Women of Idenlea
Lower Merion Township, Montgomery County, Pennsylvania
Marker Inscription
Idenlea was the country estate of two generations of trailblazing women: first woman physician in PA Dr. Hannah E Longshore (1819-1901), her sister and successful early woman physician Dr. Jane V Myers (1831-1918), and her daughter, prominent women’s advocate Lucretia Mott Longshore Blankenburg (1845-1937). These women were most notable for their leadership in advancing the causes of women’s rights, suffrage, and women in medicine; abolition of slavery; and civic and municipal reform in Philadelphia.
Erected by Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission
The Story
On this Lower Merion estate lived a remarkable line of women who pushed against the hard limits placed on their sex in 19th-century America. Dr. Hannah Longshore became one of the first women to practice medicine in Pennsylvania at a time when medical schools barred women outright, and her sister Dr. Jane Myers followed the same difficult path. Hannah's daughter, Lucretia Mott Longshore Blankenburg, carried the family's reforming spirit into the suffrage movement and Philadelphia's municipal politics. Together they linked the causes of medicine, abolition, and votes for women across three generations.
Why it matters
Idenlea shows how women's entry into medicine, the fight against slavery, and the long campaign for suffrage were often carried forward within single families across the 19th century.
Plan your visit
NearbyMake a day of it — museums, food, and places to stay near this marker.
Museums & culture
- African American Museum in Philadelphia5.6 mi away · 701 Arch Street, Philadelphia, PA
- National Constitution Center5.7 mi away · 525 Arch Street, Philadelphia, PA
- Independence Visitor Center5.7 mi away · 599 Market Street, Philadelphia, PA
- Bridgette Mayer5.8 mi away · 709 Walnut Street, Philadelphia, PA
- Liberty Bell Center5.8 mi away · 526 Market Street, Philadelphia
- Congress Hall5.8 mi away · Philadelphia, PA
Attractions
- Discovery Center at East Park Reservoir2.6 mi away
- Pennsylvania Railroad, Connecting Railway Bridge2.8 mi away
- Philadelphia Zoo3.0 mi away
- American Bandstand3.4 mi away
- Rocky Steps3.9 mi away
- The Universal Sphere4.8 mi away
Food & drink
- Burger King5.6 mi away
- Philly Pretzel Factory5.7 mi away
- Munchie’s Cafe5.7 mi away · 728 Chestnut Street, Philadelphia, PA
- Dunkin'5.7 mi away · 634 Market Street, Philadelphia, PA
- El Azteca5.7 mi away
- Time & Peace5.7 mi away · 36 South 7th Street, Philadelphia, PA
Places to stay
- Days Inn Philadelphia Convention Center - Philadelphia5.1 mi away · 1227 Race Street, Philadelphia, PA
- Four Points by Sheraton Philadelphia City Center5.1 mi away · 1201 Race Street, Philadelphia
- The Notary Hotel5.2 mi away · 21 North Juniper Street, Philadelphia
- Residence Inn Philadelphia Center City5.2 mi away · 1 East Penn Square, Philadelphia, PA
- Home2 Suites by Hilton Philadelphia - Convention Center, PA5.2 mi away · 1200 Arch Street, Philadelphia, PA
- Philadelphia Marriott Downtown5.3 mi away · 1201 Market Street, Philadelphia, PA
Places data © OpenStreetMap contributors. Hours and details change — call ahead.
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Related people
- · Hannah E. Longshore
- · Jane V. Myers
- · Lucretia Mott Longshore Blankenburg
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
Crystal Bird Fauset
Philadelphia, PA · est. 1991
Crystal Bird Fauset lived here when, in 1938, she won a seat in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives and became the first Black woman elected to any state legislature in the United States. A gifted organizer and speaker, she later advised President Franklin D. Roosevelt on race relations within the wartime Office of Civilian Defense. Her career opened doors in electoral politics that had long been barred to Black women.
Sadie T.M. Alexander (1898-1989)
Philadelphia, PA · est. 1993
Sadie Tanner Mossell Alexander broke barrier after barrier in early-to-mid-20th-century America, becoming the first Black woman admitted to the Pennsylvania bar. A tireless force in the Urban League and other civil rights causes, she was appointed in 1946 to President Truman's Committee on Civil Rights, whose landmark report helped set the stage for later desegregation. She spent her later years in this Philadelphia home.
C. DeLores Tucker (1927-2005)
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For 47 years C. DeLores Tucker made her home here while becoming one of Pennsylvania's most forceful advocates for civil rights and women's equality. As the nation's first African American woman to serve as a state Secretary of State, she championed the state Equal Rights Amendment, affirmative action, mail-in voter registration, and lowering the voting age to 18. Late in life she led a high-profile campaign against music lyrics she considered demeaning to women and Black Americans.
Abraham L. Pennock
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Abraham L. Pennock lived at Hoodland, a house built by his father-in-law in 1823, until his death in 1868. A leader in the Pennsylvania Anti-Slavery Society, he lent his energy to abolition alongside the causes of woman suffrage and temperance. Reform-minded visitors, including the poets John Greenleaf Whittier and James Russell Lowell, passed through his doors.