Female Medical College of Pennsylvania Faculty Meeting Minutes, October-December 1860

Version: 4 (current) | Updated: 12/4/2025, 4:29:31 PM

Added description

Description

Faculty Meeting Minutes, October–December 1860 – Female Medical College of Pennsylvania

Overview

This is a digital collection of 213 pages from the minute book of the faculty of the Female Medical College of Pennsylvania. The pages record the faculty meetings held between 17 October 1860 and 18 December 1860. The material is presented as scanned TIFF images and accompanying OCR text, providing both visual and searchable representations of the original handwritten minutes.

Background

The Female Medical College of Pennsylvania, founded in 1850 at 229 Arch Street, Philadelphia, was the first institution in the world to regularly train women for the medical profession. The faculty minutes were produced by the college’s faculty and recorded the deliberations of the faculty council, a body responsible for academic policy, curriculum, and faculty appointments. The minutes in this collection were created by faculty members Edwin Fussell, Ann Preston, Emeline H. Cleveland, and others who served as secretaries and lecturers during this period.

The collection includes the full set of meeting minutes for the two sessions in the fall and winter of 1860. Key topics covered are:

Faculty appointments – Ann Preston was appointed secretary in place of Mrs. Cleveland, who was abroad.
Curriculum decisions – A resolution limited each professor to three lectures per week and scheduled a pause in lectures from Christmas to New Year’s.
Clinic organization – Jrs. Birdsell and Preston were appointed to conduct the clinic during the session.
General introductions – Dr. Coates read and approved the general introduction after minor amendments.

The pages are dated and signed, with attendance lists and motions recorded. The OCR text reproduces the original wording, while the TIFF images preserve the handwritten style and any marginalia.

Scope

The collection covers a narrow but significant window of the college’s early history, documenting faculty governance during a period of curricular refinement and administrative adjustments. It is geographically limited to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and focuses on internal faculty governance, curriculum planning, and lecture scheduling. The material is relevant to scholars of women’s medical education, institutional history, and 19th‑century academic governance.

Entities

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Entity Relationships

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Raw Cheimarros Data

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Metadata

Title: Female Medical College of Pennsylvania Faculty Meeting Minutes, October-December 1860
Type: Collection
Creator: Female Medical College of PennsylvaniaEdwin FussellAnn PrestonEmeline H. Cleveland
Institution: Drexel Legacy Collections
Created: 1860-10-17/1860-12-18
Language: en
Subjects: minutes, faculty meetings, medical education, curriculum, lectures, medical colleges, women in medicine
Rights: Transmission or reproduction of materials protected by copyright beyond that allowed by fair use requires the written permission of the copyright owners. Additionally, the reproduction of some materials may be restricted by privacy and publicity rights, licensing or trademarks. Responsibility for any use rests exclusively with the user.
Place: Philadelphia (Pa.), 229 Arch Street, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Source: PINAX

Files (2)

a092_001_137.jpgJPEG

353.87 KB

OCR Text

Oct. 17th, 1860 Present: Fussell, Birdsell, Coates, Kerr, Preston. A. Preston was appointed Sec. to act in the place of Mrs. Cleveland now absent in Europe, during the remainder of the year. On motion of Dr. Fussell it was Resolved that each Professor be limited to three lectures a week. Jrs Birdsell & Preston were appointed to conduct the Clinic during this session. The order of lectures was next arranged. Dr. Coates then read the General Introduction which after some slight amendments was approved. A. Preston Sec. Dec 18th, 1860 Present Birdsell, Fussell, Coates, Preston On motion of Dr. Fussell it was resolved that our lectures be intermitted from Christmas to New years, inclusive.

a092_001_137.tifTIFF

46.86 MB

Version History (4 versions)

✓ v4 (current) · 12/4/2025, 4:29:31 PM
"Added description"
v3 · 12/4/2025, 4:20:53 PM · View this version
"Added knowledge graph extraction"
v2 · 12/4/2025, 4:08:42 PM · View this version
"Added PINAX metadata"
v1 · 12/4/2025, 4:05:20 PM · View this version
"Reorganization group: Faculty_Meetings_October-December_1860"

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