Answer: The Female Medical College of Pennsylvania

The Female Medical College of Pennsylvania was founded in Philadelphia in 1850. Not only was it America's first school to train woman in the medical profession, but it was the first to grant women the M. D. degree. The institution was founded by a group of local physicians and philanthropists, some of whom were Quakers, and it was first located in a building at 229 Arch Street. A decade later, the Woman's Hospital of Pennsylvania was created in order to provide the school's students with hands-on, clinical experience. In 1867, the school was renamed the Woman's Medical College of Pennsylvania.

In 1970, the school began accepting male students, and it was then renamed the Medical College of Pennsylvania. When Drexel University assumed its operations in the early 2000s, it became the Drexel University College of Medicine, and it continues to flourish.

Susan Parry (circa 1833-circa 1895) was born to Quakers Charles Parry and Phebe Fell of Buckingham Township, Bucks County, Pennsylvania. She taught school in Lumberville, Pennsylvania, in 1849. In 1858, she graduated from the Female Medical College of Pennsylvania. She practiced medicine in Bucks County until her death in the 1890s.

The Susan Parry volumes (#3695) at HSP consists of two volumes: There are two volumes in this collection: a notebook, entitled S. Parry’s Book of Recipes and started in 1873, in which she described diseases, prescription recipes, treatment procedures, and a few homeopathic remedies. The collection also includes a scrapbook of clippings, mostly poetry and printed illustrations. Resources on the Female Medical College of Pennsylvania and its history can be found in our library.