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Spring Photographic History Auction

Sat, May 3, 2025 01:00PM EDT

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Lot 337

Graduating Class Women's Union Medical College, Peking, China

Estimate: $200 - $300

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Large-format original silver gelatin photograph capturing the graduating class and faculty of the Women’s Union Medical College in Peking (Beijing), China, dated June 1, 1921. The striking image shows a group of pioneering young women—dressed in full academic regalia and holding their diplomas—posed with their instructors and administrators on the steps of the college building.

Established in 1906 by Empress Dowager Cixi and several Christian missionary organizations, the Women's Union Medical College was the first institution in China dedicated exclusively to the medical education of women and the first Collegiate Nursing program in China. It was supported by American missionary organizations, and contributions from the Rockefeller Foundation in the early 20th century. Its establishment was a landmark in both medical and women's history, aiming to train Chinese women as professional physicians during a period when women's roles in education and public life were severely restricted.

The photograph is rich in period detail, from the elaborate brickwork of the college building to the pride and solemnity of the graduates, who represent an extraordinary early cohort of Chinese women prepared to enter professional life. The back of the mount carries a period ink inscription reading, “Graduating class and Faculty of Women’s Union Medical College, Peking China, June 1–1921.”

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Spring Photographic History Auction

Graduating Class Women's Union Medical College, Peking, China

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