Samuel Gregory founded Boston Female Medical College because he disapproved of male doctors attending childbirth. The first twelve women students entered the school on November 1, 1848 and graduated in 1850. The school later became known as the New England Female Medical College. The early curriculum focused on midwifery.
The school operated for 26 years before it merged with Boston University School of Medicine, which thus became one of the first coed medical colleges worldwide.
Links:
- BUMC- History
- Celebrating Women Physicians
- Female Medical Education Society Controversy, 1850
- History of Women in US Medical Schools
- Marie Elizabeth Zakrzewska
From the Encyclopedia of Women's History by Jone Johnson Lewis
