Faculty Meetings and Communications of the Female Medical College of Pennsylvania
Version: 4 (current) | Updated: 11/14/2025, 4:16:49 PM
Added description
Description
Faculty Meetings and Communications of the Female Medical College of Pennsylvania (1863‑1864)
Overview
This collection consists of nine digitized images (a092001183.jpg–a092001204.jpg) of handwritten and printed documents produced by the faculty of the Female Medical College of Pennsylvania during the 1863‑1864 academic session. The materials are held in the PINAX repository and are associated with Drexel University.Background
The Female Medical College of Pennsylvania, founded in 1850, was one of the first institutions to train women in medicine. The documents were produced in Philadelphia, with occasional references to New York. The faculty included E.U. Cleveland (secretary), Dr. Sample, Dr. Hance, Rev. Mr. Adams, T. Morris Prentice (president), Dr. Preston, Dr. Frank, Dr. Edwin Russell, Dr. Percy, Dr. Lucy, Dr. Bushue, Prof. Goulds, Temple, Ewen, and Winifred Scarlett. The collection reflects administrative, academic, and personal matters during the session.Contents
- Memoranda for the Session 1863‑64 – dates, lectures, commencement, and faculty composition.
- First Lecture (Oct 12 1863) – delivered by Dr. Sample, substituting for Dr. Hance.
- Commencement (Mar 16 1864) – prayer by Rev. Mr. Adams, degrees conferred by T. Morris Prentice, valedictory address by Dr. Preston.
- General Annual Meeting (Mar 13 1864) – donation of $10 from Mrs. Betsey Dyson to the Chair of Chemistry.
- Special Family Meeting (Mar 1 1864) – held at Dr. Bushue’s house, chaired by Prof. Goulds.
- Joint Examination Vote – faculty vote granting a second vote to a female student, affecting her graduation privilege.
- Letters – from Dr. Frank (Feb 27 1864) and Dr. Edwin Farnell (Mar 27 1864) to faculty and the dean of the New York Medical College, expressing resignation and concerns about standards.
- Resolutions – on the resignation of Dr. Edwin Russell (Mar 27 1864) and on the resignation of Dr. Edwin Farnell, as well as the joint examination vote.
Scope
The collection covers the period from the opening of the 1863‑1864 session (October 14 1863) to its conclusion (March 16 1864). It documents faculty governance, academic events, financial transactions, and personal correspondence. The materials are in English, dated 1863‑1864, and pertain to the Philadelphia campus of the Female Medical College of Pennsylvania. They are relevant to studies of women’s medical education, institutional history, and 19th‑century academic administration.Entities
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Raw Cheimarros Data
@file_pinax -> documents -> @female_medical_college_of_pennsylvania:organization {full_name: "Female Medical College of Pennsylvania", focus: "Medical education for women", location: @philadelphia, active_period: "1850-1870"}
@female_medical_college_of_pennsylvania -> had faculty member -> @e_u_cleveland:person {full_name: "E. U. Cleveland", role: "Secretary", tenure: @date_1863_10_14}
@female_medical_college_of_pennsylvania -> had faculty member -> @dr_sample:person {full_name: "Dr. Sample", role: "Lecturer", lecture: "First lecture of 1863‑64 session"}
@female_medical_college_of_pennsylvania -> had faculty member -> @dr_hance:person {full_name: "Dr. Hance", role: "Lecturer", note: "General introductory substituted by Dr. Sample on Oct 12 1863"}
@female_medical_college_of_pennsylvania -> had faculty member -> @rev_mr_adams:person {full_name: "Rev. Mr. Adams", role: "Chaplain", activity: "Opened commencement with prayer"}
@female_medical_college_of_pennsylvania -> had faculty member -> @t_morris_prentice:person {full_name: "T. Morris Prentice", title: "President", activity: "Conferred degrees at commencement"}
@female_medical_college_of_pennsylvania -> had faculty member -> @dr_preston:person {full_name: "Dr. Preston", role: "Valedictory speaker"}
@female_medical_college_of_pennsylvania -> had faculty member -> @dr_frank:person {full_name: "Dr. Frank", role: "Faculty member", correspondence: @letter_frank_to_faculty:document}
@female_medical_college_of_pennsylvania -> had faculty member -> @dr_edwin_russell:person {full_name: "Dr. Edwin Russell", role: "Faculty member", status: "Resigned March 27 1864"}
@female_medical_college_of_pennsylvania -> had faculty member -> @dr_percy:person {full_name: "Dr. Percy", role: "Correspondent", correspondence: @letter_percy_to_dean:document}
@female_medical_college_of_pennsylvania -> had faculty member -> @dr_lucy:person {full_name: "Dr. Lucy", note: "Private illness noted in minutes"}
@female_medical_college_of_pennsylvania -> had faculty member -> @dr_bushue:person {full_name: "Dr. Bushue", location: @marshall_st:place}
@female_medical_college_of_pennsylvania -> had faculty member -> @prof_goulds:person {full_name: "Prof. Goulds", role: "Chair at special family meeting"}
@female_medical_college_of_pennsylvania -> had faculty member -> @temple:person {full_name: "Temple", role: "Attendee at special family meeting"}
@female_medical_college_of_pennsylvania -> had faculty member -> @ewen:person {full_name: "Ewen", role: "Attendee at special family meeting"}
@female_medical_college_of_pennsylvania -> had faculty member -> @winifred_scarlett:person {full_name: "Winifred Scarlett", role: "Attendee at special family meeting"}
@female_medical_college_of_pennsylvania -> received donation -> @betsey_dyson:person {full_name: "Mrs. Betsey Dyson", amount: 10.00, purpose: "Chair of Chemistry"} {when: @date_1863_03_13}
