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Northwestern University (Evanston, Ill.). Medical School

 Organization

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 47 Collections and/or Records:

William K. Beatty (1926-2002) Papers

 Collection
Identifier: 18/4/1
Abstract William Kaye Beatty was educated at Harvard College and Columbia University. Beatty joined the faculty of Northwestern University in 1962 as professor of medical bibliography. He held the administrative appointment of medical librarian from 1962 to 1974. In 1974 he began teaching courses in the history of medicine and medical writing. Beatty is known for his work and writings in librarianship and the history of medicine. In the 1960s and 1970s he planned 17 medical library buildings. He was...
Dates: 1944-1991

Class Notes Manuscript Notebook

 Collection
Identifier: ghsl-9
Abstract

Notes taken by George Cullen from January, 1899-May, 1900 from various medical courses attended at the Northwestern University Medical School.

Dates: 1899-1900

Clinton Lee Compere (1911-1991) Papers

 Collection
Identifier: 18/3/19/1
Abstract Clinton Lee Compere was a professor of orthopedic surgery at Northwestern's Medical School and, as a founding member of Northwestern's Rehabilitation Engineering Program (REP), nationally recognized as an authority on rehabilitation engineering. His main focus was the improvement of prosthetic devices for the physically handicapped. Compere participated actively in the development of the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago (RIC) to one of the best rehabilitation hospitals in the country. The...
Dates: 1954-1991; Other: Date acquired: 06/02/2011

Nathan Smith Davis III papers

 Collection — Multiple Containers
Identifier: ghsl-35
Abstract

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.

Dates: 1922 - 1956

Edwin J. De Costa (1906-1995) Papers

 Collection
Identifier: 18/3/9/1
Abstract De Costa came to Northwestern as a clinical assistant in 1946, eventually becoming a full professor in 1964. H retired in 1974 and died in 1995. The Edwin J. De Costa Papers fill three boxes and span the period, 1925-1987. Most of the material dates from 1925 through the 1960s; only a small amount of material dates afterward. The De Costa Papers are arranged into five categories: biographical materials, undergraduate and medical college files, teaching files, speeches and paper...
Dates: 1925 - 1987; Other: Majority of material found within 1925-1960s

Records of the Dean of the Medical School, J. Roscoe Miller

 Collection
Identifier: 18/7/1
Abstract

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.

Dates: 1941-1949

Records of the Dean of the Medical School, James E. Eckenhoff (1968-1985)

 Collection
Identifier: 18/7/2
Abstract The Records of the Medical School under Dean James E. Eckenhoff fill sixteen archival boxes, spanning the years 1968 to 1985. The records reflect the state of the Medical School under Eckenhoff with a strong emphasis on educational improvement, and consist of correspondence, transcripts, reports, publications, and minutes. The collection is divided into seven subseries: Allied Health, assemblies and lectures, councils and committees, faculty and research, graduate medical education,...
Dates: 1968-1985

Emilius Clark Dudley papers

 Collection — Multiple Containers
Identifier: ghsl-27
Abstract

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.

Dates: approximately 1877-1924

George Silas Duntley Photographs

 Collection
Identifier: 75/31/30
Abstract

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.

Dates: 1899-1920

Olga Haring (1917-2002) Papers

 Collection
Identifier: 18/3/6/2
Abstract Olga M. Haring was a faculty member at Northwestern University from 1965 until she received emeritus status in 1987. In 1974 she received a dual appointment in the departments of medicine and of community health and preventive medicine. The Haring Papers fill nine boxes and span the period 1952-1984, with the major portion falling between 1965 and 1975. The papers are organized in three categories: teaching files, research files, and publications. The largest portion of the papers consists...
Dates: 1952 - 1984; Other: Majority of material found within 1965 - 1975

Opal E. Hepler (1899-1993) Papers

 Collection
Identifier: 18/3/13/1
Abstract

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.

Dates: 1926-1967

John H. Long papers

 Collection — Box 1
Identifier: ghsl-43
Abstract

Papers related to the education and career of Professor John H. Long (1856-1918) including diplomas, his doctoral thesis, and a letter in German from chemist Lothar Meyer.

Dates: 1879 - 1921

Northwestern University Medical School Alumni Record Cards

 Collection
Identifier: 18/1/8
Abstract

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).

Dates: 1860-1965

Medical School Annual Reports

 Collection
Identifier: 18/1/9
Abstract The series consists of a run of annual reports issued by the Northwestern University Medical School, later the Feinberg School of Medicine. The reports are arranged chronologically in fifteen boxes and span the period from 1971/1972 through 2005/2006. There are several gaps in this run and reports from the following years are not included in the series: 1988/1989, 1989/1990, 1992/1993, 1993/1994, 1994/1995, 1996/1997, 1997/1998, 1998/1999, and 1999/2000. Individual reports cover academic...
Dates: 1971/1972 - 2005/2006

Northwestern University Medical School Council of Chairmen Minutes and Related Records

 Collection
Identifier: 18/2/27
Abstract The Council of Chairmen was composed of the various departmental chairs at the Medical School, in addition to the Dean of the School. The Council met monthly to discuss various issues of importance to the Medical School. Contained here are minutes of the Council's meetings (which make up the majority of the series), reports produced by other Northwestern University committees of interest to the Council, announcements of future meetings, and correspondence. These records date between 1971 and...
Dates: 1971-1972

Records of the Medical School Dean, Arthur R. Edwards

 Collection
Identifier: 18/7/4
Abstract

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.

Dates: 1905-1912

Records of the Medical School Dean, Richard H. Young 1949-1970

 Collection
Identifier: 18/7/3
Abstract The Records of the Medical School Dean, Richard H. Young, fill 18 record cartons (18 cubic feet), spanning the years of his tenure as dean, 1949 to 1970. These records primarily consist of correspondence and documents relating to the administration of the medical school and affiliated hospitals. The records are divided into 12 subseries: Associations, Buildings and Grounds, Clinic, Dean's Office, Departments, Faculty, Fraternities, Hospitals, Library (Medical School), Medical School,...
Dates: 1949-1970

Northwestern University Medical School Film Collection

 Collection
Identifier: ghsl-18
Abstract

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.

Dates: 1929-1959

Medical School Senior Class Rosters

 Collection
Identifier: 18/1/6
Abstract

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.

Dates: 1953-1969