Educational Advancement at WMCP
The Amy S. Barton Dispensary
In 1895, Dr. Amy S. Barton approached the Alumnae Association with a plan to open a dispensary clinic in South Philadelphia to serve those in low-income families and also provide positions for and further educate the graduates of WMCP. Dr. Barton, along with her fellow alumnae associates, Dr. Gertrude Walker and Dr. Ada Audenleid, had already secured modest funding and completed the preparatory work for the dispensary. However, the dispensary only came to fruition once it had the backing and support of the Alumnae Association.
“The medical women of Philadelphia were no longer a little band for pioneers, discouraged by social disapproval or swept away by financial insecurity, but a group of women doctors who had come to stay. Each individual was backed by the whole group, and each individual accomplishment shed luster on the entire Association.”
Gulielma Fell Alsop, History of the Woman’s Medical College of Pennsylvania 1850-1950, pg 119
Large crowd outside of the Amy S. Barton Dispensary, South Philadelphia, around 1915.
Charter of the Hospital and Dispensary of the Alumnae of The Woman’s Medical College of Pennsylvania, 1896. In 1905, the dispensary was renamed The Amy S. Barton Dispensary after its founder.
Group of children outside the Amy S. Barton Dispensary, East Falls, Philadelphia, 1927.
Kate Campbell Hurd-Mead Fund
Portrait of Dr. Kate Campbell Hurd-Mead
Kate Campbell Hurd-Mead was a feminist obstetrician who graduated from Woman’s Medical College of Pennsylvania in 1888. Hurd-Mead researched, documented, and published The history of women in medicine: from the earliest times to the beginning of the nineteenth century. In 1951, the Alumnae Association received a legacy gift from the estates of Kate Campbell Hurd-Mead and her husband, Professor William Mead. The Kate Campbell Hurd-Mead Fund was established as a continuation of her legacy and to further promote the history and education of women in medicine.
Library and Educational Fund
The advancement of medical education played a significant role in forming the Alumnae Association. At the 1878 annual meeting, alumnae voted that the treasury committee would equally divide any leftover money between the Library Fund and an Educational Fund.
Woman’s Medical College of Pennsylvania library, North College Avenue, around 1890.
First year student in the library at 3200 Henry Ave., 1942-1943.
Go to Alumni Voices at WMCP
Back to Top