Women at the Medical School | C.F. Low to C.F. Brackett, September 30, 1872. Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain Collection.
Joshua Chamberlain served as President of Bowdoin College from 1871 to 1883. As President, Chamberlain sought to install several progressive reforms. In his inaugural address in 1871, he advocated for women to be admitted to the College, a full one-hundred years before co-education became a reality. This is just one of many issues that Chamberlain clashed with the Board of Trustees over, as each group saw a very different vision for the future of the College. In this short exchange, Chamberlain denies a young woman, C.F. Low of Somerset, Maine, entrance to the Medical School of Maine though makes reference to his faith in progress with regard to coeducation in his conclusion.
C.F. Brackett, to whom Ms. Low addresses her query, is Dr. Cyrus Brackett, Professor of Chemistry and Zoology.