Drexel University, founded in 1891, is a leading institution of higher education in the city of Philadelphia with a legacy of advancing technologies, industry and the arts for the betterment of society. Drexel is a comprehensive research institution with pioneer research and strong academic programs and professional training in support of medicine, nursing and health professions, public health, engineering, biomedical engineering, computing and informatics, arts and media, business, law, education, and arts and sciences. The University has long held a focus on the history of science and has cultivated this as a feature of its history department. In 2002, Drexel merged with MCP Hahnemann University, now Drexel University College of Medicine, adding the nation’s largest private medical school, a college of nursing and health professions and one of only two schools of public health in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. An affiliation with the Academy of Natural Sciences, established in 2011, broadened the scope of Drexel research, education and civic engagement to include depth in biodiversity and the environmental sciences.
Specialty
Natural history, History of Women in Medicine, Women's Health, Medical Education, Homeopathy, Engineering and Tech Ed
Collections
Drexel University’s collections reflect the unique and varied history of the institution: Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University: Library & Archives collections The Library houses magnificent works, including illustrated volumes, on the natural sciences which cover much of the history of the development of science and exploration in both the Old and New worlds. The Archives houses a wide diversity of materials, including but not restricted to: manuscripts, field notebooks, personal diaries, photograph, and lantern slides. Artifacts such as a life mask of John James Audubon, the shotgun belonging to Alexander Wilson (the father of American ornithology), and various other items are also part of the Archives collection.
- The Library houses approximately 250,000 titles, from works published in the 1500s to the present, in both print and electronic format.
- Over one million Archival items related to individuals related to the Academy, as well as expeditions from the last 200 years. These include letters, official documents, film, and photographs. There are also items related to the founding of the Academy and its early members and supporters.
Drexel University College of Medicine: The Legacy Center Archives and Special Collections The Legacy Center is the repository for the records of the College of Medicine’s predecessor institutions: the Woman’s Medical College of Pennsylvania/Medical College of Pennsylvania and Hahnemann University. “Woman’s Med” was the first medical school in the world for women and the longest lasting. The Center is the world’s only comprehensive repository devoted to the history of women in medicine and women’s health. Its records also include material on the early development of homeopathy in the United States, as Hahnemann was the first successful homeopathic medical school in the country. The Center’s Special Collections expand on its institutional archives to include material on women in medicine and early homeopathy internationally.
- Approximately 5,000 linear feet of correspondence, diaries, oral histories, rare books, photographs, objects and other materials.
Drexel University Libraries & Archives Drexel University Libraries’ collection focuses largely on the current disciplines of study at the University including engineering, health sciences, information science, business, design and media arts, as well as science, humanities and social sciences. The core of the archival collection is Drexel's academic and administrative records from 1892 to the present including reports, publications, minutes and correspondence. Manuscript collections include papers that document individuals affiliated with Drexel, such as the personal papers and correspondence of faculty and alumni, as well as papers related to the Drexel family, late 19th century Philadelphia and professional library associations.
- Over 500,000 books, journals, textbooks, and on-line resources in the library collections.
- 50 linear feet of archives of technical and industrial education, and of engineering and early technical institute records, part of approximately 2500 linear feet of Drexel University collections.
Collections URL
Holding Highlights
- 250,000 titles, from works published in the 1500s to the present, in both print and electronic format at the Academy of Natural Sciences.
- Over one million archival items related to individuals related to the Academy of Natural Sciences, as well as expeditions from the last 200 years. These include letters, official documents, film, and photographs.
- Approximately 5,000 linear feet of correspondence, diaries, oral histories, rare books, photographs, objects and other materials related to the Woman’s Medical College of Pennsylvania/Medical College of Pennsylvania and Hahnemann University.
- Over 500,000 books, journals, textbooks, and on-line resources in the library collections of Drexel University proper.
- 50 linear feet of archives of technical and industrial education, and of engineering and early technical institute records, part of approximately 2500 linear feet of Drexel University collections.
The collections of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University, which include:
- 17 million plant and animal specimens, including the Lewis & Clark herbarium, Thomas Jefferson’s fossil collection (from the APS) and J. J. Audubon’s bird skins
- 250,000 manuscript items relating to the history of natural history
- 200,000 volumes on all aspects of natural history, with particular strengths in systematics, evolution, ecology, marine and freshwater biology, stratigraphy, comparative biochemistry, history of science, exploration and travel.
Approximately 5,000 linear feet of archival material documents the history of:
- Drexel University College of Medicine and its predecessor institutions, the Woman’s Medical College of Pennsylvania/Medical College of Pennsylvania [WMC/MCP] and Hahnemann University.
- Women in medicine, internationally, evolving from WMCP's unique position as an all-female medical school
- Homeopathy, internationally, rooted in Hahnemann's founding as the first school for homeopathic medicine in the United States.
- over 500,000 books, journals, textbooks, and on-line resources in engineering, health sciences, business, information science, and design and media arts, as well as general science, humanities and social sciences
- 50 linear feet of archives of technical and industrial education, and of engineering and early technical institute records, part of approximately 2500 linear feet of Drexel University collections.