Guide to the Cooper Medical College Collection
Daniel Hartwig
Stanford University Libraries.
Dept. of Special Collections & University Archives.
May 2011
Copyright © 2015 The Board of Trustees of the Leland Stanford Junior University. All rights reserved.
Overview
Call Number: SC0923
Creator:
Stanford University
Title: Cooper Medical College collection
Dates: 1857-1974
Bulk Dates: 1857-1894
Physical Description:
0.75 Linear feet
Language(s): The materials are in English.
Physical Location: Special Collections and University Archives materials are stored offsite and must be paged 36-48 hours in advance. For more
information on paging collections, see the department's website:
http://library.stanford.edu/spc .
Repository:
Dept. of Special Collections & University Archives.
Stanford University Libraries.
557 Escondido Mall
Stanford, CA 94305-6064
Email: speccollref@stanford.edu
Phone: (650) 725-1022
URL: http://library.stanford.edu/spc
Administrative Information
Cite As
[identification of item], Cooper Medical College Collection (SC0923). Dept. of Special Collections and University Archives,
Stanford University Libraries, Stanford, Calif.
Cite As
[identification of item], Cooper Medical College Collection (SC0923). Dept. of Special Collections and University Archives,
Stanford University Libraries, Stanford, Calif.
Biographical/Historical note
The Medical Department of the University of the Pacific was the first medical school on the West Coast, founded in San Francisco
in 1858 by Dr. Elias Samuel Cooper. Following the death of Dr. Cooper in 1862, the program was suspended. In 1864, Dr. Hugh
Huger Toland founded Toland Medical College in San Francisco, which later became the medical department of the University
of California. By 1872 the Medical Department of the University of the Pacific was reorganized as the Medical College of the
Pacific in affiliation with University (City) College. In 1882 Dr. Levi Cooper Lane generously donated a state of the art
building to the medical school and the name of the school was subsequently changed from the Medical College of the Pacific
to Cooper Medical College in honor of Dr. Lane's uncle, Dr. Elias Samuel Cooper. In 1908, Dr. Lane granted permission for
the equipment and properties of Cooper Medical College to be transferred to Stanford University. Instruction by Stanford University
began in 1909 and continued in San Francisco until 1959, at which time the Stanford School of Medicine opened on the Stanford
campus.
Scope and Contents note
The Cooper Medical College collection consists primarily of ephemeral material such as commencement invitations, programs,
and addresses from Cooper Medical College and its predecessors, the Medical College of the Pacific, and Toland Medical College.
Also included are several printed lectures from the Medical College of the Pacific, 1861-1879, annual reports, medical publications,
faculty handbooks, clippings, and an alumni directory.
Access Terms
Cooper Medical College.
Cooper, Elias Samuel, 1820-1862.
Lane, Levi Cooper, 1833-1902.
Medical College of the Pacific (San Francisco, Calif.)
Toland Medical College.
University of the Pacific. Medical Dept.
Medicine--California
Medicine--History
Medicine--Study and teaching--California --Stanford.
Box 1, Folder 1
Toland Medical College-Opening Address
1866
Box 1, Folder 2
Toland Medical College-Valedictory Address
1869
Box 1, Folder 3
Toland Medical College-Annual Announcement of Lectures
1871
Box 1, Folder 4
Toland Medical College-History from: Thompson, William Benbow. The Story of the Professorship of Obstetrics at the University
of California. Reprinted from: Portland, Or: Western Journal of Surgery Pub. Co
1950
Medical College of the Pacific
Announcement of the Medical Department of the University of the Pacific
Scope and Content Note
The present pamphlet indicates that while the school was established in 1858, it did not begin normal operation until the
spring of the following year. "The regular Annual Course of Lectures in this Institution will commence on the first Monday
in May, 1859, and be continued for eighteen weeks" (p. 8). The pamphlet also includes a brief outline of the courses offered
and a schedule of fees.
