Faculty Meeting Minutes and Minute Book of the Female Medical College of Pennsylvania, 1850

Version: 7 (current) | Updated: 11/14/2025, 4:17:00 PM

Added description

Description

Faculty Meeting Minutes and Minute Book of the Female Medical College of Pennsylvania, 1850

Overview

This archival collection comprises scanned pages (JPEG and TIFF) of the official faculty meeting minutes of the Female Medical College of Pennsylvania for the year 1850, together with a single-page minute book. The documents are written in English, dated from 25 June to 29 November 1850, and were produced in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The collection is held by the Final‑Drexel‑University repository and was digitized by the PINAX project. No copyright restrictions are noted.

Background

The Female Medical College of Pennsylvania, founded in 1850, was the first U.S. institution to award medical degrees to women. Its faculty met regularly to govern the college, adopt by‑laws, manage finances, and oversee clinical and educational activities. The minutes record interactions among faculty members—Dr. R. Burr, Dr. N. R. Mosely, Dr. A. D. Challoner, Dr. J. S. Longshore, Dr. C. W. Gleason, Dr. M. W. Dickson, and Dr. Sas. F. X. McCloskey—as well as the college’s president and other administrators. The collection reflects the challenges of establishing a new medical school, including faculty resignations, committee formations, and the organization of lecture rooms, a lying‑in department, and a museum.

Contents

Each page contains a dated heading, the meeting location (e.g., “229 Arch St.”, “College Building”), and a narrative of the proceedings. Key actions recorded include:
  • Investigation of Dr. Burr’s conduct and his resignation (June 25–July 2).
  • Formation of committees for by‑laws, medicine procurement, museum arrangement, and other administrative functions.
  • Decisions on tuition, matriculation fees, and ticket policies.
  • Resolutions on renting lecture rooms, establishing a lying‑in department, and appointing resident accouche.
  • Appointment of visiting physicians and intern physicians.
  • Financial resolutions concerning rent, common advertising funds, and debt responsibility.
The minute book lists the seven faculty members and the title “Dean of the Faculty.”

Scope

The collection covers faculty meetings from 25 June to 29 November 1850, with a single 1855 entry. It documents administrative, financial, and academic matters pertinent to the college’s first year. The material is limited to meeting minutes and the faculty roster; it does not include external correspondence, student records, or detailed biographies. The archive provides a primary source for scholars studying early women’s medical education, institutional governance, and the social history of Philadelphia in the mid‑19th century.

Entities

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Entity Relationships

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Raw Cheimarros Data

**New collection entity (synthesis of the whole set)**  

@faculty_meeting_collection:concept {title: "Faculty Meeting Minutes and Minute Book of the Female Medical College of Pennsylvania, 1850", created: @date_1850, language: "en-US", subjects: ["Medical education","Faculty meetings","College administration","Medical profession","Women in medicine","Faculty minutes","Philadelphia"]}  

**Institution that hosts the digital collection**  

@final_drexel_university:organization {full_name: "Drexel University", type: "University"}  

**Metadata file – PINAX record**  

@file_pinax -> metadata for -> @faculty_meeting_collection  
@file_pinax -> creator -> [@female_medical_college_of_pennsylvania, @n_r_mosely, @goadby, @j_s_longshore, @c_w_gleason, @m_w_dickson, @a_d_challoner, @sas_f_x_mccloskey]  
@file_pinax -> institution -> @final_drexel_university  
@file_pinax -> place -> @philadelphia  

**Asset without OCR**  

@file_ds_store -> asset of -> @faculty_meeting_collection  

**Linking the collection to its component documents**  

@faculty_meeting_collection -> includes -> @minute_book_1850  
@faculty_meeting_collection -> includes -> @file_a092_001_001_jpg  
@faculty_meeting_collection -> includes -> @file_a092_001_001_tif  
@faculty_meeting_collection -> includes -> @file_a092_001_003_jpg  
@faculty_meeting_collection -> includes -> @file_a092_001_004_jpg  
@faculty_meeting_collection -> includes -> @file_a092_001_005_jpg  
@faculty_meeting_collection -> includes -> @file_a092_001_006_jpg  
@faculty_meeting_collection -> includes -> @file_a092_001_007_jpg  
@faculty_meeting_collection -> includes -> @file_a092_001_008_jpg  
@faculty_meeting_collection -> includes -> @file_a092_001_009_jpg  
@faculty_meeting_collection -> includes -> @file_a092_001_010_jpg  
@faculty_meeting_collection -> includes -> @file_a092_001_011_jpg  
@faculty_meeting_collection -> includes -> @file_a092_001_012_jpg  
@faculty_meeting_collection -> includes -> @file_a092_001_013_jpg  
@faculty_meeting_collection -> includes -> @file_a092_001_014_jpg  
@faculty_meeting_collection -> includes -> @file_a092_001_015_jpg  
@faculty_meeting_collection -> includes -> @file_a092_001_016_jpg  
@faculty_meeting_collection -> includes -> @file_a092_001_017_jpg  
@faculty_meeting_collection -> includes -> @file_a092_001_018_jpg  
@faculty_meeting_collection -> includes -> @file_a092_001_019_jpg  
@faculty_meeting_collection -> includes -> @file_a092_001_020_jpg  
@faculty_meeting_collection -> includes -> @file_a092_001_021_jpg  
@faculty_meeting_collection -> includes -> @file_a092_001_003_jpg (1855 meeting)  

