New England Female Medical College
Established in Boston, Massachusetts, by Dr. Samuel Gregory with the purpose of offering
modern medical training in female-related fields, the New England Female Medical College was
the first in the world to provide medical training for women. At the time, male physicians
who practiced obstetrics were often scornfully referred to as "midwives" by their male
colleagues, yet many questioned the legitimacy of women's professional place in medicine and
were not supportive of a medical program to train female physicians. Dr. Gregory, while leery
of the appropriateness of male physician practice of female medicine, also sought to dissuade
women in unschooled medical practices such as midwifery and other methods generally
considered by medical professionals as old-fashioned, informal, and dangerous.
Gregory had difficulty attracting and retaining faculty, trustees, and other personnel, but the school did attract many notable female students and staff, among them Dr. Marie Zakrewska, who taught at the college and was also a founder of the New England Hospital for Women and Children, the first hospital to offer obstetrics, gynecology, and pediatrics within a single facility. From 1848 to 1874, the school trained over 280 students and granted 98 medical degrees. Many of its graduates became affiliated with other area hospitals.
The school faced financial hardships after Gregory's death in 1872 and after many of its benefactors sustained substantial losses during a devastating fire in downtown Boston in the same year. In 1874, the school's trustees approved the school's merger with Boston University School of Medicine.
OCP Resources
New England Female Medical College. 1847-1865. Scrapbook of newspaper articles about New England Female Medical College, established as the Female Medical Education Society which organized in November 1848. Some of the articles have manuscript annotations. Also included are newspaper clippings advertising the beginning of each school term and additional clippings soliciting monetary contributions for its continued operation.
Female Medical Education Society Report, 1-3, 1848-1852.
Female Medical Education Society Annual Report, 4-6, 1853-1855.
Female Medical Education Society. Sixth annual advertisement of the New England Female Medical College, September 1853. Boston: Female Medical Education Society, 1853.
New England Female Medical College Annual Report, 7-12, 1856-1861.
New England Female Medical College. Thirteenth annual announcement of the New England Female Medical College. Boston: New England Female Medical College, 1860.
New England Female Medical College. Annual catalogue and report, 14-23, 1862-1871.
Gassett, Helen Maria. Categorical account of the Female Medical College, to the people of the New England States. Boston: printed for the author, 1855.
Gregory, Samuel. Female physicians. [S.I.: s.n., 186-].
Gregory, Samuel. The War Against the New England Female Medical College. Boston: printed by A. Mudge & Son, 1866.
Gregory, Samuel. Doctor or doctress? Boston: Published by the Trustees, 1868.
Gregory, Samuel. Letter to ladies: in favor of female physicians for their own sex. Boston: Published by the College, 1856.