@female_medical_college_of_pennsylvania -> held event -> @annual_session_1863_64:event {description: "Annual academic session for 1863‑64", when: {start: @date_1863_10_14, end: @date_1864_03_16}, where: @philadelphia}
@annual_session_1863_64:event -> opened on -> @date_1863_10_14
@annual_session_1863_64:event -> closed on -> @date_1864_03_16
@annual_session_1863_64:event -> included lecture -> @first_lecture_1863_64:document {presented_by: @dr_sample, note: "Special introductory substituted for Dr. Hance"}
@annual_session_1863_64:event -> included commencement -> @commencement_1864:event {date: @date_1864_03_16, time: "12:00 PM", location: @woman_hospital:place, opening_prayer_by: @rev_mr_adams, degrees_conferred_by: @t_morris_prentice, valedictory_address_by: @dr_preston}
@woman_hospital:place {location: @philadelphia, type: "Hospital"}
@annual_session_1863_64:event -> included general_annual_meeting -> @general_annual_meeting_1864:event {date: @date_1864_03_13, agenda: "Donation recorded", donation: {amount: 10.00, donor: @betsey_dyson}}
@general_annual_meeting_1864:event -> recorded by -> @e_u_cleveland:person
@special_family_meeting_1864:event {date: @date_1864_03_01, location: @marshall_st:place, chair: @prof_goulds, attendees: [@prof_goulds, @temple, @ewen, @winifred_scarlett, @e_u_cleveland]}
@marshall_st:place {address: "815 Marshall St, Philadelphia"}
@letter_frank_to_faculty:document {author: @dr_frank, date: @date_1864_02_27, content: "Farewell after seven years of service; cites integrity, standards, and personal disappointment as reasons for resignation"}
@letter_frank_to_faculty -> addressed to -> @female_medical_college_of_pennsylvania:organization
@letter_percy_to_dean:document {author: @dr_percy, recipient: @dean_of_new_york_medical_college:person, date: @date_1864_02_??, content: "Avoided answering inquiry about Miss Putnam's New York dissection"}
@dean_of_new_york_medical_college:person {title: "Dean", institution: @new_york_medical_college:organization}
@new_york_medical_college:organization {location: @new_york}
@resolution_resignation_edwin_russell:document {title: "Resolution on Dr. Edwin Russell’s Resignation", date: @date_1864_03_27, adopted_by: @female_medical_college_of_pennsylvania:organization, clauses: [1,2,3]}
@resolution_resignation_edwin_russell -> clause 1 -> {text: "Received communication from Dr. Edwin Russell resigning as faculty member"}
@resolution_resignation_edwin_russell -> clause 2 -> {text: "Acknowledged differing perspectives on his case but expressed sympathy"}
@resolution_resignation_edwin_russell -> clause 3 -> {text: "Requested reconsideration to maintain high standards and honor his fidelity"}
@file_a092_001_183_jpg -> contains -> @resolution_joint_examination_vote:document {description: "Faculty vote granting a second vote to a female student, increasing her white vote by one", outcome: "Accepted", impact: "Original exclusion from graduation privilege"} {when: @date_1863_??}
@file_a092_001_184_jpg -> contains -> @memoranda_session_1863_64:document {title: "Memoranda for the Session 1863‑64", content_summary: "Details of session dates, lectures, faculty composition, commencement, and valedictory address"} {when: @date_1863_10_14}
@file_a092_001_185_jpg -> contains -> @donation_record_1864:document {donor: @betsey_dyson, amount: 10.00, purpose: "Chair of Chemistry", recorded_by: @e_u_cleveland, date: @date_1864_03_13}
@file_a092_001_201_jpg -> contains -> @special_family_meeting_1864:event
@file_a092_001_202_jpg -> contains -> @letter_frank_to_faculty:document
@file_a092_001_203_jpg -> contains -> @letter_edwin_farnell_resignation:document {author: @edwin_farnell:person, date: @date_1864_03_27, content: "Resignation notice with reflections on standards, integrity, and personal sorrow"}
@edwin_farnell:person {full_name: "Edwin Farnell", role: "Faculty member"}
@file_a092_001_204_jpg -> contains -> @resolution_resignation_edwin_russell:documentMetadata
Files (7)
OCR Text
of a joint examination: the Professors confer together with reference to her several examinations & give her the advantage of a second vote. This proposition having accepted by the Faculty resulted in increasing her white vote by one member only & consequently in her original exclusion from the privilege of graduation. The Dean reported that a second letter had been received from Dr. Percy in reply & that addressed to the Dean of the New York Med. Coll. in which every single inquiry save that relating to Miss Putnam's New York dissection was evaded as in his first communication. He reports that she has dissected in the College & in his
OCR Text
Dr. Lucy's private illness & that she made most excellent transitions. An motion adjourned. E.U. Cleveland Sec. Memoranda for the Session 1863-64 The annual session of the Female Med. Coll. of Penn. commenced on Wednesday the 14th of October 1863 and closed on Wednesday the 16th of March 1864. The first lecture of the course was delivered by Dr. Sample - his special introductory being substituted for the general introductory of Dr. Hance for reasons specified in the minutes of a meeting held Oct 12, 1863. The faculty for the session was constituted as for the previous year. The annual commencement was held March 16, 1864 at 12 o'clock PM in the parlor of the Woman's Hospital. The evening was opened with prayer by the Rev. Mr. Adams & the degrees conferred by the President T. Morris Prentice Esq. The valedictory address was delivered by Dr. Preston.
