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Woman's Medical College of Pennsylvania

January 01, 1970

Founded in 1850, The Woman's Medical College of Pennsylvania (WMCP), formally known as The Female Medical College of Pennsylvania, was the first American medical college dedicated to teaching women medicine and allowing them to earn the Doctor of Medicine degree, M.D.[1]

Woman's Medical College of Pennsylvania
An 1850 illustration of the first building at Woman's Medical College of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia
Other name
WMCP
Former name
Female Medical College of Pennsylvania, Medical College of Pennsylvania
Active1850 (1850)–1970 (1970) (became co-ed Medical College of Pennsylvania)
Address
229 Arch Street (until 1858) and then 627 Arch Street (after Philadelphia's street renumbering)
,
Philadelphia
,
Pennsylvania
,
U.S.

1867- The Women's Medical College of Pennsylvania was renamed the Women's Medical College; the college trained thousands of women physicians from all over the world, many of whom went on to practice medicine internationally.[1]

History edit

The Women's Medical College of Pennsylvania known as one of the earliest women's colleges designed for teaching woman medicine has a notable history.

Established by forward- thinking Quakers,[2] the college was a testament to their belief in women's right to education and their conviction that women should have the opportunity to become physicians.[2]

The Woman's Medical College of Pennsylvania provided educational opportunities and medical training to women of various backgrounds. Some of these pioneers were among the first of their race or country to earn medical degrees. Opportunities to earn a Western Medicine degree were offered to the first Native American women, African- American women as well as to women from India, Syria, Japan and Canada.[3]

At the time, the college was known to provide a rare opportunity for women to teach, perform research, and learn to manage and run a medical school, all due in part to the establishment of Women's Hospital in 1861- this also allowed women to learn and practice in a hospital setting.[4]

In 1930, the college opened its new campus in the East Falls section of Philadelphia, This facility combined teaching and hospital clinical care in one. It was the first purpose-built hospital in the nation.

The college was the longest-lasting women's medical college in America. It became coeducational in 1970 when it admitted four men, and in 1970, the school changed its name to The Medical College of Pennsylvania.[4]

In 1993, the college and hospital merged with Hahnemann Medical School.

In 2003, the two colleges were absorbed by Drexel University College of Medicine.

Founders and Early Faculty edit

William J. Mullen (1805-1882) served as the first president of the Board of Corporators of Women's Medical College. Mullen was a wealthy manufacturer turned philanthropist best known for advocating prison reform. Additionally, Mullen worked as a prison agent and established the House of Industry in Philadelphia, a neighborhood center that assisted immigrants and people experiencing homelessness.[4]

Joseph S. Longshore (1809-1879), was a Quaker activist-physician and abolition advocate.

Dr. Bartholomew Fussell (1794-1871) an abolitionist and uncle to Dr. Edwin Fussell (1813-1882), one of the earliest faculty members.[4]

R.C. Smedley's History of the Underground Railroad cites Bartholomew Fussell as proposing, in 1846, the idea for a college that would train female doctors. It was a tribute to his departed sister, who Bartholomew believed could have been a doctor if women had been given the opportunity then.

At a meeting at Fussell's house, in Kennett Square, Pennsylvania. Fussell invited five doctors to carry out his idea. The doctors invited were: Edwin Fussell (Bartholomew's nephew) M.D., Franklin Taylor, M.D., Ellwood Harvey, M.D., Sylvester Birdsall, M.D., and Dr. Ezra Michener.

Dr. Fussell would support the college, but had little to do with it after it started in 1850 in Philadelphia.[5]

Ellwood Harvey, who attended the 1846 meeting, began teaching at the college in 1852.[5]

The Feminist Movement during the early to mid-19th century generated support for the Female Medical College of Pennsylvania. The Society of Friends in Philadelphia, a large group of Quakers, supported the women's rights movements and the development of the Female MCP.[6] MCP was initially located in the rear of 229 Arch Street in Philadelphia; it was changed to 627 Arch Street when Philadelphia renumbered streets in 1858.[7] In July 1861, the board of corroborators of the Female Medical College of Pennsylvania chose to rent rooms for the college from the Woman's Hospital of Philadelphia on North College Avenue.[8]

