Ann Preston

Ann Preston was born to an active abolitionist Quaker [a Christian movement that encouraged humanitarianism and equal education for boys and girls] background and had a number of “firsts” to accompany her name. She was among the first graduating class of women physicians at the Female Medical College of Pennsylvania. Dr. Preston was the first woman faculty member, serving as Chair of the Physiology and Hygiene Department in 1853. She was also the first woman dean, being appointed to that position in 1866. In 1867 she became a member of the Board of Corporators of the College. Because women medical students were not allowed in hospitals for clinical experience, Dr. Preston saw a great need for the foundation of a hospital in order for the College to maintain its existence. She took advantage of the one-year period in 1861 when the College was closed at the beginning of the Civil War to almost single-handedly work for fund-raising, obtaining a charter, and getting women to serve as managers and physicians in order to establish the Women's Hospital of Pennsylvania.

The Female Medical College of Pennsylvania was the first medical school to grant degrees to women. It opened in 1850, and made it possible for women to formally train as doctors. Ann Preston was a member of the first graduating class in 1852.