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Women in Pharmacy Education: The Pioneers
WOMEN IN PHARMACY EDUCATION:
T By Metta Lou Henderson and Tammy Lynn Keeney
A
lthough women today are a significant force in pharmacy education, gaining admission to the nation's universities and schools of pharmacy was difficult in the mid1800s. Through the combined efforts of dedicated women pioneers, many of whom are unknown, pharmacy education has evolved as a profession offering career opportunities for women. Among the pioneers we recognize, some stand out as leaders. Historians consider Mary Putnum Jacoby
Metta Lou Henderson, PhD, is professor ofpharmacy, Raabe College ofPharmacy, Ohio Northern University, Ada, OH; Tammy Lynn Keeney is a senior pharmacy student at the college. 24
to be the first woman to graduate with a degree in pharmacy, which she received from the New York College of Pharmacy (later the Columbia University College of Pharmacy) in 1863. Jacoby did not practice pharmacy; instead, she used her pharmacy degree to gain entrance into a school of medicine. Historians argue whether the next woman to graduate was Mary Upjohn from the University of Michigan in 1871 or Louise Baker from the Massachusetts College of Pharmacy who received her certificate in 1877. The Chicago College of Pharmacy awarded a pharmacy degree to Marion Tirrell in 1878. Susan Hayhurst, a medical doctor, received her degree from the Philadelphia College of Pharmacy in 1883 when she was 63 years old. American Pharmacy, Vol. NS28, No.5, May 1988/30,
(1) A female pharmacy student at the Purdue University School of Pharmacy in 1892 analyzes spirits of camphor; (2) only 2% of the , pharmacy students at the turn of the century were women, as evidenced from this photo of a graduating class at the University ofWisconsin School of Pharmacy; (3) Minnie Meyers received her PhD from Wisconsin in 1935 and subsequently served as acting dean of the Southern School of Pharmacy in Atlanta; (4) a few women pharmacists joined the men and their wives in the Botanical Gardens at the 1901 APhA Annual Meeting in St. Louis; (5) Zada M. Cooper was founder of Kappa Epsilon and served as AACP secretary, 1922-42; (6) Alice Braunworth Halstead operated her own pharmacy in Muscatine, Iowa, in 1892.
Because women were having difficulties in gaining admission to universities and schools of pharmacy, the Louisville School of Pharmacy for Women was created. Classes were taught from 1883 to 1892. The exact number of women graduates is uncertain, although it was probably 12 to 16.1 As other schools of pharmacy began to accept women, the school was no longer necessary and it closed. By 1891 approximately 2% of the pharmacy students were women, 2 and enrollments stayed at this level through the end of the century. Of the 57,346 pharmacists identified by the 1900 annual census, 1,178 were women. 3 In 1912, Emma Gary Wallace wrote a series of 12 articles in The Pharmaceutical Era that recognized most of the women pharmacists of that time. Wallace provided a listing of the women graduates from each of the colleges of pharmacy and detailed information on the American Phannacy, Vol. NS28, No. 5, May 1988/309
careers of some of the prominent women in each of the states. The first women faculty members may have been Rachell Lloyd and Kate Palmer.1 These women taught chemistry and botany respectively at the Louisville School of Pharmacy for Women. However, it is not known whether they had received a degree in pharmacy since they are not listed as graduates of any pharmacy programs during this time period. (During the early years, advanced degrees were not a prerequisite for a teaching position.) Other women mentioned as early faculty members include Anna G. Pease at Ferris Institute (1886-94), Katherine Golden at Purdue University (1894-98), and Louisa Reed Stowell at the University of Michigan (in the early 1880s). Again, it is uncertain whether these women had attended a school of pharmacy. 25
Left to right: (1) Joining APhA in 1892, Alice Braunworth Halstead established a record in 1928 for the longest continuous APhA membership of any woman to that time; (2) Halstead sells a bottle of Solon Palmer's perfume in her Muscatine, lA, prescription pharmacy; (3) Swedish-born American pharmacist, Carl S. N. Hallberg, first editor of the APhA Bulletin (forerunner of the present American Pharmacy), struts with his "lady" at ~~,~~.~ an APhA Annual Meeting.