OCR Text
Saturday March 13. General Annual Meeting. Before which was reported, a donation of $10.00 from Mrs. Betsey Dyson to the Chair of Chemistry. Placed in the hand of the treasurer. E. H. Cleveland, Sec. Changero May 1856
OCR Text
March 81, 1864. A special meeting of the Family was held at the house of Dr. Bushue 815 Marshall St. present: Prof. Goulds, Temple, Ewen, Winifred Scarlett & Cleveland. Dr. Goulds was called to the Chair. The following communication was received & read from Dr. Frank: Phila. Feb. 27, 1864. To the Faculty of the Female Medical College of Pennsylvania. "Both I write the word farewell; after seven years of work in behalf of the College & its Cause—labouring to the best of my ability in every poor way to promote the interests of both & under varying hopes, discouragement & disappointment; now in the hour of its success, when the reward of patient endurance seemed about to fall like ripe fruit into our hands, I must say farewell! It is one of the saddest volitions of my life! But I cannot do otherwise. Dithers I regret that after full discussion there should be such irreconcilable difference of view."
OCR Text
in a matter which, to my mind affects our integrity. I say it in sorrow, not in anger. I think the College is disgraced & I should feel myself degraded did I remain longer in connection with it. After years of holding up the standard (proclaiming to the world) that we seek & shew, not lower medical requirements while his family has been charging us with debasing the profession (falsely charging hitherto)—after publishing for years the necessity of a lengthened course of lectures & requiring two full courses on all the branches—on his very first occasion of being asked to do it; we violate our own rules, depart from the spirit & letter of our published well-known & wise requirements—tread on Homer in the dust & present ourselves a melancholy spectacle of amiable weakness, a work for the jeering, mocking of the enemies of his cause, & the object of bitter tears for our clear-sighted & firm-principled alumni & friends. It seems to me—and must be true to myself & the cause—and therefore with well-wishing for you all collecting
OCR Text
& individually, & prayers that you may have light & see his right way & strength to bear the load of responsibility which rests upon you, & asking you to bear with me now for his sake as the fact—if in my plain of such I have said anything which sounds harshly, lovingly & sorrowfully I bid you goodbye. Yours truly, Edwin Farnell. March 27th I have withheld any resignation until now for two reasons: 1st. That the unfinished work of the session might be completed without unpleasant interruption & 2nd. That I should not in haste do an act which I might afterward regret. A month has being passed by—the work of the session is nearly closed—and after mature reflection on the matter, in all its bearings & with the light & shades of subsequent events resting upon it, I am more than confident in the correctness of my course. The following resolutions were adopted by the faculty.
OCR Text
1. Resolved that we have received with deep regret & sorrow a communication from Dr. Edwin Russell, resigning for certain assigned reasons his place as a member of the faculty of the Female Medical College of Pennsylvania. 2. Resolved that although our understanding & appreciation of the peculiar facts of the case to which he alludes were different from his own & although we may have been mistaken in our course—yet we sympathize with the spirit that appears & have advocated him in that matter. 3. Resolved that precisely because we desire to have our standards made exceedingly high & more firmly enforced & because we honor his fidelity as a member of the faculty—we ask him, in the cause of our cause & for the sake of his institution with which he has so long been connected—to reconsider his resolution.
Version History (4 versions)
- ✓ v4 (current) · 11/14/2025, 4:16:49 PM
"Added description" - v3 · 11/14/2025, 4:09:54 PM · View this version
"Added knowledge graph extraction" - v2 · 11/14/2025, 4:00:25 PM · View this version
"Added PINAX metadata" - v1 · 11/14/2025, 3:56:51 PM · View this version
"Reorganization group: Faculty_Meetings_and_Communications"
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