Diversity Timeline 1880s
1740-1997
Thursday, January 1, 1880
The first female students admitted into degree programs were Mary Alice Bennett, M.D. and Anna H. Johnson, to the School of Auxiliary Medicine. Bennett received a degree of Doctor of Philosophy in June, becoming the first woman to receive a degree from the University of Pennsylvania.
A Certificate of Proficiency in Science was awarded to Mary Thorn Lewis.
Saturday, January 1, 1881
The Wharton School was founded.
The Law School accepted its first female student, Caroline Burnham Kilgore.
James Brister graduated from the Dental School, the first African American to earn a degree from Penn.
Sunday, January 1, 1882
Nathan Francis Mossell graduated from Penn with a Doctor of Medicine after completing his undergraduate work at Lincoln University. He is the first African American admitted to the medical school and the first to graduate.
Graduate School of Arts and Sciences was founded.
Monday, January 1, 1883
William Adger earned a Bachelor of Arts degree and is the first African American to graduate from the College. Adger planned a career in the ministry and was a student in the Divinity School of the Episcopal Church, Philadelphia. Unfortunately he died at a young age in 1885.
Tuesday, January 1, 1884
The School of Veterinary Medicine was founded.
Saturday, January 1, 1887
Rev. Sabato Morais, Minister of the Congregation Mickvéh Israel, Philadelphia, founder and President of the Jewish Theological Seminar of America at New York City received an honorary LL.D. He was the first Jewish recipient of an honorary degree.
Sunday, January 1, 1888
Elizabeth Weston, a Native American, graduated in the first class of the Hospital Training School for Nurses