Box 1, Folder 5
Medical College of the Pacific-Lectures
1861-1879
Box 1, Folder 6
Medical College of the Pacific-Annual Announcements
1872-1882
Box 1, Folder 7
Medical College of the Pacific-Commencement Programs
1871-1879
Box 1, Folder 8
Cooper, Elias Samuel-publications, addresses, biographical
1856-1938
Biography/Organization History
Elias S. Cooper, founder of California's (and the West Coast's) first medical school, came to San Francisco in May 1855 and
immediatelyembarked on an ambitious program to advance the status of medicine in the state. He not only established his own
medical and surgical practice in the city (which he promoted vigorously, to the dismay of some of his rivals), but also began
his own private medical teaching program), agitated for improvements in the teaching of anatomy, helped to found both the
San Francisco County Medico-Chirurgical Association and the California State Medical Society, began publishing the prestigious
Pacific Medical and Surgical Journal, and in the fall of 1858 founded California's first medical school, attached to the University
of the Pacific. The medical school's faculty originally consisted of Cooper and six others; Cooper's nephew, Levi Cooper Lane,
joined the faculty in 1859. Cooper served as professor of anatomy and surgery at the school from its inception until his death
eight years later. After Cooper's death the school went into decline, being eclipsed by the foundation in 1864 of the rival
Toland Medical College, ancestor of the University of California's medical school. In 1870 Cooper's school was revived by
Levi Cooper Lane and Henry Gibbons; in 1882 it was renamed Cooper Medical College after its founder. After several decades
of independent existence, Cooper Medical College was acquired by Stanford University; Stanford University'sSchool of Medicine
thus can trace its ancestry back to the first medical school founded on the West Coast.
Box 1, Folder 9
Lane, Levi Cooper-dissertation, publications
1876-1891, undated
Box 1, Folder 10
Thorne, W. S.-"Report on Surgery"
1885
Box 1, Folder 11
Cooper Medical College-Annual Announcement
1885
Box 1, Folder 12
Cooper Medical College-Annual Report (Morse Dispensary)
1884-1890
Box 1, Folder 13
Cooper Medical College-Annual Report (Dispensary)
1891-1893
Box 1, Folder 14
Cooper Medical College-Annual Report of Clinics
1894
Box 1, Folder 15
Cooper Medical College-Commencement Invitations and Programs
1883-1912
Box 1, Folder 16
Cooper Medical College-Commencement Addresses
1884-1888
Box 1, Folder 17
Cooper Medical College-Commencement Addresses
1889
Box 1, Folder 18
Cooper Medical College-Commencement Addresses
1890
Box 1, Folder 19
Cooper Medical College-Commencement Addresses
1890
Box 1, Folder 20
Cooper Medical College-Announcement of Lectures
1859
Box 1, Folder 21
Cooper Medical College-
Anatomical and Surgical Lectures (advertisement);
To the Medical Profession (advertisement).
1856, 01858
Box 2, Folder 1
Cooper Medical College-Building-Dedication
1882
Box 2, Folder 2
Cooper Medical College-Building: Shuman, Ronald. Portraits: The Cooper Medical Building, the Lane Hospital Building. San Francisco:
Pacific Medical Center
1974
Box 2, Folder 3
Cooper Medical College-Rules for the Government of the Faculty of Cooper Medical College
1891
Box 2, Folder 4
Cooper Medical College-Stanford University, and J. H. Wythe. Faculty of the Cooper Medical College, Successor to the Medical
College of the Pacific, San Francisco, 1882-1912. [Palo Alto]: Stanford University, School of Medicine
1969
Box 2, Folder 5
Cooper Medical College-Letter to Alumni
1911
Box 2, Folder 6
Cooper Medical College-Alumni Directory, 1859-1912. San Francisco, CA: Cooper Medical College
1916
Box 2, Folder 7
Cooper Medical College-Barkan, Hans. Cooper Medical College, Founded by Levi Cooper Lane; an Historical Sketch. San Francisco,
Ca: Stanford Medical Bulletin
1954
Box 2, Folder 8
Cooper Medical College-Clippings
1973
