Pulte Medical College, of Cincinnati, was organized under the common law, and opened in 1872, for the admission of students, with no provision, either for or against the admission of women. From time to time, during the first seven years, the subject of the admission of women was broached, but generally bullied out of court amid sneers and ridicule. The faculty stood five against and four for. The opposition was the most pronounced and bitter imaginable, the staple argument being that the mingling of the sexes in medical colleges led always and necessarily to licentiousness.

Finally, in the fall of 1877, seven of the nine members of the faculty voted to admit women. One professor voted no, and the leader of the opposition, Prof. S. R. Beckwith—a life-long opponent of the broader culture of women—left the meeting with the purpose of arresting all action. In this, however, he failed; the vote was confirmed.

On the following day another meeting was held, when the vote was re-considered and again confirmed, each of the seven members agreeing to stand by it. Still again, another meeting was called, at the instance of the leader of the opposition, and in the absence of two of the staunch friends, a bare majority of the whole faculty voted to exclude women, as heretofore, and notified the applicants for admission, who had been officially informed of the previous resolution to admit them, that they would not be admitted.

Forbearance on the part of the friends of justice was no more to be thought of, and notice was given that the wrong should be righted, at all hazards. For the next two years war raged persistent and unflinching on the part of the friends of the rights of women, bitter and slanderous on the part of the opposition. All the tricks of the politician were resorted to to defeat the cause of right, and more than once by misrepresentation they obtained the announcement in the public press that the case was decided, and women forever excluded. Still the cause moved on to complete triumph, and to the disgrace and final exclusion from the college of two of the most bitter leaders of the opposition.

In the fall of 1879 it was announced in the annual catalogue, "that students will be admitted to the lectures of Pulte college without distinction of sex," a very simple result indeed, as the outcome of two years' warfare. At the opening of lectures the first of October, four female students presented themselves, and were admitted to matriculation. Every prophecy of disaster had failed. The class was an increase in numbers over that of any preceding year, and showed a marked improvement in deportment and moral tone from the presence of ladies, who from their high character and bearing exerted a restraining influence, as they always do, on those disposed to be gentlemen. At the commencement exercises in March, 1881, three women, viz: Miss S. C. O'Keefe, Mrs. Mary N. Street, and Mrs. M. J. Taylor, received the degree of the college, after having attended the same lectures and been submitted to the same examination as the male graduates. The prize for the best examination (in writing) in physiology, was awarded to Miss Stella Hunt, of Cincinnati. The right of women to admittance to this college cannot again be raised except by a two-thirds vote of both faculty and trustees—a majority which will be difficult to obtain after the record which the women have already made as students in the institution.

J. D. Buck.

Yours truly,

After all this educational work and this seeming triumph for the recognition of an equal status in the colleges for women, we find this item going the rounds of the daily journals, under date of Cleveland, March 29, 1885:

Considerable excitement prevails among the homeopathists of Cleveland. Commencement exercises of the college are to be held next Tuesday evening, and Miss Madge Dickson, of Chambers, Pa., was to have delivered the salutatory address. Dr. H. H. Baxter, a prominent professor of the college, objected, saying a woman salutatorian would disgrace the college. Miss Dickson resigned the honor, and no address will be delivered.

In April, 1873, Miss Nettie Cronise of Tiffin, was admitted to the bar. In the following September, her sister Florence was admitted, and they practiced as N. & F. Cronise, until Miss Nettie's marriage with N. B. Lutes, with whom she has since been associated under the firm name of Lutes & Lutes. Miss Florence Cronise has her office in Tiffin. Soon after commencing practice Mrs. Lutes was appointed to examine applicants for admission to the bar, the first instance of a woman serving in this capacity in the United States, although Florence Cronise and one or two other women have since done like duty. These ladies and Miss Hulett were the first women to open law offices and begin an active, energetic practice of the profession.

In 1885, Miss Mary P. Spargo of Cleveland, was admitted to the bar.

FOOTNOTES:

[285] Among those associated with Mrs. Mendenhall were Mrs. Calvin W. Starbuck, Mrs. W. Woods, Miss Elizabeth Morris, Miss Ellen Thomas, Mrs. Kendrick, sister to General Anderson, Mrs. Caldwell, Mrs. Annie Ryder, Mrs. Mary Graham, Mrs. Louisa Hill, Mrs. Hoadly.

[286] The officers of Cincinnati Equal Rights Society were: President, Mrs. H. A. Leavitt; Vice-President, Mr. J. B. Quinby; Corresponding-Secretary, Mrs. A. L. Ryder; Recording-Secretary, Mrs. L. H. Blangy; Treasurer, Mrs. Mary Moulton; Executive Committee, Mrs. J. B. Quinby, Mr. —— Hill, Mrs. A. L. Ryder. Mrs. Dr. Mortell, Mrs. Mary Moulton, Mrs. Mary Graham, Mrs. Annie Laurie Quinby, Mrs. L. H. Blangy and Mrs. Dr. Gibson.

[287] The delegates appointed were, Mr. and Mrs. J. B. Quinby, Mrs. Mary Graham, Mrs. Charles Graham, Mrs. Mary Moulton, Mrs. Dr. Morrel, Mrs. Blangy, Mrs. M. V. Longley, Mr. and Mrs. A. G. W. Carter, and Mrs. Soula and daughter.