Longshore, J. S. (Joseph Skelton), 1809-1879

The Longshore family was deeply active in Philadelphia medicine in the 19th century and involved in some of the earliest education of women in medicine in the United States. Joseph Skelton Longshore was a founder of the Female Medical College (later the Women’s Medical College of Pennsylvania) and the Pennsylvania Medical University. His sister Anna Longshore and his sister-in-law Hannah E. Myers Longshore were both members of the first graduating class of the Female Medical College.

Hannah E. Myers Longshore was born May 30, 1819 in Sandy Spring, Maryland, the daughter of Samuel and Paulina Myers who were Quakers originally from Bucks County, Pennsylvania. Samuel Myers taught at a Quaker school in Maryland, then moved the family to Washington, DC. When Hannah was 14, the family moved again to New Lisbon, Ohio, in order to distance the family from slavery in the nation’s capitol. From an early age, Hannah was interested in science and hoped to become a physician. Her early education was obtained at New Lisbon Academy. Her plans to attend Oberlin College were thwarted by limited finances.

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