Occupations: The only prohibited industry is mining. No professions are legally forbidden to women.
In 1884 a graduate of the Law Department of the University of Pennsylvania, Mrs. Carrie Burnham Kilgore, made the fight for the admission of women to the bar and was herself finally admitted to practice in the courts of Philadelphia. Judges William S. Pierce, William N. Ashman and Thomas K. Finletter advocated this advanced step.
There are 150 women physicians in Philadelphia alone.
Education: The Woman's Medical College of Philadelphia, Clara Marshall, M. D., dean, was incorporated in 1850.[420] The idea of its establishment originated with Dr. Bartholomew Fussell, a member of the Society of Friends. Its foundation was made possible through the effective work of Dr. Joseph S. Longshore in securing a charter from the Legislature. Dr. Hannah Myers Longshore was a member of the first graduating class, a pioneer among women physicians, and through her skill and devotion won high rank in her profession.[421] In 1867 the name was changed by decree of court from Female Medical College to Woman's Medical College. It is the oldest and largest medical school for women in the world, and has nearly 1,000 alumnae, including students from nineteen foreign countries. The management is entirely in the hands of women.
In 1861 the Woman's Hospital was founded, mainly through the efforts of Dr. Ann Preston, to afford women the clinical opportunities denied by practically all the existing hospitals. It is now one of the largest in Philadelphia.
During the past twenty years a number of educational institutions have been opened to women. Of the forty colleges and universities in the State, just one-half are co-educational; three are for women alone; two Catholic, one military and fourteen others are for men alone. Of the sixteen theological seminaries, only one, the Unitarian at Meadville, admits women. They have the full privileges of the Colleges of Pharmacy and Dentistry in Philadelphia.
The principal institutions closed to women are the Jefferson Medical, Hahnemann Medical, Medico-Chirurgical, Franklin and Marshall, Haverford, Lafayette, Moravian, Muhlenberg, St. Vincent, Washington and Jefferson, Waynesburg, Lehigh and most of the departments of the Western University.
In the University of Pennsylvania (State) women are admitted on equal terms with men to the post-graduate department; as candidates for the Master of Arts degree; and to the four years' course in biology, leading to the degree of B. S. They may take special courses in pedagogy, music and interior decoration (in the Department of Architecture) but no degree. The Medical, Dental and Veterinary Departments are entirely closed to them. Of the large departments, Law is the only one which is fully, freely and heartily open to women on exactly the same terms as to men, and it confers the degree of LL. B. upon both alike. There are no women on the faculty, but Prof. Sara Yorke Stevenson, the distinguished archoælogist, is secretary of the Department of Archæology and Paleontology and curator of the Egyptian and Mediterranean Section.
The Drexel Institute, founded and endowed by Anthony J. Drexel, was opened in December, 1891. Instruction is given in the arts, sciences and industries. All the departments are open to women on the same terms as to men. Booker T. Washington has a free scholarship for a pupil, and one is held by the Carlisle Indian School.
Bryn Mawr, non-sectarian, but founded by Joseph W. Taylor, M. D., a member of the Society of Friends, was opened in 1885. It stands at the head of the women's colleges of the world, and ranks with the best colleges for men. Miss M. Carey Thomas, Ph. D., LL. D., is president.