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The Legacy Center Blog

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Equity and DiversityBehind the ScenesHistory of MedicineHomeopathyLearning and TeachingWomen in Medicine
Doris Bartuska, MD circa 1987 (The Legacy Center Archives and Special Collections)

The Story of Dr. Doris Bartuska: Sexism in Medicine during the 1950s to 1980s

The Doris Bartuska papers contain the work of Dr. Doris Bartuska, a 1954 graduate of the Woman's Medical College of Pennsylvania, in the field of medicine and beyond. This blog post explores Dr. Bartuska's time as a physician from the 1950s to the 1980s, her experience with sexism, and the barriers she broke in a male dominated sphere.

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Dorothee Gold document (The Legacy Center Archives and Special Collections)

Impermanence

Doris Phillips Wheeler was a 1941 Austrian graduate from Woman's Medical College of Pennsylvania who began medical school during the Third Reich. This blog post explores how archives are places where lost stories and new insights can be found, such as that of Doris Phillips Wheelers life in coming to America before a major war broke out in her homeland.

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Medical Women’s International Association Fourth Congress, 1937 (The Legacy Center Archives and Special Collections)

Modern Miracle Women: Dr. Catharine Macfarlane a Leader in the Fight Against Cancer

Dr. Catharine Macfarlane was a pioneer in cancer research in determining that yearly exams were necessary in finding cancer in the early stages. This blog explores her journey from the 4th Congress of the Medical Women's International Association in Scotland to opening the first cancer prevention clinic in America which attracted both medical professionals and laypeople.

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Bound volumes of Obstetrical Society of Philadelphia meeting minutes (The Legacy Center Archives and Special Collections)

On the Evolution of Meeting Minutes: Formality and Degrees of Richness

Founded in 1868, the Obstetrical Society of Philadelphia started as an educational organization for those who were interested women diseases and health issues. This blog post explores the importance of minutes to show the inner workings of the medical society.

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Elizabeth Hocker, MD circa 1917 (The Legacy Center Archives and Special Collections)

"We called them our boys": Primary Sources on WWI Caregiving

Diana Lewis, 1912 graduate of the Woman's Medical College of Pennsylvania Nurse's Training School served in the American Expeditionary Forces as a Base Hospital nurse in France during the Great War in 1917-1919 and kept a scrapbook as a record of her time. This blog post explains how the study of Nurse Lewis's scrapbook led to the discovery of Dr. Elizabeth Hocker's letters that spoke to how the women physicians and nurses surrounded by the male soldiers (wounded and dying) felt emotionally connected to them.

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A patient in the American Women’s Hospitals’ Women’s Ward in Istanbul, Turkey (The Legacy Center Archives and Special Collections)

Picture Perfect: Teaching Analysis Skills with Fundraising Photography

The American Women Hospitals used photographs for fundraising for their foreign and domestic causes. This blog post explores how the AWH's photograph collection could be used as a teaching tool on how to analyze primary sources and the questions that students should ask to understand the source.

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Elizabeth Cisney Smith dissecting a cadaver with her class (The Legacy Center Archives and Special Collections)

Hidden Collections 2015

Archivists follow guidelines for processing and describing collections that allow room for flexibility on collection organization. This blog post explains the need for guidelines through the processing of two different collections: the Isabel Smith Stein collection on Elizabeth Cisney Smith (a collection of personal papers ) and the Kiwanis Club of Jenkintown (a collection on a local chapter of a global philanthropic organization) where Dr. Smith's collection was arranged by her children and reflected a story of their mother's life, and the Kiwanis Club's had less organization and the order decided by the archivist.

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Members of the class of 1944 of Woman's Medical College of Pennsylvania pose with Dr. Kuhlenbeck at Somerton Airport (The Legacy Center Archives and Special Collections)

Tuberculosis Strikes the Class of 1944

Tuberculosis is caused by a bacteria called Mycobacterium tuberculosis or one of a number of related bacteria. It most often affects the lungs, but can also cause harm to other parts of the body while spread through the air. This blog post shows how the Woman's Medical College of Pennsylvania Class of 1944 was affected by the disease with only 12 of the original 41 students graduating on time, and some never did graduate.

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Doctor or Doctress public interface (The Legacy Center Archives and Special Collections)

Tales from the Tech Side: A look at Doctor or Doctress from our developer

Doctor or Doctress? is a digital history project that uses content found in the Legacy Center's collections to help students understand and interpret history through the lens of early women physicians. This blog post explains the website developer Chris Clement's process in creating the website.

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