Letter from O.W. Whitaker to Ruth Webster Lathrop

The Woman’s Medical College of Pennsylvania (WMCP), founded in 1850, graduated its first African American woman physician, Rebecca Cole, in 1867.  By 1906 the college had graduated at least twelve African American women.  The path of these early African American women physicians was often marked by financial struggle and racial and gender discrimination, starting with their medical education and continuing throughout their professional careers.  Eliza Grier was an African American woman who graduated from Woman’s Medical College of Pennsylvania in 1897.

As students, the women faced both subtle and overt racial prejudice from fellow students, professors, and the public. Once they graduated, they faced both racial and gender discrimination while establishing their professional careers.  This author of this letter requested more information about Dr. Grier in order to provide a recommendation for a job.