Female Medical College of Pennsylvania Faculty Meeting Minutes and Administrative Records, 1853-1856

Version: 9 (current) | Updated: 12/4/2025, 4:31:42 PM

Added description

Description

Female Medical College of Pennsylvania Faculty Meeting Minutes and Administrative Records, 1853‑1856

Overview

This collection is a bound minute book of the faculty of the Female Medical College of Pennsylvania, the world’s first medical college organized for women. It contains 213 pages of handwritten minutes from faculty meetings held between 1853 and 1856, digitized as high‑resolution JPEG and TIFF images with accompanying OCR text. The records are housed in the Drexel College of Medicine Legacy Center Archives (Accession ACC‑092) and are available through the PINAX portal.

Background

Founded in 1850 at 229 Arch Street, Philadelphia, the college was a pioneering institution for women’s medical education. The faculty, led by Dean Dr. Ellwood Harvey, met regularly to govern the college, appoint officers, revise regulations, and oversee academic and financial matters. Key faculty members recorded in the minutes include Dr. David J. Johnson, Dr. Ann Preston, Dr. Edwin Fussell, Kersey G. Thomas, James F. X. McCloskey, Rebecca Johnson, Emeline H. Cleveland, and others.

Contents

The pages document a wide range of administrative activities:
  • Faculty appointments and committee formations (e.g., appointment of Clinton Gillingham as Lecturer on Chemistry, creation of committees on regulations, donations, and vacant chairs).
  • Curricular decisions (admission policies, thesis reviews, and announcements of the Sixth Annual Announcement).
  • Financial and property matters (reports on Dean’s accounts, inventory of the late Dean’s property, lease negotiations, and liability assessments).
  • Scholarship and donation policies (resolution of scholarship certificates, sales, and appointment of donation agents).
  • Museum and specimen regulations (restrictions on removal of models and specimens).
Each page lists the date, attendees, motions, and resolutions, providing a detailed view of the college’s governance during its formative years.

Scope

The collection covers faculty meetings from 1853‑1856, encompassing all minutes, committee reports, and related resolutions. It is limited to the internal deliberations of the college’s faculty and does not include external correspondence or student records. The material is in English, set in Philadelphia, and is relevant to scholars of women’s medical education, institutional governance, and 19th‑century medical history.

Entities

(loading...)

Entity Relationships

(loading...)

Raw Cheimarros Data

@female_medical_college_faculty_meeting_and_admin_records_1853_1856:collection {title: "Female Medical College of Pennsylvania Faculty Meeting Minutes and Administrative Records, 1853-1856", institution: @drexel_legacy_collections, created: {start: @date_1853, end: @date_1856}, language: "en", subjects: ["Minutes","Medical education","Medical colleges","Women in medicine","Women physicians","Women medical students","Faculty meetings","Curriculum changes","Scholarships","Medical colleges--Faculty","Medical colleges--Committees","Medical colleges--By-laws","Student Life","Early College Years","Academic sessions","Graduation ceremonies","Faculty records","Medical theses","Obituaries"]}


@female_medical_college_faculty_meeting_and_admin_records_1853_1856:collection -> created by -> [@female_medical_college_of_pennsylvania, @david_j_johnson, @ellwood_harvey, @ann_preston, @edwin_fussell, @james_f_x_mccloskey, @thomas_t_fussell, @kersey_g_thomas, @clinton_gillingham, @rebecca_johnson, @emeline_cleveland, @mark_g_kerr, @martha_h_mowry, @almira_l_fowler, @martha_a_morry]


@file_pinax:file -> documents -> @female_medical_college_faculty_meeting_and_admin_records_1853_1856:collection


@female_medical_college_faculty_meeting_and_admin_records_1853_1856:collection -> includes -> [@faculty_meeting_minutes_1854, @female_medical_college_1853_1854_collection, @female_medical_college_faculty_minutes, @meeting_1855_01_02, @meeting_1854_01_26, @meeting_1856_01_05, @resolution_memorial_johnson, @scholarship_certificate:concept]


@scholarship_certificate:concept -> discussed at -> [@meeting_35, @meeting_1855_02_13]


@ann_preston -> participated in -> [@meeting_31, @meeting_33, @meeting_1855_01_02, @meeting_1856_01_05]


@ellwood_harvey -> participated in -> [@meeting_31, @meeting_33, @meeting_1855_01_02, @meeting_1856_01_05]


@david_j_johnson -> honored by -> @resolution_memorial_johnson


@resolution_memorial_johnson -> sent to -> @rebecca_johnson


@meeting_1854_01_26 -> appointed -> @ellwood_harvey:person {position: "Dean"}


@meeting_1854_01_26 -> appointed -> @kersey_g_thomas:person {position: "Treasurer"}


@meeting_1855_01_02 -> appointed -> @clinton_gillingham:person {position: "Lecturer on Chemistry", term: "remainder of session"}


@meeting_1855_01_02 -> appointed -> @rebecca_johnson:person {role: "Provider of chemical apparatus", property: "college inventory"}

Metadata

Version History (9 versions)

  • ✓ v9 (current) · 12/4/2025, 4:31:42 PM
    "Added description"
  • v8 · 12/4/2025, 4:24:42 PM · View this version
    "Added knowledge graph extraction"
  • v7 · 12/4/2025, 4:10:17 PM · View this version
    "Added PINAX metadata"
  • v6 · 12/4/2025, 4:04:20 PM · View this version
    "Reorganized into 4 groups"
  • v5 · 12/4/2025, 4:04:18 PM · View this version
    "Added child entity 01KBN1PW5X4HE5YTYD5H2H1ANM"
  • v4 · 12/4/2025, 4:04:16 PM · View this version
    "Added child entity 01KBN1PT1KEGK1PJ0PYRZRZWVC"
  • v3 · 12/4/2025, 4:04:15 PM · View this version
    "Added child entity 01KBN1PRM7KDWEKWPFMTPPW2GC"
  • v2 · 12/4/2025, 4:04:13 PM · View this version
    "Added child entity 01KBN1PPY1AYPMPYW0PKGN3X7K"
  • v1 · 12/4/2025, 4:03:30 PM · View this version
    "Alphabetical chunk 4/11 (40 files)"

Additional Components

reorganization-description.txt
# Reorganization Summary

The files were organized chronologically by academic session and administrative periods, with each group representing a distinct time period and set of related activities. The grouping prioritizes temporal coherence while maintaining thematic consistency within each period. All files were successfully grouped based on their content and temporal markers, with no files left ungrouped.

## Groups Created

- **1853_1854_Academic_Session**: Files containing records from the 1853-1854 academic session, including commencement details and faculty appointments
- **1854_Faculty_Meetings**: Records of faculty meetings from April to December 1854 discussing announcements, curriculum changes, and committee appointments
- **1854_1855_Transition**: Documents related to the transition between 1854-1855 sessions, including memorials for Dr. Johnson and administrative changes
- **1855_Administrative_Records**: Administrative records from January-February 1855 including committee reports, graduation matters, and financial decisions

Parent

01KBN1DYGT4HKHTJ7FNZN9RSZP

Children (4)