The Woman's College of 1883 was opened to serve as a way for women to obtain medical degrees in the state of Missouri.
According to The History of American Homeopathy, "the orthodox medical educational community resisted the admission of women students longer than did the homeopathic and eclectic schools," meaning most women of the period who aspired to be doctors had to attend alternative institutions.
The St. Louis-based Medical Mirror published an editorial saying that "[w]omen are not endowed by nature or art with the qualities, nor can they gain the necessary equipment for making a successful physician."
Following the graduation of the first class in 1894, the Medical Mirror reported that the St. Louis Board of Health "found it inexpedient to admit women to the hospitals as assistant physicians [interns] ... inasmuch as the admission of women would mark a change from the established order of things."
Following a move to a new building, the Woman's College was affected by the Panic of 1893 and began to struggle financially.