Administration edit

The first dean of what was then known as the Female Medical College was Nathaniel R. Mosely, who served in the position from 1850 until 1856.[9] The second dean was also a man, Edwin B. Fussell, who held the position from 1856 to 1866.[10]

From then on, the Woman's College had a long history of female deans. Ann Preston was the first woman to be a dean of this medical college.[11] Dr. Preston was a dedicated dean. She was determined to provide woman's medical college students with the best clinical training by arranging for her students to attend clinical demonstrations at the Blockley Almshouse in West Philadelphia.[4]

The following women were deans of the college in the years stated:

No woman was found to replace Marion Fay. After her, the position of dean was held by Glen R. Leymaster from 1964 to 1970,[18] at which time the institution became known as the Medical College of Pennsylvania.[19]

Issues in clinical training edit

The Female Medical College of Pennsylvania faced difficulties in providing clinical training for its students.[20] Because women in medicine struggled with acceptance in a man's medical world. Ann Preston won a right to expand clinical training for her female students. When the woman attended lectures in the surgical amphitheater, they were greeted with catcalls and were assaulted with spit, spitballs, and tobacco juice by the male medical students.[4]

Almost all medical institutions were confronted with the demand for more clinical practice due to the rise of surgery, physical diagnosis, and clinical specialties.[21] During the 1880s, clinical instruction at the Woman's Medical College of Pennsylvania relied mainly on the demonstration clinics.[20]

In 1887, Anna Broomall, professor of obstetrics for the Woman's Medical College of Pennsylvania, established a maternity outpatient service in a poor area of South Philadelphia for student education.[20] By 1895, many students cared for three or four women giving birth.[22]

East Falls campus and Drexel University edit

 
Falls Center

The East Falls Campus was the first purpose-built hospital in the nation. Its design allowed both teaching and hospital care to take place in one facility, helping provide more clinical care. Post-WWII housing shortages in the city were a catalyst for the development of additions to the East Falls Campus. The first of these was the Ann Preston Building (designed by Thaddeus Longstreth), which provided housing and classrooms for student nurses.

Today, the building is known as the Falls Center. It is operated by Iron Stone Real Estate Partners as student housing, commercial space, and medical offices.[23]

In 1993, the Medical College of Pennsylvania merged with Hahnemann Medical College, retaining its Queen Lane campus. In 2003, the two medical colleges were absorbed as a part of Drexel University College of Medicine, creating new opportunities for the large student body for clinical practice in settings ranging from urban hospitals to small rural practices.

Notable alumni edit

 
Photo taken in 1885 of Anandibai Joshee, who graduated in 1886; Kei Okami who graduated in 1889; and Sabat Islambooly, who graduated in 1890. Photo courtesy Legacy Center Archives, Drexel College of Medicine.

Ann Preston (1813-1872) was a Quaker woman who was a member of the first graduating class of the WMCP and later became the first female dean of a medical school in the United States.

Mary Putnam Jacobi- was the lead American woman medical scientist of the nineteenth century.

Rebecca Cole was the first black graduate of Women's Medical College to be awarded an MD in 1867. Followed by Caroline Still Anderson, Eliza Grier, Matilda Evans, and Giorgianna E. Patterson Young.

Anadibai Joshee who graduated in 1886, was the first Indian woman doctor.

Susan LaFlesche Picotte was the first Native American doctor.

Kei Okami - graduated in 1889 the first Japanese woman to obtain a degree in Western medicine.

Sabat Islambouli - graduated in 1890, the first female physician from Syria.

In the nineteenth century the college also admitted a number of Jewish student.[4]

In popular culture edit

In the TV series, "Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman,[24]" fictional Dr. Michaela Quinn (Jane Seymour), graduates from this college.

