Call Number:

R.293

Repository:

Drexel University: College of Medicine Legacy Center

Extent:

4.25 linear feet (8 document boxes; 1 half size document box)

Language:

English

Preferred Citation:

George A. Hay collection of administrative files of the Woman's Medical College of Pennsylvania, 1890-1970, bulk 1925-1965. Drexel University College of Medicine, Legacy Center: Archives and Special Collections on Women in Medicine and Homeopathy

Date:

1925-1965 (bulk) and 1890-1970 (inclusive)

Creator:

Hay, George A.

Form:

Administrative records, Biographies, Bylaws, Correspondence, Financial records, Minutes, Reports, and School records

Abstract:

From 1925 to 1970, the Woman’s Medical College of Pennsylvania (WMC) underwent significant change, adapting to both survive and prosper in a transforming society. Administrative change was brought about and explored to spark institutional growth and/or to mollify financial stress. Among the more significant events in the College’s history was the 1930 move to new and larger facilities in East Falls, and an administrative reorganization in 1942. In the 1940s and 1960s, WMC also explored the financial and administrative benefits of merging with other institutions in the Philadelphia area; Kensington Women’s Hospital and the Woman’s Hospital of Philadelphia and Jefferson Medical College. Amidst all of the change, WMC continued to honor its traditions and celebrate milestones, especially its Centennial Anniversary in 1950. In 1970, the College made the decision to admit male students for the first time and change its name to the Medical College of Pennsylvania. The George A. Hay collection of administrative files is a assemblage of records created by various administrators of the Woman’s College of Medicine from 1925 to 1965. Creators of the records include: George A. Hay, comptroller; Sarah Logan Wister Starr, president of the Board of Corporators; Vida Hunt Francis, secretary; Dr. Ellen Culver Potter, a member of the faculty as well as acting president in the 1940s; and others. In addition, there is a small sampling of very early administrative records, that are dated 1796, and from 1861 to 1928. Those files include a deed to land in East Falls in Philadelphia, report cards, correspondence and other materials. Generally speaking, the records housed in this collection evidence the day to day administration of the college, especially relating to its finances; financial planning; fundraising; future needs of the college; and a few significant landmarks in institutional history, the 1942 administrative reorganization, the 1950 Centennial Celebration, and explored institutional mergers with Jefferson Medical College, Kensington Women’s Hospital and Woman’s Hospital of Philadelphia.

From 1925 to 1970, the Woman’s Medical College of Pennsylvania overcame significant obstacles, adapting to both survive and prosper in a dramatically evolving society. In 1930, the school and hospital moved to a new and larger facility in East Falls, then a burgeoning middleclass neighborhood in northwest Philadelphia. The excitement and optimism resulting from the move was quickly tempered, however, by the Great Depression, which left the institution in financial turmoil. Added to that, in 1935, an inspection of the school, hospital and its governance conducted by the Council on Medical Education and Hospitals of the American Medical Association cost WMC its membership in the Association of American Medical Colleges temporarily. The College also explored the financial and administrative benefits of merging with at least two women’s hospitals in the Philadelphia area; Kensington Women’s Hospital and the Woman’s Hospital of Philadelphia.

George A. Hay served as comptroller for WMC during the mid-twentieth century, participating in major administrative decisions, particularly in the early1940s and 1960s. Hay was involved in a massive administrative reorganization in 1942, exploring the benefit of mergers with Kensington Women’s Hospital and the Woman’s Hospital of Philadelphia, and he served on the Committee on Admissions Policies, which decided in 1970 that WMC should admit male students and change its name to Medical College of Pennsylvania.

Sarah Logan Wister Starr was a local socialite and philanthropist, born into Philadelphia’s famous Wister family, who served as president of WMC’s Board of Corporators until 1941. Together with Dean Martha Tracy and Vida Hunt Francis, an administrator, Starr led the institution through both periods of growth and financial difficulty. A dedicated benefactor, Starr spearheaded fundraising campaigns to finance WMC’s 1930 relocation to East Falls, a newly developed neighborhood in northwest Philadelphia, and to suppress the financial effects of the Great Depression.

Doctor Ellen Culver Potter graduated from WMC in 1905 and went on to a distinguished career. Potter devoted time to missions in New York City’s Chinatown and Norwich, Connecticut, opened a private practice in Germantown in Philadelphia and, in 1920, became the head of Pennsylvania’s Child Health Division. In 1923, she was appointed Secretary of Welfare in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Potter eventually returned to WMC to join the faculty and served as acting president in the 1940s.

