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“The Pennsylvania Hospital on Saturday was the scene of an outrage, repetition of which will, we sincerely hope, result in the summary punishment of the offenders,” began an angry article published in Philadelphia’s Evening Bulletin in November 1869.
The offense? A group of female students from the Women’s Medical College of Pennsylvania had gotten permission to attend clinical lectures at the hospital, and male medical students turned out in force to jeer at them.
“These gallant gentlemen assailed the young ladies as they passed, with insolent and offense language, and then followed them into the street, where the whole gang, with the fluency of long practice, joined in insulting these helpless, unprotected women,” the paper seethed.
As bad as that infamous “Jeering Episode” was, the presence of women students at the lectures actually represented a major advance from a couple decades earlier.
Before the founding of the college — the world’s first-ever medical school for women — it was “really difficult for women to be exposed to professional medicine,” said Charles Cairns, dean of Drexel University College of Medicine, the WMC’s successor institution. “Frankly, they were excluded. They were discriminated against.”
The groundbreaking establishment of the Women’s Medical College in 1850 by a group of progressive Quakers and a businessman, and the many achievements of its graduates, will be celebrated at an event at Drexel on Saturday.
The event is the latest in the “52 Weeks of Firsts” — a year-long series of “Firstivals” the Philadelphia Historic District 250th Committee is putting on to celebrate the nation’s 250th birthday and the city’s central role in U.S. history.
Pioneering school now one of nation’s biggest
Every Saturday in 2026, the free events offer storytelling, performances, exhibits, souvenir giveaways and activities for kids and adults to celebrate innovations or “firsts” that originated in Philadelphia.
Recent Firstivals have commemorated the nation’s first flower show, a historic protest against slavery, and the first authentic Chinatown Friendship Gate, among other firsts.
This weekend’s Firstival focusing on the Women’s Medical College and its successor institutions will be held Saturday from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Drexel University, 60 N. 36th St.
The event will highlight historical artifacts from the university’s collections, such as written minutes from the college’s first meetings, course materials and photos from the era, said Cairns, a physician who is also a senior vice president at Drexel.
“People will be exposed to the history of the medical school, how it’s evolved over the years, and frankly, what it’s become now — at Drexel, we’re the largest private medical school in the United States that’s M.D.-granting,” he said. “The legacy of excellence and impact and innovation lives on from those lessons from 1850.”
Festival-goers can also check out artwork commissioned for the event. For each Firstival, an artist decorates a 5-foot foam statue, in the shape of a ‘1,’ with images related to that week’s theme.
Artist Alana Sxmone, who lives in Roxborough, said she was inspired by the evolution of medical tools and wanted to show the physical differences between those of the 1850s and modern devices.
“On one side, I created a 1850s woman figure in black and white — because that’s usually how we see the women from the era in black and white photos, and I use a cross hatching art style to also fit that time,” she said. “On the modern side, I depicted a modern doctor in color, to show the growth of medicine and the profession.”
First medical colleges, matchbook, and stadium coming up
Here’s the complete list of other firsts being highlighted this year, along with the upcoming Saturday Firstival dates and locations.
Completed
Week 1: Successful balloon flight in America (1793)
Week 2: The Mummers parade, the nation’s first folk parade (1901)
Week 3: Volunteer fire company (1736)
Week 4: Professional basketball league (1898)
Week 5: Public Girl Scout cookie sale (1932)
Week 6: African Methodist Episcopal congregation (1794)
Week 7: Abolitionist society in America (1775)
Week 8: Authentic Chinese gate built in America (1984)
Week 9: Public protest against slavery in America (1688)
Week 10: Flower Show (1829)
Upcoming
• Women’s medical college (1850)
March 14, Health Sciences Building, Drexel University, 60 N. 36th St.
• Matchbook (1892)
March 21, Science History Institute, 315 Chestnut St.
• The first medical school in America (1765)
March 28, Perelman School of Medicine, 3400 Civic Center Blvd.
• Stadium in America (1895)
April 4, Franklin Field, 235 S. 33rd St.