See also edit

References edit

  1. ^ a b "Woman's Medical College of Pennsylvania". Encyclopedia of Greater Philadelphia. Retrieved April 22, 2024.
  2. ^ a b "Index–Volume 76". Pennsylvania History: A Journal of Mid-Atlantic Studies. 77 (1): 120–144. 2010. doi:10.1353/pnh.0.0016. ISSN 2153-2109.
  3. ^ "Remembering the Pioneering Women From One of Drexel's Legacy Medical Colleges". drexel.edu. March 27, 2017. Retrieved April 26, 2024.
  4. ^ a b c d e f g "Woman's Medical College of Pennsylvania". Encyclopedia of Greater Philadelphia. Retrieved April 26, 2024.
  5. ^ a b Smedley, Robert C. (1883). History of the Underground Railroad. Mechanicsburg, PA: Stackpole Books. p. 268. OCLC 186383647.
  6. ^ Peitzman, Steven J. (2000). A new and untried course : Woman's Medical College and Medical College of Pennsylvania, 1850 – 1998. New Brunswick, NJ [u.a.]: Rutgers University Press. p. 6. ISBN 978-0-8135-2815-1.
  7. ^ Peitzman, Steven J. (2000). A new and untried course : Woman's Medical College and Medical College of Pennsylvania, 1850 – 1998. New Brunswick, NJ [u.a.]: Rutgers University Press. p. 13. ISBN 978-0-8135-2815-1.
  8. ^ Peitzman, Steven J. (2000). A new and untried course : Woman's Medical College and Medical College of Pennsylvania, 1850 – 1998. New Brunswick, NJ [u.a.]: Rutgers University Press. p. 22. ISBN 978-0-8135-2815-1.
  9. ^ "Female physicians and female medical college". Ohio Cultivator. No. VIII. 1852. p. 28. Retrieved December 22, 2016.
  10. ^ Kelly, Howard Atwood (1920). American Medical Biographies. Baltimore, MD: The Norman, Remington Company. pp. 418–419. ISBN 9781235663499. Retrieved December 22, 2016.
  11. ^ Mandell, Melissa M. "Woman's Medical College of Pennsylvania". The Encyclopedia of Greater Philadelphia. Retrieved December 21, 2016.
  12. ^ Fay, MS (July 1965). "Ann Preston: Dean of the Woman's Medical College of Pennsylvania, 1866–1872". Transactions & Studies of the College of Physicians of Philadelphia. 33: 43–8. PMID 14344617.
  13. ^ "Dr. Emeline Horton Cleveland". Changing the face of medicine. Retrieved December 21, 2016.
  14. ^ "Rachel L. Bodley papers 291". PACSCL Finding Aids. Retrieved December 21, 2016.
  15. ^ "Dr. Clara Marshall". Changing the face of medicine. Retrieved December 21, 2016.
  16. ^ Rogers, Fred B. (December 1964). "Martha Tracy (1876–1942): Exceptional Woman of Public Health". Archives of Environmental Health. 9 (6): 819–821. doi:10.1080/00039896.1964.10663931. PMID 14203108.
  17. ^ "Marion Spencer Fay Award". Institute for Women's Health and Leadership. Retrieved December 21, 2016.
  18. ^ "News and Comment". Archives of Environmental Health. 8 (4): 625–628. April 1964. doi:10.1080/00039896.1964.10663727.
  19. ^ Dixon, Mark (2011). The hidden history of Chester County : lost tales from the Delaware and Brandywine Valleys. Charleston, SC: History Press. ISBN 978-1609490737.
  20. ^ a b c Peitzman (2000), A New and Untried Course, p. 78
  21. ^ Edward Atwater, "'Making Fewer Mistakes': A History of Students and Patients," pp. 165–187, Bulletin of the History of Medicine 57, 1983
  22. ^ Peitzman (2000), A New and Untried Course, p. 79
  23. ^ Mastrull, Diane. "Falls Center is still evolving/ The historic location of the Woman's Medical College of Pennsylvania is now becoming a medical and educational complex. The center continues to attract new tenants". Philly.com. Retrieved January 13, 2012.
  24. ^ Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman (Drama, Family, Western), Jane Seymour, Joe Lando, Shawn Toovey, CBS, Sullivan Company, January 1, 1993, retrieved April 22, 2024{{citation}}: CS1 maint: others (link)

Further research edit

  • Archives at Drexel University College of Medicine
  • Woman's Medical College of Pennsylvania materials in the South Asian American Digital Archive (SAADA)
  • Dr. Ellwood Harvey, Underground Railroad Conductor on Facebook

