particularly Folder 19 Foa-Fre in Box 2 which “includes correspondence with Asela Franco, 1943-1976.” A description of the professional correspondence of Keen, a renowned expert in the nomenclature of mollusks, states that “much of Keen's official correspondence consists of requests for identification of species from amateur collectors, and, as often, from colleagues in the field.”9
Certainly, Franco was active in the Conchological Club of Southern California. There is an entry on Dr. Asela B. Franco, Cebu City, Cebu, Philippines in the Club’s Minutes 87 in January 1949. “We have a letter from Dr. Franco that we may expect her as a guest in our city soon and a suggestion that we advise here that this will necessarily suspend any of her exchanges until her return.”10
She is also recorded among the attendees of the Second Annual Convention of the American Malacological Union – Pacific Division held at Long Beach, California on June 10 to 12, 1949 in the Club’s Minutes 91 published in June 1949.10
Franco or Lola Ilang seems like someone who was advanced for her time. Apparently, she had the resources to pursue her passion, which appears to be the collection and perhaps, study, of mollusks. This passion took her places and enabled her to gain access to experts far beyond the shores of her country.
It’s a pity I never knew her. She must have been very interesting. But like Lola Bebing, she never married, and she didn’t have children. But she did leave behind a legacy. The Asela B. Franco Shell Collection is mentioned as one of several private collections in Cebu City, although there is no mention where it can be viewed or located.11
It would be nice to know whether those heart-shaped shells and angel wings have found a home. Better still, it would thrill Lola Ilang no end if those shells continue to mesmerize visitors in the country and abroad.
I checked out Ancestry.com but got discouraged by the fees (I’m a work-from-home mom on a budget) so I decided to search using Google and started with the names of relatives on the family plot at the cemetery in Cebu. I came up blank except for one.
Dr. Asela Bermejo Franco is the older, half-sister of Edergisto “Eder” Teafilo Rama Rodriguez, my grandfather on my mother’s side. I do not recall having any interaction with her, but maybe that was because I was too young. I don’t even know when she died.
My mother, Evelyn Rodriguez Luab, says Asela or Lola (grandmother) Ilang was a rural doctor practicing pediatrics in Lapu-Lapu City, although she was more widely known for her interest in and expertise on shells. “She would go to Japan to buy shells,” my mom recalls.
This would explain why I grew up knowing her only as the owner of the shell collection that Socorro Rama Rodriguez or Lola Bebing, my grandfather’s sister, housed in her basement. I particularly remember the heart-shaped ones (Corculum cardissa or the heart cockle) that Lola Bebing matched and tied with twine and the one I called “angel wings” because they were white and shaped like, yes, angel wings.
My mom says that Lola Ilang and Lola Bebing were very close, which would probably explain why the shell collection was with Lola Bebing.
She was a pediatrician
 |
| Photo Credit: Schlesinger Library, Radcliffe Institute, Harvard University |
Asela Franco is the first (native) delegate from the Medical Women of the Philippines to the Medical Women’s National Association, according to a document obtained from the Schlesinger Library on the History of Women in America, Radcliffe Institute, Harvard University. The captioned black and white photo, which is stored as part of the Kate Campbell Hurd-Mead papers, is attributed to the Milwaukee Journal and a certain Dr. Cushing.1
The photo shows a young Franco in traditional Maria Clara dress. “Dr. Franco was charming, spoke English perfectly, and was deeply interested in the whole program,” the caption reads.
What is interesting is that at the time, there were only about “50 native medical women,” about 12 of which are graduates of the University of the Philippines. “Medical women are highly regarded and honored and visit patients always with an attendant, not going about alone,” the caption adds.
Franco’s photo, which is part of a collection dated ca. 1910-1935, is one of several used to illustrate Hurd-Mead’s unpublished manuscript for the second volume of History of Women in Medicine, which covers the 19th and early 20th centuries and is confined to women physicians in the eastern hemisphere.
Whether or not Franco knew Hurd-Mead well is unknown, but she is listed as an advance subscriber of the 1933 publication of Hurd-Mead’s “Medical Women of America: A Short History of the Pioneer Medical Women of America and a few of their colleagues in England.” Apparently, a certain number of subscribers are required before a book was published in the 1930’s. It is interesting to note that Franco is the only subscriber outside of the U.S.2
Franco’s name also appears in the finding aid to the Elizabeth Bass Collection: Women in Medicine, which resides in the Rudolph Matas Medical Library at the Tulane University Medical Center in New Orleans, Louisiana.3
Dr. Bass, a 1904 graduate of the Woman's Medical College of Pennsylvania and one of the first women physicians on the faculty at Tulane University School of Medicine, amassed a vast array of materials pertaining to women in medicine that included newspaper clippings, pictures, photographs, glass magic lantern slides, books, medical school catalogs, etc. The finding aid lists Franco in part one of the collection, or the guide to the clippings, pictures and photographs.