Josephine R. Barbat graduated from the California College of Phannacy in 1884. She was appointed as an assistant in botany at the college around 1889. She may have been the first woman with a degree in pharmacy on a phannacy faculty. She later received a degree in medicine. Zada M. Cooper received her degree in pharmacy from the University of Iowa in 1897. She immediately began her teaching career at this university and remained on the faculty until she retired in 1942. The founder of Kappa Epsilon fraternity, she also worked energetically and diligently for the American Conference of Pharmacy Faculties, which became the American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy. She was secretary-treasurer of the AACP from 1922 to 1942, and served as chairman of the committee recommending the establishment of a national honor society for pharmacy students which became Rho Chi Society. She served as a member of the first Council of Rho Chi and as its president from 1938 to 1940 (the first and only woman to do so). She also was active in organizations outside the world of phannacy. Minnie Whitney graduated in 1902 from the Kansas City College of Pharmacy and later was a member of the faculty from 1908 to 1909 and 1913 to 1940. She taught materia medica and served as secretary and registrar of the college. In 1917, she became the first woman to be elected president of the Missouri Pharmaceutical Association. Fanchon Hart graduated from Columbia College of Pharmacy in 1910. Shortly thereafter, she joined the faculty where she remained until her retirement. Her interests incl uded histology, mycology, and bacteri010gy. She became a full professor in 1938. Bess G. Emch became a part-time instructor of histology at the University of Toledo in 1919. Later, she taught pharmacy and materia medica until her retirement in 1947. From 1942 to 1946, she served as acting dean 26
2
of the college, the first woman to hold such a position. B. Olive Cole joined the faculty of the University of Maryland in 1921. In addition to her degree in pharmacy, she was the first woman to receive a degree in law from the university. She served as acting dean of the School of Pharmacy in 1948-49. She is honored as the "first lady of pharmacy in Maryland." Nellie Wakeman may be the first woman to have received a doctor of philosophy degree in pharmacy. The degree was conferred in 1912 by the University ofWisconsin. After serving as chairman of the Department of Chemistry at Mills College, she returned to the University of Wisconsin where she was a pharmacy faculty member from 1913 until her retirement in 1946. Her efforts in encouraging women to attend graduate school led to the establishment of the Nellie Wakeman Fellowship, given each year to a member of Kappa Epsilon to assist in the furthering of their education. An article in The Bond of Kappa Epsilon in 1926 mentions 15 women pharmacy faculty members in the United States: The list includes B. Olive Cole (University of Maryland), Fanchon Hart (New York College of Pharmacy), Minnie Whitney (Kansas City College of Pharmacy), Nellie Wakeman (University of Wisconsin), Erma Smith (University of Texas), Omega Hilton (University of Washington), Margaret Klemme (University of Colorado), Madge Walborn (University of Illinois), Emma Hatch (University of Tennessee), Monica Allen American Pharmacy, Vol. NS28, No.5, May 1988/310
3
(Western Reserve University), Genevieve Hines and Bessie Swartz (University of Pittsburgh), and Cora Gould, Lorona Bigelow, and Dorothy Hammons (University of California). 4 Minnie Meyers received her PhD in 1935 from the University of Wisconsin. After teaching at the Washington State University School of Pharmacy from 1937 to 1940, she became a faculty member at the Southern School of Pharmacy in Atlanta. In 1950, she served as their acting dean. She was the stabilizing force at that institution over the years. Ina Griffith Black received her PhC, bachelor's and master's degrees from the University of Oklahoma. After practicing pharmacy, she taught at the University of Oklahoma from 1931 to 1944 and was a member of the faculty at Southwestern Oklahoma State University from 1961 until 1972 when she retired. The University of Oklahoma also granted bachelor's and master's degrees to Blanche Sommers. She operated her own pharmacy for a·time, then joined the faculty at the University of Oklahoma in 1942 where she remained until retiring in 1978. During those years she received a doctor of philosophy degree from the Ohio State University. During the 1963-64 academic year, she served as acting dean of the college of pharmacy. Esther Jane Hall was the first woman to graduate from Howard College and also was the first woman to receive a PhD from the University of Texas. She retired from the American Pharmacy, Vol. NS28, No.5, May 1988/311