40°00′43″N 75°11′03″W / 40.01190°N 75.18420°W / 40.01190; -75.18420

January 01, 1970
woman, medical, college, pennsylvania, founded, 1850, wmcp, formally, known, female, medical, college, pennsylvania, first, american, medical, college, dedicated, teaching, women, medicine, allowing, them, earn, doctor, medicine, degree, 1850, illustration, fi. Founded in 1850 The Woman s Medical College of Pennsylvania WMCP formally known as The Female Medical College of Pennsylvania was the first American medical college dedicated to teaching women medicine and allowing them to earn the Doctor of Medicine degree M D 1 Woman s Medical College of PennsylvaniaAn 1850 illustration of the first building at Woman s Medical College of Pennsylvania in PhiladelphiaOther nameWMCPFormer nameFemale Medical College of Pennsylvania Medical College of PennsylvaniaActive1850 1850 1970 1970 became co ed Medical College of Pennsylvania Address229 Arch Street until 1858 and then 627 Arch Street after Philadelphia s street renumbering Philadelphia Pennsylvania U S 1867 The Women s Medical College of Pennsylvania was renamed the Women s Medical College the college trained thousands of women physicians from all over the world many of whom went on to practice medicine internationally 1 Contents 1 History 2 Founders and Early Faculty 3 Administration 4 Issues in clinical training 5 East Falls campus and Drexel University 6 Notable alumni 7 In popular culture 8 See also 9 References 10 Further researchHistory editThe Women s Medical College of Pennsylvania known as one of the earliest women s colleges designed for teaching woman medicine has a notable history Established by forward thinking Quakers 2 the college was a testament to their belief in women s right to education and their conviction that women should have the opportunity to become physicians 2 The Woman s Medical College of Pennsylvania provided educational opportunities and medical training to women of various backgrounds Some of these pioneers were among the first of their race or country to earn medical degrees Opportunities to earn a Western Medicine degree were offered to the first Native American women African American women as well as to women from India Syria Japan and Canada 3 At the time the college was known to provide a rare opportunity for women to teach perform research and learn to manage and run a medical school all due in part to the establishment of Women s Hospital in 1861 this also allowed women to learn and practice in a hospital setting 4 In 1930 the college opened its new campus in the East Falls section of Philadelphia This facility combined teaching and hospital clinical care in one It was the first purpose built hospital in the nation The college was the longest lasting women s medical college in America It became coeducational in 1970 when it admitted four men and in 1970 the school changed its name to The Medical College of Pennsylvania 4 In 1993 the college and hospital merged with Hahnemann Medical School In 2003 the two colleges were absorbed by Drexel University College of Medicine Founders and Early Faculty editWilliam J Mullen 1805 1882 served as the first president of the Board of Corporators of Women s Medical College Mullen was a wealthy manufacturer turned philanthropist best known for advocating prison reform Additionally Mullen worked as a prison agent and established the House of Industry in Philadelphia a neighborhood center that assisted immigrants and people experiencing homelessness 4 Joseph S Longshore 1809 1879 was a Quaker activist physician and abolition advocate Dr Bartholomew Fussell 1794 1871 an abolitionist and uncle to Dr Edwin Fussell 1813 1882 one of the earliest faculty members 4 R C Smedley s History of the Underground Railroad cites Bartholomew Fussell as proposing in 1846 the idea for a college that would train female doctors It was a tribute to his departed sister who Bartholomew believed could have been a doctor if women had been given the opportunity then At a meeting at Fussell s house in Kennett Square Pennsylvania Fussell invited five doctors to carry out his idea The doctors invited were Edwin Fussell Bartholomew s nephew M D Franklin Taylor M D Ellwood Harvey M D Sylvester Birdsall M D and Dr Ezra Michener Dr Fussell would support the college but had little to do with it after it started in 1850 in Philadelphia 5 Ellwood Harvey who attended the 1846 meeting began teaching at the college in 