They were the first woman graduates of the new School of Pharmacy in 1906.
The Health Sciences and Human Services Library is celebrating Women’s History Month by featuring women of UMB on its blog and in The Elm.
The University of Maryland School of Pharmacy traces its history back to 1841 with the foundation of the Maryland College of Pharmacy (MCP). The University of Maryland School of Medicine (UMSOM) formed its own department of pharmacy in 1882. In 1904, MCP and UMSOM’s pharmacy department merged to form the University of Maryland School of Pharmacy (UMSOP). The first woman to graduate from MCP was Dr. Lady Mary Johnson in 1898, because of the intertwined history of MCP and UMSOP, she is celebrated as the first woman graduate of the School of Pharmacy.
According to the Terra Mariae yearbook of 1906, Anna Francis Clancy and Elizabeth Grace Lotz were close friends. Clancy even worked at Lotz’s family store during their senior year. There is little evidence of their time at the school; however, the yearbook gives some hints as to their treatment or standing with fellow male students. The yearbook superlatives for both girls mention potential interest by a “bachelor professor,” a concern never expressed before.
Anna Francis Clancy
Clancy was from Genesee, Pa. Following graduation, she moved to Buffalo, N.Y., where she was granted her druggist license. According to an article on the history of women pharmacists at the University of Maryland in The Pharmaceutical Era of 1912, Clancy was “still with the same firm and [was] giving such great satisfaction to her employer that he says he would never be without a lady in his store.” It appears that Clancy was an excellent representative of the school and women pharmacists.
Elizabeth Grace Lotz
Lotz was born and raised in Baltimore. Her father owned the William H. Lotz Store on Warner and Conway streets. As a result, Elizabeth showed an early interest in pharmacy. She earned the first General Prize from the School of Pharmacy at graduation. Throughout her career, Lotz served as the druggist at Union Memorial Hospital, taught pharmacy to nurses at the schools of nursing in the city, and taught chemistry at the Women’s Medical College of Baltimore. Dr. Lotz married Louis Kahler, and she passed away in 1967.
Dr. Lotz was a woman leader in pharmacy. In addition to her academic and professional work, she served as the first honorary president of the Women’s Auxiliary of the Maryland Pharmaceutical Association.
The 1912 Pharmaceutical Era had the following to say about her: “Miss Lotz is an example of what a woman can be in pharmacy, as she has been extremely successful both as a teacher and as a pharmacist. While she considers the presence of a woman necessary to the conduction of every good, up-to-date drug store, she does not feel that women should take the place of men in this business, but that the two should work together, as there are many things in this profession for which women are better adapted than men, and vice versa.”
Clancy and Lotz represent trailblazers for other women in the School of Pharmacy. Together with other notable graduates like Dr. B. Olive Cole, they opened doorways for women to successfully complete their degree in pharmacy. Women in the School of Pharmacy remained a minority until the 1980s, when they began to equal or outnumber male students. This trend mimics the national trend, according to a study by pharmacy students Brittany and Catherine Botescu on the history of women in pharmacy and analyzing data from the American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy.