The Woman's Medical College of Pennsylvania (WMC) / Medical College of Pennsylvania collections are composed of the institution's archival records and special collections on women in medicine, collectively reflecting the history of the college and women in medicine beginning in the mid-1800s. As the record of the first degree-granting medical school for women*, the archives are integral to the history of women in medicine. The special collections reach beyond the records of the College to include primary and secondary materials on the history of all women physicians, internationally and on women's health.

Collection descriptions

Search and browse collection abstracts and finding aid descriptions, and find related digital content. An index provides subject and name access to collections acquired prior to 2002.

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*Note: the first medical school for women in the United States was the New England Female Medical College (NEFMC), later Boston University School of Medicine. NEFMC opened in 1848 with a charter to provide “for the education of Midwives, Nurses, and Female Physicians…”; the school reorganized in 1856 with a charter to issue medical degrees (MD). The Female Medical College of Pennsylvania (later Woman's Medical College of Pennsylvania) opened in 1850 with a charter to confer medical degrees. See notes and references here: What/which was the first women's medical college?