1852 5 The Feminist Movement during the early to mid 19th century generated support for the Female Medical College of Pennsylvania The Society of Friends in Philadelphia a large group of Quakers supported the women s rights movements and the development of the Female MCP 6 MCP was initially located in the rear of 229 Arch Street in Philadelphia it was changed to 627 Arch Street when Philadelphia renumbered streets in 1858 7 In July 1861 the board of corroborators of the Female Medical College of Pennsylvania chose to rent rooms for the college from the Woman s Hospital of Philadelphia on North College Avenue 8 Administration editThe first dean of what was then known as the Female Medical College was Nathaniel R Mosely who served in the position from 1850 until 1856 9 The second dean was also a man Edwin B Fussell who held the position from 1856 to 1866 10 From then on the Woman s College had a long history of female deans Ann Preston was the first woman to be a dean of this medical college 11 Dr Preston was a dedicated dean She was determined to provide woman s medical college students with the best clinical training by arranging for her students to attend clinical demonstrations at the Blockley Almshouse in West Philadelphia 4 The following women were deans of the college in the years stated 1866 1872 Ann Preston 12 1872 1874 Emeline Horton Cleveland 13 1874 1886 Rachel Bodley 14 1886 1888 1917 Clara Marshall 15 1917 1940 Martha Tracy 16 Henry Jump served as interim dean during Tracy s sabbatical 1940 1943 1943 1946 Margaret Craighill 1946 1963 Marion Spencer Fay 17 No woman was found to replace Marion Fay After her the position of dean was held by Glen R Leymaster from 1964 to 1970 18 at which time the institution became known as the Medical College of Pennsylvania 19 Issues in clinical training editThe Female Medical College of Pennsylvania faced difficulties in providing clinical training for its students 20 Because women in medicine struggled with acceptance in a man s medical world Ann Preston won a right to expand clinical training for her female students When the woman attended lectures in the surgical amphitheater they were greeted with catcalls and were assaulted with spit spitballs and tobacco juice by the male medical students 4 Almost all medical institutions were confronted with the demand for more clinical practice due to the rise of surgery physical diagnosis and clinical specialties 21 During the 1880s clinical instruction at the Woman s Medical College of Pennsylvania relied mainly on the demonstration clinics 20 In 1887 Anna Broomall professor of obstetrics for the Woman s Medical College of Pennsylvania established a maternity outpatient service in a poor area of South Philadelphia for student education 20 By 1895 many students cared for three or four women giving birth 22 East Falls campus and Drexel University edit nbsp Falls Center The East Falls Campus was the first purpose built hospital in the nation Its design allowed both teaching and hospital care to take place in one facility helping provide more clinical care Post WWII housing shortages in the city were a catalyst for the development of additions to the East Falls Campus The first of these was the Ann Preston Building designed by Thaddeus Longstreth which provided housing and classrooms for student nurses Today the building is known as the Falls Center It is operated by Iron Stone Real Estate Partners as student housing commercial space and medical offices 23 In 1993 the Medical College of Pennsylvania merged with Hahnemann Medical College retaining its Queen Lane campus In 2003 the two medical colleges were absorbed as a part of Drexel University College of Medicine creating new opportunities for the large student body for clinical practice in settings ranging from urban hospitals to small rural practices Notable alumni edit nbsp Photo taken in 1885 of Anandibai Joshee who graduated in 1886 Kei Okami who graduated in 1889 and Sabat Islambooly who graduated in 1890 Photo courtesy Legacy Center Archives Drexel College of Medicine Ann Preston 1813 1872 was a Quaker woman who was a member of the first graduating class of the WMCP and later became the first female dean of a medical school in the United States Mary Putnam Jacobi was the lead American woman medical scientist of the nineteenth century Rebecca Cole was the first black graduate of Women s Medical College to be awarded an MD in 1867 Followed by