November 1, 1848 – First Medical School for Women Opens

On this day in history, the first medical school for women opened in Boston. The Boston Female Medical School was founded by Samuel Gregory with just twelve students and two faculty members.

In a 2016 Boston Public Radio interview Dr. Doug Hughes, then associate Dean for academic affairs at the Boston University School of Medicine, reported that graduates were at first referred to as “Doctresses of Medicine.” The women resented the title and after 12 years, the school finally start graduating women with the title “Doctor of Medicine.”

Dr. Hughes also related that the school continued to break new ground, admitting the first African-American woman to the program in 1860. Upon graduation, Rebecca Lee Crumpler traveled south to post-Civil War Richmond, to care for some 10,000 freed slaves who were living in tent cities on the outskirts of the city. After the war, Dr. Crumpler returned to Boston and wrote a textbook – the first by a woman.

In debt, the school merged with Boston University in 1874 on the condition it would admit men as well as women, and would continue to admit women and minorities. The Boston University School of Medicine became the third co-educational medical school.

Dr. Hughes observed that the pioneering spirit and commitment to social justice that first spawned the school was not just a thing of the past, pointing to programs that today care for the poor, the homeless, refugees and the LGBT community. He noted: “We want students who will be great doctors but will champion equality.”

Artist rendering of the New England Female Medical College on Concord Street in Boston via
Boston University School of Medicine