Clara Marshall papers--ACC-292

Date created 1879-1930
Creator Marshall, Clara, 1848-1931
Abstract Clara Marshall was Dean of the Woman's Medical College of Pennsylvania (WMCP), 1888-1917. Marshall graduated from WMCP in 1875 and soon after became a Professor of Materia Medica. The collection documents Marshall's role as a faculty member and Dean including her efforts in expanding the program and facilities, and relationships with local and national schools and organizations, as well as containing student records.
Additional Description During Clara Marshall 's tenure as dean of WMCP (1888-1917) professionalization attempts proliferated. Through extensive correspondence and scattered other sources, this collection highlights how these attempts cut both ways for WMCP. In this and other ways, these papers also contribute to understanding the institutional history of the school, documenting enrollment, alumnae publications, and more through reports and pamphlets. They also highlight the school's continued involvement in missionary work. Finally, this collection demonstrates Marshall's participation in other aspects of the women's rights movement, particularly suffrage, and includes correspondence from such prominent women as Alice Stone Blackwell, Mary Putnam Jacobi, and Lida Stokes Adams.
Research Interest This collection will be of interest to scholars studying the relationship between women's institutions and male-dominated professionalization attempts. While women leaders often welcomed professionalization as a means of attaining legitimacy, a perennial lack of funding often made such recognition impossible. There is also some evidence that shows a connection between WMCP and the woman suffrage movement, including a letter from Lida Stokes Adams to Marshall and a paper Marshall read before National American Woman Suffrage Association. These papers will be useful to researchers interested in the role of professional women in the suffrage movement.
Size 1.25 linear feet
Full collection description Home repository description for Clara Marshall papers--ACC-292
View full item http://archives.drexelmed.edu/collect/inventories/a292_inventory.pdf
Local identifier Acc. 292
Contributing institution Drexel University College of Medicine Legacy Center
Digital materials View items from the Clara Marshall papers--ACC-292