Agnes B. Forbes Scholarship

Agnes Bridget Forbes (1870-1957) was the first designated state licensed massage therapist in history. She co-administered the Ohio massage therapy licensing examination in 1915. Miss Forbes finished her training at the Toronto Orthopedic Hospital in 1898 and soon after emigrated from Ontario to Chicago. For about a year she practiced massage therapy in Marion, Ohio, and then in Dayton, Ohio, from 1901 possibly into the 1940s. What documentation of her life that remains are linked below.

The medical board documents, including the one available photograph of her, were digitally scanned from photocopies made at the offices of the State Medical Board of Ohio in 2003. Her actual signature appears on the Affidavit (Form II) of the application.