• Circus performance in America (1793)
April 11, Philadelphia School of Circus Arts, 6452 Greene St.
• Botanical garden (1728)
April 18, Bartram’s Garden, 5400 Lindbergh Blvd.
• Postmaster (1737)
April 25, Franklin Court, 322 Market St.
• American-made piano and sousaphone (1775 and 1893)
May 2, Ensemble Arts Philly, 300 S. Broad St.
• Mother’s Day (1908)
May 9, Historic St. George’s Museum & Archives, 326 New St.
• Hospital in America (1751)
May 16, Pennsylvania Hospital, 800 Spruce St.
• World’s Fair on American soil (1876)
May 23, Please Touch Museum, 4231 Avenue of the Republic
• Steamboat for passengers and freight (1787)
May 30, Independence Seaport Museum, 211 S. Christopher Columbus Blvd.
• American flag (1777)
June 6, Betsy Ross House, 239 Arch St.
• U.S. Army (1775)
June 13, Museum of the American Revolution, 101 S. 3rd St.
• Annual Reminder demonstration (1965)
June 20, Philly Pride Visitor Center, Lombard St. and S. 12th St.
• Paper maker in America (1690)
June 27, Rittenhouse Town, 6034 Wissahickon Ave.
• Bank of the United States (1791)
July 4, First Bank of the United States, 120 S. 3rd St.
• Organized baseball team (1831)
July 11 (location TBD)
• Ice cream soda (Oct. 1874)
July 18, Franklin Fountain, 116 Market St.
• American art school (1805)
July 25, Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, 118-128 N. Broad St.
• Scientific Society of Natural History (1812)
Aug. 1, at Academy of Natural Sciences, 1900 Benjamin Franklin Parkway
• Zoo in America (1874)
Aug. 8, Philadelphia Zoo, 3400 W. Girard Ave.
• U.S. Mint (1793)
Aug. 15 (location TBD)
• Selfie (1839)
Aug. 22, Love Park, 1501 John F Kennedy Blvd.
• Slinky (1943)
Aug. 29, Philadelphia Art Museum, 2600 Benjamin Franklin Parkway
• Signing of the Constitution (1787)
Sept. 5, National Constitution Center, 525 Arch St.
• Continental Congress (1774)
Sept. 12 at Carpenters’ Hall, 320 Chestnut St.
• Naming of the United States (1776)
Sept. 19, Independence Hall
• Ronald McDonald House (1974)
Sept. 26, Ronald McDonald House, 3925 Chestnut St.
• Penitentiary in America (1829)
Oct. 3, Eastern State Penitentiary, 2027 Fairmount Ave.
• The First Peoples
Oct. 10, Penn Museum, 3260 South St.
• U.S. Navy and Marine Corps (1775)
Oct. 17, Arch Street Meeting House, 320 Arch St.
• Public showing of a motion picture (1870)
Oct. 24, Philadelphia Film Society, 1412 Chestnut St.
• Modern detective story written (1841)
Oct. 31, Edgar Allan Poe House, 532 N. 7th St.
• Thanksgiving Day parade in America (1920)
Nov. 7, Benjamin Franklin Parkway
• University in America (1740)
Nov. 14, Houston Hall, The University of Pennsylvania, 3417 Spruce St.
• Children’s hospital in America (1855)
Nov. 21, Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, Main Building, 3401 Civic Center Blvd.
• Pencil with an attached eraser (1858)
Nov. 28, National Liberty Museum, 321 Chestnut St.
• Weather bureau (1870)
Dec. 5, The Franklin Institute, 222 N. 20th St.
• Electronic computer (1945)
Dec. 12, The University of Pennsylvania, 3451 Walnut St.
• Public lending library in America (1731)
Dec. 19, The Library Company of Philadelphia, 1314 Locust St.
• Philly food firsts: Cheesesteaks (1930s), water ice (1932) and bubble gum (1928)
Dec. 26, Reading Terminal Market, 1136 Arch St.
