The Woman’s Medical College of Pennsylvania (WMCP), founded in 1850 as the Female Medical College of Pennsylvania, was the first medical school in the world authorized to grant women the M.D. degree.

Established in Philadelphia by progressive Quakers and social reformers—including abolitionists and women’s rights advocates—the college was born in the spirit of the Seneca Falls Convention and quickly became a hub for pioneering women in medicine.

Renamed the Woman’s Medical College in 1867, WMCP provided women with rare and groundbreaking opportunities to study, teach, and practice medicine. That same year, Dr. Ann Preston became the first woman to serve as dean of a medical school in the U.S., initiating a tradition of female leadership at the institution that lasted for a century. Preston also led efforts to secure clinical access for women, helping to found the Woman’s Hospital of Philadelphia in 1861 and securing student placements at the Blockley Almshouse, despite facing fierce public opposition—including the infamous 1869 “Jeering Episode,” where male students harassed WMCP women at Pennsylvania Hospital.

Throughout the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the college expanded its educational and clinical reach. It served underserved populations in South Philadelphia and trained a global and diverse student body. WMCP graduated some of the first African American, Native American, Indian, and Japanese American women physicians, as well as early women leaders in public health and medical research—including Mary Putnam Jacobi, Clara Swain, Anna Broomall, and Catherine Macfarlane.

In 1930, the college moved to East Falls, where it remains part of Philadelphia’s medical landscape. In 1970, 120 years after its founding, the Woman’s Medical College became coeducational and was renamed the Medical College of Pennsylvania. A series of institutional mergers followed, culminating in 2002 with the formation of the Drexel University College of Medicine.

WMCP played a transformative role in medical education and women’s history, establishing Philadelphia as a national leader in both. Its legacy of equity, perseverance, and excellence continues to shape the medical professionals trained at Drexel today.

Iron Stone Real Estate Partners acquired the property after it closed in 2006. The principals invested more than $100 million into creating the mixed-use campus that exists today. Falls Center is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.