She loved collecting shells
There are no other online references to her medical practice, but Mommy’s story about her seeing patients in Lapu-Lapu City explains why she frequented the island, which was also the site of her many explorations into shell collecting.
"Across from Cebu City separated only by a small channel is the small island of Mactan, where Magellan was killed. East and south of Mactan are several still much smaller islands. During low tide, one can walk from one to another of these islands in some places. The heart shells are found west, south, and east of Mactan, or in the waters between Cebu City and Mactan and between Mactan and the neighboring small islands on the south and east sides. Not only heart shells are found in these places, but most of my shells were collected there. It is my favorite collecting locality, as it is near the city. All these smaller islands mentioned belong to Cebu,” Franco writes Smithsonian zoologist Paul Bartsch.4
Bartsch, an American malacologist, cites Franco for sending him 25 specimens of Little Hearts (those heart-shaped shells) in “The Little Hearts (Corculum) of the Pacific and Indian Oceans” published in page 221 of the Pacific Science, Volume 1, Number 4, October 1947.
“Dr. Franco's sending is particularly rich in color markings, a fact which is helpful in interpreting what some of the names bestowed by the early writers embraced. Most of the early specific names were based upon coloration. That coloration was not a constant but a variable feature was then unknown, and this fact was responsible for the list of synonyms here noted. Dr. Franco's collection, combined with the 42 lots in the National Museum from various localities, enables me to revise the genus and bring the nomenclature up to date,” he says.4
Franco is also recorded to have contributed “265 specimens of marine mollusks from Cebu Island, Philippines” in a Report on the Progress and Condition of the United States National Museum for the Year ended June 30, 1947 by Alexander Wetmore, Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution and Director of the United States National Museum.5
The British Museum was also a beneficiary, based on an article published in Vol. XI, No. 5, New Series No. 30, March 1963 of Hawaiian Shell News, the official publication of the Hawaiian Malacological Society.
“Dr. Asela Franco of Cebu City presented specimens of Heart Shells from the Philippine Islands,” says E.H. Bryan Jr., Curator of Collections in “Shell Accessions at British Museum, 1962.”6
Although I found no records substantiating her membership, there is a perception that she was part of the Hawaiian Malacological Society.
"I started collecting shells only one year ago but I have steadily increased my collection. I only collect live shells. The potential of shelling in the Philippines is unlimited, but, unfortunately, in Cebu we do not have a shell club yet. But I get expert help from Mr. Fambo and Dra. Asela Franco, both I believe are quite well known members of your Society. If you have members who are interested in Philippine shells I would gladly exchange with them,” says Fe Asuncion Murillo of Cebu City, Philippines in “Market Place – Make Money – Save Money,” page 8 of Volume XV, No. 6, New Series No. 90, June 1967 of the publication.7
The lack of access to resources and expertise on the study of shells in Cebu City might have prompted Franco to reach out to a larger community.
Correspondence files that form part of the Records of the Department of Anthrolopology maintained by the Bancroft Library at the University of California records Franco to have corresponded “with EWG re shells” in 1951. It is safe to surmise that EWG stands for Edward W. Gifford, a professor of anthology and then director of the Museum of Anthropology at the University of California, Berkeley.8
Similarly, Franco is listed in the professional correspondence files that form part of the Angeline Myra Keen papers at the Smithsonian Institution Archives, particularly Folder 19 Foa-Fre in Box 2 which “includes correspondence with Asela Franco, 1943-1976.” A description of the professional correspondence of Keen, a renowned expert in the nomenclature of mollusks, states that “much of Keen's official correspondence consists of requests for identification of species from amateur collectors, and, as often, from colleagues in the field.”9
Certainly, Franco was active in the Conchological Club of Southern California. There is an entry on Dr. Asela B. Franco, Cebu City, Cebu, Philippines in the Club’s Minutes 87 in January 1949. “We have a letter from Dr. Franco that we may expect her as a guest in our city soon and a suggestion that we advise here that this will necessarily suspend any of her exchanges until her return.”10
 |
| Franco with the late Philippine President Sergio Osmeña Sr. (photo borrowed from the FB post of Lourdes Luab Mapa) |
Franco or Lola Ilang seems like someone who was advanced for her time. Apparently, she had the resources to pursue her passion, which appears to be the collection and perhaps, study, of mollusks. This passion took her places and enabled her to gain access to experts far beyond the shores of her country.
It’s a pity I never knew her. She must have been very interesting. But like Lola Bebing, she never married, and she didn’t have children. But she did leave behind a legacy. The Asela B. Franco Shell Collection is mentioned as one of several private collections in Cebu City, although there is no mention where it can be viewed or located.11
It would be nice to know whether those heart-shaped shells and angel wings have found a home. Better still, it would thrill Lola Ilang no end if those shells continue to mesmerize visitors in the country and abroad.
Note: The author welcomes any additional information regarding Dr. Asela B. Franco.
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