Martha Tracy, M.D. (1876-1942)

Recto

Name/Title

Martha Tracy, M.D. (1876-1942)

Entry/Object ID

100.23

Acquisition

Notes

Source: "paid for by popular subscription" 1981

Made/Created

Artist

Alice Kent Stoddard

Date made

1936

Dimensions

Height

51-1/2 in

Width

45 in

Dimension Notes

Framed

Height

40 in

Width

35-1/2 in

Dimension Notes

Unframed

Interpretative Labels

Label Type

Exhibition Label

Label

Martha Tracy, a 1904 graduate of the Woman’s Medical College, was appointed Dean of the College in 1917. During her tenure from 1917 to 1940, the College weathered major financial and political crises. When many faculty members resigned to serve in World War I, Dean Tracy reorganized the teaching of classes and persuaded faculty and hospital staff members to assume double burdens. She invited retired professors to return to their posts, and the College remained open in that critical period. By 1921 the College had returned to its prewar status, but bankruptcy seemed inevitable. In tandem with Sarah Logan Wister Starr, President of the Board of Corporators, Dean Tracy initiated a $1,500,000 drive to buy land and erect an entirely new College and Hospital, which opened in 1930 in the East Falls section of Philadelphia.