**Synthesis – faculty members appear across the minute book, committees, and resolutions**  

@minute_book_1850 -> lists -> [@n_r_mosely, @goadby, @j_s_longshore, @c_w_gleason, @m_w_dickson, @a_d_challoner, @sas_f_x_mccloskey]  

@investigation_committee -> members include -> @n_r_mosely  
@bylaws_committee -> members include -> @j_s_longshore  
@museum_committee -> members include -> @c_w_gleason  
@medicine_procurement_committee -> members include -> @c_w_gleason  
@anatomy_demonstration_committee -> members include -> @c_w_gleason  

@res_investigate_burr -> by -> @burr (who is a faculty member listed in the minute book)  
@res_resign_burr -> discussed in -> @meeting_1850_07_02:event (documented by @file_a092_001_003_jpg)  

**Temporal chain – resolutions lead to subsequent actions**  

@meeting_1850_06_25:event -> resolved -> @res_investigate_burr → led to → @investigation_committee (appointed at same meeting)  
@meeting_1850_07_02:event -> resolved -> @res_resign_burr → triggered → @res_fill_vacancy_dean → resulted in → @masly (Dean) appointing new faculty  

**Overall pattern**  

The @faculty_meeting_collection aggregates the minute book, a series of photographed meeting minutes (1850‑1855), and their OCR‑derived metadata.  It documents a tightly‑interwoven network of faculty members (predominantly women physicians), the committees they chaired, and the administrative resolutions that shaped the Female Medical College of Pennsylvania’s governance in the early 1850s.

Metadata

Title
Faculty Meeting Minutes and Minute Book of the Female Medical College of Pennsylvania, 1850
Type
Collection
Creator
Female Medical College of PennsylvaniaN. R. Mosely, M.D.Goadby M.D.J. S. Longshore M.D.C. W. Gleason M.D.M. W. Dickson M.D.A. D. Challoner M.D.Sas. F. X. McCloskey M.D., A.M., L.L.D.
Institution
final-drexel-university
Created
1850
Language
en-US
Subjects
Medical education, Faculty meetings, College administration, Medical profession, Women in medicine, Faculty minutes, Philadelphia
Rights
No rights information provided
Place
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
Source
PINAX

Files (1)

.DS_StoreBinary
10 KB

Version History (7 versions)

  • ✓ v7 (current) · 11/14/2025, 4:17:00 PM
    "Added description"
  • v6 · 11/14/2025, 4:10:20 PM · View this version
    "Added knowledge graph extraction"
  • v5 · 11/14/2025, 4:00:51 PM · View this version
    "Added PINAX metadata"
  • v4 · 11/14/2025, 3:56:38 PM · View this version
    "Reorganized into 2 groups"
  • v3 · 11/14/2025, 3:56:37 PM · View this version
    "Added child entity 01KA1HADQA5ZBN79GRV9JDVBWH"
  • v2 · 11/14/2025, 3:56:36 PM · View this version
    "Added child entity 01KA1HACD0Y83YFTFST34HHSGS"
  • v1 · 11/14/2025, 3:55:55 PM · View this version
    "Alphabetical chunk 1/11 (40 files)"

Additional Components

reorganization-description.txt
# Reorganization Summary

Files were grouped based on their content, primarily focusing on the faculty meeting minutes and the introduction to the Minute Book of the Female Medical College of Pennsylvania in 1850. The binary/ref files without OCR content were paired with their corresponding content files based on filenames. The .DS_Store.ref.json file was left ungrouped as it does not contain relevant content for categorization.

## Groups Created

- **Faculty_Meeting_Minutes_1850**: Files containing minutes from faculty meetings of the Female Medical College of Pennsylvania in 1850.
- **Minute_Book_Introduction_1850**: Files containing the introduction or cover page of the Minute Book of the Faculty of the Female Medical College of Pennsylvania.

Parent

↑ 01KA1H1YDAM04RP21PTR1JNE6Z

Children (2)