Northwestern University (Evanston, Ill.). Medical School
Biography
The Northwestern University Medical School began as the medical department of Lind University (later Lake Forest University) in 1859, located at Randolph and Market Streets in Chicago. In 1864, the medical department became an independent school, the Chicago Medical College, housed in a building at 22nd and State Streets. The founder of the College, Nathan Smith Davis, was an innovator in medical education who wanted to establish a three-year program that went beyond the traditional lecture-and-apprenticeship program. In 1870, the medical school affiliated with Northwestern, becoming the first professional school to be added to the liberal arts college in fulfillment of the founders' goal of creating a university. The school moved to a building at 26th Street and Prairie Avenue, where it remained until 1893. The Chicago Medical College became the Northwestern University Medical School in 1891. The Medical School moved again in 1893, to a Northwestern University plot of land on the twenty-four hundred block of South Dearborn, where it remained until Northwestern opened its Near North Side Chicago Campus in 1926.
Chicago Medical College founder Nathan Smith Davis served as the school's first dean from 1870, after its union with Northwestern, until 1898. Davis was followed by Franklin Seward Johnson (1898-1901). The third dean was Davis' son, Nathan Smith Davis, Jr. (1901-1907). The younger Davis' tenure as Dean was followed by those of Arthur Robin Edwards (1907-1916), Arthur Isaac Kendall (1916-1924), and Irving Samuel Cutler (1925-1941).
The medical school went through a number of changes in admission and graduation requirements during the first two decades of the twentieth century. In 1908 requirements for admission were raised to include one year of college, rather than just a high school diploma. In 1911, applicants were required to have completed two years of college. The American Medical Association itself did not require this level of education until 1918. Nathan Smith Davis, Jr., who favored more stringent requirements, clashed with his more traditional faculty over this issue and resigned his deanship in 1907.
In 1915, the medical school became one of six schools nationwide to require a fifth-year internship to earn the M.D. degree. These changes caused a drop in enrollment over the next few years, from 470 students in the 1909-1910 academic year to a low of 181 students in 1913-1914. Registration was up again to 413 students in 1919-1920 and, in the long run, the changes served to enhance the medical school's reputation.
For more information on the history of the Northwestern University Medical School, see Leslie B. Arey, Northwestern University Medical School, 1859-1979 (Evanston and Chicago: Northwestern University Medical School, 1979).
Found in 44 Collections and/or Records:
William K. Beatty (1926-2002) Papers
Class Notes Manuscript Notebook
Notes taken by George Cullen from January, 1899-May, 1900 from various medical courses attended at the Northwestern University Medical School.
Clinton Lee Compere (1911-1991) Papers
Nathan Smith Davis III papers
Professional papers of professor Nathan Smith Davis III, including material related to a departmental survey at the time of the medical school's move to the current campus, and to Davis's membership in the American Medical Association and the Clinical Section of the Chicago Heart Association.
Edwin J. De Costa (1906-1995) Papers
Records of the Dean of the Medical School, J. Roscoe Miller
The records in this series span the years 1941 to 1949 and document J. Roscoe Miller's administration of the Northwestern University Medical School before and during the Second World War. Within the collection of correspondence, there is contact with students, staff, other Medical Schools, doctors, Trustees, University Administrators, Hospitals, municipal officials, and various organizations. The records illuminate Miller's tenure as Assistant Dean and as Dean.
Records of the Dean of the Medical School, James E. Eckenhoff (1968-1985)
Emilius Clark Dudley papers
The papers of Emilius Clark Dudley, MD, comprise a manuscript of his book Medicine Man and correspondence and ephemera related to his career as a professor of gynecology. Also included is a bound volume of Dudley's lectures transcribed during the 1882-83 school year.
George Silas Duntley Photographs
The photographs of George S. Duntley fill 8 boxes and cover the years from approximately 1899-1918. The collection consists of dry plate negatives and record Duntley’s years in Chicago and Evanston while he was attending Northwestern University Medical School. Also included are photographs taken in Bushnell, Illinois, his home town and surrounding areas.
Olga Haring (1917-2002) Papers
Opal E. Hepler (1899-1993) Papers
The Opal E. Hepler papers, arranged in four boxes, date between 1926 and 1967. They include small amounts of biographical material, materials relating to her graduate education, correspondence and teaching files. The bulk of the papers consist of drafts of and notes for various versions of her Manual of clinical laboratory methods. A few reprints of her articles are also included.
Northwestern University Medical School Alumni Record Cards
The Northwestern University Medical School Alumni Records consist of 3” x 5” index cards containing limited information about deceased Medical School alumni/alumnae, spanning the years 1860 to 1965. Records include those of graduates from the Northwestern University Woman’s Medical School (1892-1902).
Medical School Annual Reports
Northwestern University Medical School Council of Chairmen Minutes and Related Records
Records of the Medical School Dean, Arthur R. Edwards
The Records of the Medical School Dean, Arthur R. Edwards, consist of one box, spanning the years 1905 to 1912. The bulk of the records consists of correspondence to and from Dean Edwards. Also included are documents relating to faculty appointments and correspondence from the Junior Dean, W.S. Hall, a physiologist who was the first professor to hold the Nathan Smith Davis Professorship. The records are divided into two subseries, Correspondence and Faculty.
Records of the Medical School Dean, Richard H. Young 1949-1970
Northwestern University Medical School Film Collection
This is an artificial collection of 8 films created by or collected by Northwestern University Medical School (now known as Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine), spanning the years 1929 to 1959. It includes both unedited footage and produced films.
Medical School Senior Class Rosters
This series is comprised of Northwestern University Medical School senior class rosters for the period 1953-1969. Entries include class rank and grade point averages.
Medical School Special Course and Program Transcripts
These records comprise course and grade transcripts for Medical School graduate, special, physical therapy, and laboratory technology students.