Woman's Medical College of Pennsylvania

Founding

Smedley's History of the Underground Railroad cites Dr. Bartholomew Fussell with proposing, in 1846, the idea for a college that would train female doctors. It was a tribute to his departed sister, who Bartholomew felt could have been a doctor if women had been given the opportunity at that time. Her daughter, Graceanna Lewis, was to become one of the first women scientists in the USA. At his house. The Pines, in Kennett Square, Pennsylvania, he 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. Graceallen was also in attendance. Dr. Fussell would support the college, but had little to do with it after it started in 1850 in Philadelphia.

One doctor, Ellwood Harvey (who attended the 1846 meeting, but would not start teaching at the college until 1852), helped keep the school alive along with Edwin Fussell. Dr. Harvey not only taught a full course load, but took on a second load when another professor backed out. Dr. Harvey also took on patients for his practice, which included Philadelphia abolitionist and UGRR historian, William Still, and his family. It was most likely Still who told him about a slave hiding in Washington DC named Anne Maria Weems. Harvey took her, disguised as male buggy driver, from in front of the White House to Philadelphia and eventually New York City. She eventually made it to Canada. With the $300 reward, from Lewis Tappan, for rescuing Weems, Dr. Harvey bought a papier-mâché dissection manniquin for the college. Ann Preston was one of the first students to graduate from the Female Medical College of Pennsylvania.

Harvey was later sued for libel after a former instructor at the college, Dr. Longshore, was forced out. Longshore then started a rival women's medical college at the Penn Medical University. Longshore, using his previous connections at the Female Medical College, began to raise money for his own college.

Clara Marshall (1847–1931), graduate of the Medical College of Pennsylvania and Dean from 1888 to 1917, considered the founder of the school to have been Fussell. Other students considered Joseph S. Longshore and William J. Mullen to be the primary founders. Most considered these three men, whether official founder or not, to be instrumental in the creation of the Female Medical College of Pennsylvania.

The Feminist Movement during the early to mid 19th century contributed support for the Female Medical College of Pennsylvania. The Society of Friends in Philadelphia, a large group of Quakers, were supportive of the women’s rights movements and the development of the Female MCP.

MCP was initially located in the rear of 229 Arch Street, Philadelphia (the address was later changed to 627 Arch Street when Philadelphia renumbered streets in 1858). In July 1861, the board of corporators 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.

Deans of the College

The first dean of what was then known as the Female Medical College was a man: Nathaniel R. Mosely, appointed 1850-1856. The second dean was also a man, Edwin B. Fussell, who held the position from 1856 to 1866.

From then on, the Woman's College had a long history of female deans, lasting almost 100 years. The first woman to be a dean of this (or any) medical school was Ann Preston. The follow 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 1964-1970, at which time the institution became known as the Medical College of Pennsylvania.

Woman's Hospital of Philadelphia

In part to provide clinical experience for WMC students, a group of Quaker women, particularly Ann Preston, founded the Woman’s Hospital of Philadelphia in 1861.

Issues in clinical training

The Female Medical College of Pennsylvania faced difficulties in providing clinical training for its students. Almost all medical institutions were confronted with the demand for more clinical practice due to the rise of surgery, physical diagnosis, and clinical specialties. During the 1880s, clinical instruction at the Woman's Medical College of Pennsylvania relied mainly on the demonstration clinics.

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 the purpose of student education. By 1895, many students cared for three or four women who were giving birth.

East Falls campus and Drexel University

In the late 1920s, the college raised money to build a new campus, designed by Ritter & Shay, the most successful of the Philadelphia urban architecture firms in the 1920s. The East Falls Campus was the first purpose-built hospital in the nation. The design allowed both teaching and hospital care to take place in one facility, helping provide for more clinical care. Post-WWII housing shortages in the city were a catalyst for development of additions to the East Falls Campus, the first of which 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 Strategic Capital Partners as student housing, commercial space, and medical offices.

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 alumnae

Fictional alumnae

Further research