Celebrating Women In Pharmacy

Introduction

After the Pharmaceutical Society was founded in 1841, women had to fight for recognition in the profession - but women have always had a role to play in pharmacy.

It took almost 40 years for them to win their battle to become full members in 1879, but there is still work to be done so that all women can fulfil their potential in pharmacy.

This online exhibition introduces women who have fought to be part of the Royal Pharmaceutical Society and the wider profession. You’ll discover the women who became leading members of the profession and learn about their journeys towards inclusion. You’ll also see the steps being taken today to ensure that all women in pharmacy can thrive.

Women pharmacists in the 19th century

Women have always been involved in the production of medicines

Women pharmacists become members of the Society

The status of women pharmacists became a firm political issue in the 1870s

Foundation of the Association of Women Pharmacists

On Thursday June 15 1905, a group of women pharmacists met at 5 Endsleigh Street in London

Women pharmacists in the 20th Century

Women still had to work hard to achieve within the pharmacy profession

Women in Pharmacy Today

Today the challenges facing women in pharmacy take a different shape

Acknowledgements

Thank you to the following people who have shared their own research, or carried out research for the exhibition: Marilyn Creese, Shirley Ellis, Robert J Mead, Sue Symonds, Linda Lisgarten, Kirsteen Nixon, Peter Homan, and Helena Wojtczak

Thank you to Briony Hudson, the British Society for the History of Pharmacists and the Executive Group of the National Association of Women Pharmacists.