... The proposition to raise one hundred thousand dollars for the purpose of securing admission into a male college could be carried out quite easily, comparatively speaking. In Massachusetts alone, it could be done if Harvard would consent to add a small class of women to its medical department. The fact is that when a few years ago the New England Female Medical College here in Boston was broken up, there came unofficially from some one in authority in Harvard the proposition to take it, provided the public would endow it with one hundred thousand dollars. In such case, the female students would be educated in their own building which was two miles from the building for men. However, the examinations of the women students for entrance into the college were to be the same as those for the men, and the instruction was to be given by the same professors--in fact, Harvard Medical College repeated for the benefit of women alone. I did not favor such an arrangement but actually discouraged it, because it seemed to me disastrous to the whole spirit of woman’s work in the profession. I feared that after trial professors of acknowledged rank might declare that teaching six or twelve women was not satisfactory, although it might recompense them financially, and that therefore they would either give it up entirely or leave the instruction to the younger teachers. I could not advocate a school exposed to such a risk because if the instructors of Harvard Medical College should become more prominent in the woman’s branch while the professors took the lead in the men’s branch, it would give both the students and the public the impression that the women were of secondary importance. Another attempt to open Harvard to women has been made within a year or two by a lady who proposed to give ten thousand dollars towards a fund which would pay for a class of women in the medical department. Many discussions concerning this proposition came up in the different meetings which were held in consequence of this offer. The result was always the same, namely, divided opinions--entirely against the admission of women at all; against their admission with men; and against the formation of a small class of women alone. The only encouraging part of the discussion was that those who were entirely opposed to women’s studying were a very small minority, while those against coeducation were less firm in their opposition. Besides, I am perfectly sure that if the younger men who now hold positions as instructors at the College could cast their votes and could influence the Directors’ decisions, there would be more chance for the admission of women.