Three remarkable Bala Cynwyd women who lived on the Idenlea estate in Bala Cynwyd were recently recognized with a Pennsylvania historical marker, writes Erin Betley for the Hidden City.

Dr. Hannah E. Longshore, Dr. Jane Viola Myers, and Lucretia Mott Longshore Blankenburg owned land in the Bala Cynwyd neighborhood in the mid-nineteenth century and helped shape medicine, social justice, and civic reform in the region.

Longshore was one of the first female physicians in the state as well as being an advocate for women’s rights. She often faced resistance, but she did not let that stop her in her professional efforts.

Myers was Longshore’s sister, who followed in her footsteps as a physician, but stayed out of the limelight. Both women went on to serve the local community for decades.

Longshore Blankenburg, Longshore’s daughter, was a suffragette and championed civic reform. In addition she was an author who published an autobiography as well as a biography of her husband.

Longshore Blankenburg also established a medical scholarship in the name of her mother and aunt at Bryn Mawr College, which helped make an even more profound impact on the community.

Read more about the women of Idenlea estate in the Hidden City.