Doctor or Doctress?

Explore American history through the eyes of women physicians

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Photographs of Laura Heath Hills and Grace Schermerhorn reading in their boarding room; Woman’s Medical College students studying bones in the boarding room; and three Woman’s Medical College students reading in the College library.

Why It Matters

There was opposition to women receiving higher education in the 19th and early 20th centuries, especially if the curriculum taught subjects outside of the “women’s sphere” – that is, classes that focused on instruction in areas other than domestic skills or training in jobs traditionally held by women like teaching or nursing. Many early colleges that admitted women offered courses in “Domestic Science.” Woman’s Medical College, however, provided rigorous instruction in medicine, much as male students would receive at other medical schools.

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Analyze this evidence

  • These photographs are of students studying for their classes. What is one thing you notice that is different from the way you study for classes?
  • Do courses offered at colleges to women today differ from the courses offered to men today? Why or why not?