1844 board of directors' declaration that women artists "would have exclusive use of the statue gallery for professional purposes" and study time in the museum on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday mornings began an incremental step of inclusion of women in the academy. In 1860, female students were allowed to take anatomy and antique courses, drawing from antique casts, and they were afforded access to the academy's library and gallery. Life classes, the study of the nude body, were available to women in the spring of 1868 with female models; male models were added for study six years later. This came after much debate on whether it was appropriate for women to view the nude male form.
In 1878, Catherine Drinker, at the age of 27, became the first woman to teach at the academy. In 1895, one of her pupils, her younger cousin Cecilia Beaux, became the first female faculty member at the academy to instruct painting and drawing.
=== 20th century ===
From 1890 to 1906, Edward Hornor Coates served as the tenth president …
