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The Legacy Center Blog

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Equity and DiversityBehind the ScenesHistory of MedicineHomeopathyLearning and TeachingWomen in Medicine
"Blackguardism," newspaper clipping from the Evening Bulletin, November 8, 1869 from Woman's Medical College of Pennsylvania clipping scrapbook: Volume 1 (The Legacy Center Archives and Special Collections)

“Go tomorrow to the hospital to see the She Doctors!”

The Legacy Center presented a program to students from Springside Chestnut Hill Academy to assist in creating a newspaper based on “The Philadelphia You Never Knew.” The students were presented with "The Jeering Episode," an event that was followed by newspapers in Philadelphia and around the country regarding women medical students attending a medical lecture where the male medical students in attendance weren't so inviting. This blog post explains how the Legacy Center taught the Springside students the importance of bias and perspective and asking questions.

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Student with Dr. Mary Dratman and technicians in the endocrinology lab, 1951 (The Legacy Center Archives and Special Collections)

Mary B. Dratman papers

The Legacy Center received a second donation of papers from Dr. Mary Bagan Dratman, a 1945 graduate of Woman's Medical College of Pennsylvania (WMCP). Dr. Dratman taught at WMCP and the University of Pennsylvania and is known for her research in endocrinology.

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Constantine Hering, circa 1850s (The Legacy Center Archives and Special Collections)

19th century homeopathic medicine journal now online

The Legacy Center digitized the Correspondenzblatt der Homoeopatischen Aerzte (Correspondence Paper of Homeopathic Physicians), the first journal published in the United States, where homeopathic practitioners submitted case notes, observations and questions about their patients. The issues were originally in German but have been translated into English; both versions can be found online.

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Matilda Evans, class photo

Two Women, Two Paths

Students at Constitution High School worked with the primary sources of Eliza Grier (Woman's Medical College of Pennsylvania graduate of 1897) and Matilda Evans (Woman's Medical College of Pennsylvania graduate of 1897) to compare and contrast the lives and careers of the two physicians and to discover how students respond to how history is taught. This blog post describes the different methods used in the lessons and how these methods changed students' responses to the same questions.

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"Any Questions?" - article in the The British Medical Journal (BMJ, Vol. 2, No. 4799, Dec. 27, 1952, pp. 1431-1432. (The Legacy Center Archives and Special Collections)

Schamberg's Well-Known Kissing Party: Mistletoe, syphilis, and other holiday hazards

Syphilis is a disease that can be transmitted through simple affectionate actions such as a kiss. This blog post elaborates on the popularity of this topic in the early 20th century by using student theses from the Woman's Medical College of Pennsylvania and Jay F. Schamberg's 1911 article about the risks of holiday kissing.

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Archivist Alex Miller setting up the American Medical Women’s Association and American Women’s Hospital Service exhibit.(The Legacy Center Archives and Special Collections)

Open for Interpretation: Squeezing more use out of our collections

Interpretation, in the context of museum exhibits, refers to the way a museum staff uses artifacts and materials to relay and create a theme or story with an exhibit. This blog post explains why interpretation is so important and how it can be used by archives and museums alike to help people learn about collections. The blog post also announces several new exhibits at the Drexel University College of Medicine Legacy Center Archives.

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Potrait of Dr. Emeline Horton Cleveland. (The Legacy Center Archives and Special Collections)

So Long, Farewell, Auf Wiedersehen, Good-bye

In this blog post, Lisa Grimm, archivist at the Legacy Center, looks back on her time working in the archive, all of the materials that she has worked with, and the hidden stories discovered within the collections, as she moves on from the archives profession.

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Illustration of women working out in the Woman's Medical College of Pennsylvania gymnasium. (The Legacy Center Archives and Special Collections)

A Bit of Good News

The Drexel University College of Medicine Legacy Center Archives received a grant from the Pew Center for Arts and Heritage intended for the development of an interactive online learning program that incorporates the archive’s collection. The program is designed to reach students in grades 6-12 and is focused on the topic of “serious play”.

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Marie Curie and Martha Tracy in front of Woman's Medical College of Pennsylvania. (The Legacy Center Archives and Special Collections)

Ada Lovelace Day: A Visit from Marie Curie

On May 23, 1921, the renowned radiologist Marie Curie visited the Woman’s Medical College of Pennsylvania and was granted an honorary degree. Mme. Curie was present at the College as a stop on her fundraising tour, led by Marie ‘Missy’ Mattingly Meloney, to help fund Mme. Curie’s research. This blog post, made in honor of Ada Lovelace Day, recounts Mme. Curie’s visit and her warm reception by Woman’s Medical College of Pennsylvania Dean Martha Tracy.

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