University of Texas after a successful career in academia. Nydia King received her PhD from the University of Wisconsin and was a faculty member at the University of Puerto Rico until she retired. She has the distinction of being the first woman president of the American Institute of the History of Pharmacy. Today's women faculty owe much to the pioneers in pharmacy education who laid the foundation for them to build on when few role models existed. Some men have been supportive, helping to open the doors of pharmacy for these dedicated women. These gentlemen encouraged women to continue their education and receive an advanced degree. The men also served as mentors by supporting the women in their efforts to obtain teaching positions and to conduct research. Without such assistance, the percentage of women faculty would not have increased. As Lucinda Maine noted at the International Leadership Conference: The Role of Women in Pharmacy, held in London this past June: "Practice leadership is the key to our success in pharmacy; academic leadership is also important in providing the foundation for future leaders; organizational leadership will follow as strong practice leaders continue to emerge.,,5 With our strong foundation, women faculty members will continue to emerge as leaders fo'r the profession. ®
References 1. E.B. Bardell, Pharmacy in History, 26, 127
(1984). 2. H.L. Taylor, Pharmaceutical Era, 45, 520 (1912). 3. Anon., The Druggists Circular, 51, 151 (1907). 4. Z.M. Cooper, The Bond, 5, 8 (1926). 5. International Leadership Symposium: The Role of Women in Pharmacy, London, 1987 (to be published).
27
T By Metta Lou Henderson and Tammy Lynn Keeney
A
lthough women today are a significant force in pharmacy education, gaining admission to the nation's universities and schools of pharmacy was difficult in the mid1800s. Through the combined efforts of dedicated women pioneers, many of whom are unknown, pharmacy education has evolved as a profession offering career opportunities for women. Among the pioneers we recognize, some stand out as leaders. Historians consider Mary Putnum Jacoby
Metta Lou Henderson, PhD, is professor ofpharmacy, Raabe College ofPharmacy, Ohio Northern University, Ada, OH; Tammy Lynn Keeney is a senior pharmacy student at the college. 24
to be the first woman to graduate with a degree in pharmacy, which she received from the New York College of Pharmacy (later the Columbia University College of Pharmacy) in 1863. Jacoby did not practice pharmacy; instead, she used her pharmacy degree to gain entrance into a school of medicine. Historians argue whether the next woman to graduate was Mary Upjohn from the University of Michigan in 1871 or Louise Baker from the Massachusetts College of Pharmacy who received her certificate in 1877. The Chicago College of Pharmacy awarded a pharmacy degree to Marion Tirrell in 1878. Susan Hayhurst, a medical doctor, received her degree from the Philadelphia College of Pharmacy in 1883 when she was 63 years old. American Pharmacy, Vol. NS28, No.5, May 1988/30,
(1) A female pharmacy student at the Purdue University School of Pharmacy in 1892 analyzes spirits of camphor; (2) only 2% of the , pharmacy students at the turn of the century were women, as evidenced from this photo of a graduating class at the University ofWisconsin School of Pharmacy; (3) Minnie Meyers received her PhD from Wisconsin in 1935 and subsequently served as acting dean of the Southern School of Pharmacy in Atlanta; (4) a few women pharmacists joined the men and their wives in the Botanical Gardens at the 1901 APhA Annual Meeting in St. Louis; (5) Zada M. Cooper was founder of Kappa Epsilon and served as AACP secretary, 1922-42; (6) Alice Braunworth Halstead operated her own pharmacy in Muscatine, Iowa, in 1892.
