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Hannah Longshore was the first woman doctor to start a private practice in Philadelphia. She was a member of the first graduating class of eight women from the Female Medical College of Pennsylvania on December 30, 1851. The awarding of M.D. degrees to women was then so controversial that five hundred male medical students and their friends protested the ceremonies and threatened to interrupt them. The mayor of Philadelphia had to assign a cordon of fifty policemen to Musical Fund Hall where the graduation was to take place so that order could be guaranteed.
Crowds gathered outside Dr. Longshore’s office to ridicule her at first. Druggists refused to fill her prescriptions, and many male physicians would have nothing to do with her. Her stamina, determination, and skill as a practicing physician led to her commanding a noble place in the history of women in medicine. She held the post of Demonstrator in Anatomy at the College until 1853, when she left to help establish the Female Department at Penn Medical University.