Caroline Still Anderson Eliza Grier Matilda Evans and Giorgianna E Patterson Young Anadibai Joshee who graduated in 1886 was the first Indian woman doctor Susan LaFlesche Picotte was the first Native American doctor Kei Okami graduated in 1889 the first Japanese woman to obtain a degree in Western medicine Sabat Islambouli graduated in 1890 the first female physician from Syria In the nineteenth century the college also admitted a number of Jewish student 4 In popular culture editIn the TV series Dr Quinn Medicine Woman 24 fictional Dr Michaela Quinn Jane Seymour graduates from this college See also editList of defunct medical schools in the United States List of female scientists before the 20th century Women in medicineReferences edit a b Woman s Medical College of Pennsylvania Encyclopedia of Greater Philadelphia Retrieved April 22 2024 a b Index Volume 76 Pennsylvania History A Journal of Mid Atlantic Studies 77 1 120 144 2010 doi 10 1353 pnh 0 0016 ISSN 2153 2109 Remembering the Pioneering Women From One of Drexel s Legacy Medical Colleges drexel edu March 27 2017 Retrieved April 26 2024 a b c d e f g Woman s Medical College of Pennsylvania Encyclopedia of Greater Philadelphia Retrieved April 26 2024 a b Smedley Robert C 1883 History of the Underground Railroad Mechanicsburg PA Stackpole Books p 268 OCLC 186383647 Peitzman Steven J 2000 A new and untried course Woman s Medical College and Medical College of Pennsylvania 1850 1998 New Brunswick NJ u a Rutgers University Press p 6 ISBN 978 0 8135 2815 1 Peitzman Steven J 2000 A new and untried course Woman s Medical College and Medical College of Pennsylvania 1850 1998 New Brunswick NJ u a Rutgers University Press p 13 ISBN 978 0 8135 2815 1 Peitzman Steven J 2000 A new and untried course Woman s Medical College and Medical College of Pennsylvania 1850 1998 New Brunswick NJ u a Rutgers University Press p 22 ISBN 978 0 8135 2815 1 Female physicians and female medical college Ohio Cultivator No VIII 1852 p 28 Retrieved December 22 2016 Kelly Howard Atwood 1920 American Medical Biographies Baltimore MD The Norman Remington Company pp 418 419 ISBN 9781235663499 Retrieved December 22 2016 Mandell Melissa M Woman s Medical College of Pennsylvania The Encyclopedia of Greater Philadelphia Retrieved December 21 2016 Fay MS July 1965 Ann Preston Dean of the Woman s Medical College of Pennsylvania 1866 1872 Transactions amp Studies of the College of Physicians of Philadelphia 33 43 8 PMID 14344617 Dr Emeline Horton Cleveland Changing the face of medicine Retrieved December 21 2016 Rachel L Bodley papers 291 PACSCL Finding Aids Retrieved December 21 2016 Dr Clara Marshall Changing the face of medicine Retrieved December 21 2016 Rogers Fred B December 1964 Martha Tracy 1876 1942 Exceptional Woman of Public Health Archives of Environmental Health 9 6 819 821 doi 10 1080 00039896 1964 10663931 PMID 14203108 Marion Spencer Fay Award Institute for Women s Health and Leadership Retrieved December 21 2016 News and Comment Archives of Environmental Health 8 4 625 628 April 1964 doi 10 1080 00039896 1964 10663727 Dixon Mark 2011 The hidden history of Chester County lost tales from the Delaware and Brandywine Valleys Charleston SC History Press ISBN 978 1609490737 a b c Peitzman 2000 A New and Untried Course p 78 Edward Atwater Making Fewer Mistakes A History of Students and Patients pp 165 187 Bulletin of the History of Medicine 57 1983 Peitzman 2000 A New and Untried Course p 79 Mastrull Diane Falls Center is still evolving The historic location of the Woman s Medical College of Pennsylvania is now becoming a medical and educational complex The center continues to attract new tenants Philly com Retrieved January 13 2012 Dr Quinn Medicine Woman Drama Family Western Jane Seymour Joe Lando Shawn Toovey CBS Sullivan Company January 1 1993 retrieved April 22 2024 a href Template Citation html title Template Citation citation a CS1 maint others link Further research editArchives at Drexel University College of Medicine Woman s Medical College of Pennsylvania materials in the South Asian American Digital Archive SAADA Dr Ellwood Harvey Underground Railroad Conductor on Facebook 40 00 43 N 75 11 03 W 40 01190 N 75 18420 W 40 01190 75 18420 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Woman 27s Medical College of Pennsylvania amp oldid 1222897042, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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