Because women were having difficulties in gaining admission to universities and schools of pharmacy, the Louisville School of Pharmacy for Women was created. Classes were taught from 1883 to 1892. The exact number of women graduates is uncertain, although it was probably 12 to 16.1 As other schools of pharmacy began to accept women, the school was no longer necessary and it closed. By 1891 approximately 2% of the pharmacy students were women, 2 and enrollments stayed at this level through the end of the century. Of the 57,346 pharmacists identified by the 1900 annual census, 1,178 were women. 3 In 1912, Emma Gary Wallace wrote a series of 12 articles in The Pharmaceutical Era that recognized most of the women pharmacists of that time. Wallace provided a listing of the women graduates from each of the colleges of pharmacy and detailed information on the American Phannacy, Vol. NS28, No. 5, May 1988/309
careers of some of the prominent women in each of the states. The first women faculty members may have been Rachell Lloyd and Kate Palmer.1 These women taught chemistry and botany respectively at the Louisville School of Pharmacy for Women. However, it is not known whether they had received a degree in pharmacy since they are not listed as graduates of any pharmacy programs during this time period. (During the early years, advanced degrees were not a prerequisite for a teaching position.) Other women mentioned as early faculty members include Anna G. Pease at Ferris Institute (1886-94), Katherine Golden at Purdue University (1894-98), and Louisa Reed Stowell at the University of Michigan (in the early 1880s). Again, it is uncertain whether these women had attended a school of pharmacy. 25
Left to right: (1) Joining APhA in 1892, Alice Braunworth Halstead established a record in 1928 for the longest continuous APhA membership of any woman to that time; (2) Halstead sells a bottle of Solon Palmer's perfume in her Muscatine, lA, prescription pharmacy; (3) Swedish-born American pharmacist, Carl S. N. Hallberg, first editor of the APhA Bulletin (forerunner of the present American Pharmacy), struts with his "lady" at ~~,~~.~ an APhA Annual Meeting.
Josephine R. Barbat graduated from the California College of Phannacy in 1884. She was appointed as an assistant in botany at the college around 1889. She may have been the first woman with a degree in pharmacy on a phannacy faculty. She later received a degree in medicine. Zada M. Cooper received her degree in pharmacy from the University of Iowa in 1897. She immediately began her teaching career at this university and remained on the faculty until she retired in 1942. The founder of Kappa Epsilon fraternity, she also worked energetically and diligently for the American Conference of Pharmacy Faculties, which became the American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy. She was secretary-treasurer of the AACP from 1922 to 1942, and served as chairman of the committee recommending the establishment of a national honor society for pharmacy students which became Rho Chi Society. She served as a member of the first Council of Rho Chi and as its president from 1938 to 1940 (the first and only woman to do so). She also was active in organizations outside the world of phannacy. Minnie Whitney graduated in 1902 from the Kansas City College of Pharmacy and later was a member of the faculty from 1908 to 1909 and 1913 to 1940. She taught materia medica and served as secretary and registrar of the college. In 1917, she became the first woman to be elected president of the Missouri Pharmaceutical Association. Fanchon Hart graduated from Columbia College of Pharmacy in 1910. Shortly thereafter, she joined the faculty where she remained until her retirement. Her interests incl uded histology, mycology, and bacteri010gy. She became a full professor in 1938. Bess G. Emch became a part-time instructor of histology at the University of Toledo in 1919. Later, she taught pharmacy and materia medica until her retirement in 1947. From 1942 to 1946, she served as acting dean 26
2