Bibliography:

Peitzman, Steven J, MD. A New and Untried Course: Woman’s Medical College and Medical College of Pennsylvania, 1850-1998. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press, 2000.

Pioneer-Pacesetter-Innovator: The Story of the Medical College of Pennsylvania. Princeton: The Newcomen Society in North America, 1971.

The George A. Hay collection of administrative files is an assemblage of records created by various administrators of the Woman’s College of Medicine from 1925 to 1965. Creators of the records include: George A. Hay, comptroller; Sarah Logan Wister Starr, president of the Board of Corporators; Vida Hunt Francis, secretary; Dr. Ellen Culver Potter, a member of the faculty as well as acting president in the 1940s; and others. In addition, there is a small sampling of very early administrative records, that are dated 1796, and from 1861 to 1928. Those files include a deed to land in East Falls in Philadelphia, report cards, correspondence and other materials.

Generally speaking, the records housed in this collection evidence the day to day administration of the college, especially relating to its finances; financial planning; fundraising; future needs of the college; and a few significant landmarks in institutional history, the 1942 administrative reorganization, the 1950 Centennial Celebration, and explored institutional mergers with Jefferson Medical College, Kensington Women’s Hospital and Woman’s Hospital of Philadelphia. Across the collection, researchers will find correspondence, planning materials, official reports, financial records and other materials. While there is a lot of useful information to be found in this collection, none of the topics represented are completely documented. Researchers are advised to completely read the scope and content note and to peruse the box and folder lists for more details, paying close attention to dates and date ranges.

The collection is divided into the following series, reflecting either the individual or administrative body that created the records: "George A. Hay Files," "Vida Hunt Francis Files," "Ellen C. Potter Files," "Sarah Logan Wister Files," "Office of the President," "Auxiliary of the Woman's Medical College," "Centennial Committee of the Woman's Medical College," "Massachusetts Committee of the Woman's Medical College," and "Historic Records." The "George Hay Files" series makes up approximately one third of the collection. It is divided into three subseries: Financial Records, Financial Reports and Proposed Mergers, which together offer information on institutional finances, administrative meetings, scholarships, the 1942 administrative reorganization and explored mergers with Kensington Women's Hospital and the Woman's Hospital of Philadelphia in the 1940s and 1960s.

The next three series, "Vida Hunt Francis Files," "Ellen Culver Potter Files" and "Sarah Logan Wister Starr Files," are interrelated and together date from 1920 to 1955. For most of those years, these three women worked together, managing the general affairs of the Woman's Medical College and, though there is not a large sampling of any of their records, the files contained in the series reflect those relationships, informing aspects of institutional history. In Francis' records there is official and personal correspondence with Ellen Culver Potter, with and about Dean Martha Tracy, Catherine MacFarlane and others, financial materials, committee records, especially a Building Committee file from 1930, and information about events. Also filed in Francis' records is a transcript of a radio interveiw with Martha Tracy and a memoir written about Martha Tracy by Catherine MacFarlane. In Potter's records, researchers will find information pertaining to college finances, presidents' reports and files on future planning. In addition, there is information about a proposed merger with Jefferson Medical College and the 1941 resolution regarding the WMC's loss of status with the Council of Medical Education and Hospitals of the American Medical Association. In Starr's records, researchers will find financial records, an annotated history of the WMC, information on the Harton Scholarship and correspondence about college finances.

The "Office of the President" series dates from 1931 to 1956. Its primary contributors were WMC President Burgess Gordon and Gladys Dascam, who served WMC in various capacities throughout her tenure. Researchers will find correspondence, financial records regarding institutional development and fundraising, information on public relations and press releases.

The next three series pertain to the "Auxiliary of the WMC," from 1942 to 1959; the "Centennial Committee," from 1948 to 1951; and the "Massachusetts Committee," from 1957 to 1961. Each series typically houses correspondence related to the work of each administrative body as well as financial materials and information on scheduled events.

The final series in the collection, "Historic Records," houses a wide breadth of materials dating from 1796 to 1928 (bulk: 1861 to 1928), which generally predate the tenures of all the administrators otherwise represented in the collection. It includes student report cards, correspondence and other administrative records, and a 1796 deed to land in East Falls on which the Woman's Medical College eventually stood. Of note are files pertaining to the relationship and proposed merger with the Woman's Hospital of Philadelphia from around the turn of the twentieth century. A particularly interesting file entitled, "Louise Wright "Incident"," details a student's efforts and publicized fight against her suspension from WMC in 1891.