of the college, the first woman to hold such a position. B. Olive Cole joined the faculty of the University of Maryland in 1921. In addition to her degree in pharmacy, she was the first woman to receive a degree in law from the university. She served as acting dean of the School of Pharmacy in 1948-49. She is honored as the "first lady of pharmacy in Maryland." Nellie Wakeman may be the first woman to have received a doctor of philosophy degree in pharmacy. The degree was conferred in 1912 by the University ofWisconsin. After serving as chairman of the Department of Chemistry at Mills College, she returned to the University of Wisconsin where she was a pharmacy faculty member from 1913 until her retirement in 1946. Her efforts in encouraging women to attend graduate school led to the establishment of the Nellie Wakeman Fellowship, given each year to a member of Kappa Epsilon to assist in the furthering of their education. An article in The Bond of Kappa Epsilon in 1926 mentions 15 women pharmacy faculty members in the United States: The list includes B. Olive Cole (University of Maryland), Fanchon Hart (New York College of Pharmacy), Minnie Whitney (Kansas City College of Pharmacy), Nellie Wakeman (University of Wisconsin), Erma Smith (University of Texas), Omega Hilton (University of Washington), Margaret Klemme (University of Colorado), Madge Walborn (University of Illinois), Emma Hatch (University of Tennessee), Monica Allen American Pharmacy, Vol. NS28, No.5, May 1988/310
3
(Western Reserve University), Genevieve Hines and Bessie Swartz (University of Pittsburgh), and Cora Gould, Lorona Bigelow, and Dorothy Hammons (University of California). 4 Minnie Meyers received her PhD in 1935 from the University of Wisconsin. After teaching at the Washington State University School of Pharmacy from 1937 to 1940, she became a faculty member at the Southern School of Pharmacy in Atlanta. In 1950, she served as their acting dean. She was the stabilizing force at that institution over the years. Ina Griffith Black received her PhC, bachelor's and master's degrees from the University of Oklahoma. After practicing pharmacy, she taught at the University of Oklahoma from 1931 to 1944 and was a member of the faculty at Southwestern Oklahoma State University from 1961 until 1972 when she retired. The University of Oklahoma also granted bachelor's and master's degrees to Blanche Sommers. She operated her own pharmacy for a·time, then joined the faculty at the University of Oklahoma in 1942 where she remained until retiring in 1978. During those years she received a doctor of philosophy degree from the Ohio State University. During the 1963-64 academic year, she served as acting dean of the college of pharmacy. Esther Jane Hall was the first woman to graduate from Howard College and also was the first woman to receive a PhD from the University of Texas. She retired from the American Pharmacy, Vol. NS28, No.5, May 1988/311
University of Texas after a successful career in academia. Nydia King received her PhD from the University of Wisconsin and was a faculty member at the University of Puerto Rico until she retired. She has the distinction of being the first woman president of the American Institute of the History of Pharmacy. Today's women faculty owe much to the pioneers in pharmacy education who laid the foundation for them to build on when few role models existed. Some men have been supportive, helping to open the doors of pharmacy for these dedicated women. These gentlemen encouraged women to continue their education and receive an advanced degree. The men also served as mentors by supporting the women in their efforts to obtain teaching positions and to conduct research. Without such assistance, the percentage of women faculty would not have increased. As Lucinda Maine noted at the International Leadership Conference: The Role of Women in Pharmacy, held in London this past June: "Practice leadership is the key to our success in pharmacy; academic leadership is also important in providing the foundation for future leaders; organizational leadership will follow as strong practice leaders continue to emerge.,,5 With our strong foundation, women faculty members will continue to emerge as leaders fo'r the profession. ®
References 1. E.B. Bardell, Pharmacy in History, 26, 127
(1984). 2. H.L. Taylor, Pharmaceutical Era, 45, 520 (1912). 3. Anon., The Druggists Circular, 51, 151 (1907). 4. Z.M. Cooper, The Bond, 5, 8 (1926). 5. International Leadership Symposium: The Role of Women in Pharmacy, London, 1987 (to be published).
27