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California College of Medicine records
AS.027  
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Table of contents What's This?
  • Access
  • Publication Rights
  • Preferred Citation
  • Acquisition Information
  • Alternative Forms of Materials
  • Processing History
  • Historical note
  • Historical note
  • Historical note
  • Collection Scope and Content Summary
  • Collection Arrangement
  • Separation Note
  • Related Collections

  • Contributing Institution: Special Collections and Archives, University of California, Irvine Libraries
    Title: California College of Medicine records
    Creator: California College of Medicine
    Identifier/Call Number: AS.027
    Physical Description: 90 Linear Feet (49 records cartons, 24 flat boxes, 16 document boxes, 4 film reels, 2 oversize folders, and 1 XOS folder) and 1.5 unprocessed linear feet
    Date (inclusive): 1860-1998
    Date (bulk): 1896-1967
    Abstract: The California College of Medicine (CCM) records span the years from the establishment of its first predecessor, the Pacific College of Osteopathy in 1896 to 1967 when CCM was incorporated into UCI. The materials document particularly well the two major upheavals for osteopathy in California that occurred at the end of this period: the merger in the 1960s of the Doctor of Osteopathy degree with the Medical Doctor degree, and the merger of CCM with the University of California. Also included are student records and financial documents from 1914 to 1961.
    Language of Material: English .

    Access

    The collection is open for research. Medical records are restricted for 100 years, student records for 75 years, and personnel records for 50 years. Access to original films is restricted, please use online copies. Restrictions are noted at the file level.

    Publication Rights

    Property rights reside with the University of California. Copyrights are retained by the creators of the records and their heirs. For permission to reproduce or to publish, please contact the University Archivist.

    Preferred Citation

    California College of Medicine Records. AS-027. Special Collections and Archives, The UC Irvine Libraries, Irvine, California. Date accessed.
    For the benefit of current and future researchers, please cite any additional information about sources consulted in this collection, including permanent URLs, item or folder descriptions, and box/folder locations.

    Acquisition Information

    Bulk of material acquired from the California College of Medicine Library and Provost's Office before 1973. Accessions since have been donated by Forest Grunigen, Grace Bell, the UCI Medical Sciences Library, and others.

    Alternative Forms of Materials

    Select items from this collection have been digitized and are available on Calisphere .

    Processing History

    Preliminary processing by California College of Medicine library staff. Reprocessed by Jennifer Jacobs in 2004. Revisions by Cyndi Shein in 2007. New accretion of material added in 2014 and incorporated into finding aid by Laura Uglean Jackson. Materials found in the stacks were added to the collection by Sarah Glover in 2022.

    Historical note

    Before it became part of the University of California, Irvine (UCI), the UCI College of Medicine went through several incarnations as a school of osteopathy. Osteopathy splintered from mainstream (or allopathic) medicine in the mid-nineteenth century in a climate of poor, commercially driven medical education and the proliferation of dangerous and ineffective medical practices such as blood-letting and the prescription of calomel and emetics. The first osteopaths were opposed to the use of any drugs for their patients; pharmacology was introduced into osteopathic practice in the early twentieth century. Andrew Still, the M.D. who founded osteopathy, "discovered" the Osteopathic Principle, which states that all disease can be attributed to lesions in the spine, and thus may be alleviated by manipulation of the vertebrae (this is why osteopathy is often confused with chiropractics, although chiropractors do not have the same medical training that osteopaths have, and are only qualified to treat skeletal complaints). Dr. Still began training osteopaths at his American School of Osteopathy in Kirksville, Missouri in 1892.
    The Pacific School of Osteopathy and Infirmary (PSO) -- the second osteopathic school -- was established in Anaheim in 1896 by Aubrey C. Moore, D.O., who had studied under Dr. Still, and an M.D., B.W. Scheurer (for a short time, PSO awarded both the D.O. and the M.D.). For the first four years, PSO awarded the Diplomate of Osteopathy, D.O. In 1900 California legally recognized the profession, and PSO began awarding the Doctor of Osteopathy, D.O.
    The Pacific School of Osteopathy moved to Los Angeles in 1897, to South Pasadena in 1903, then back to Los Angeles in 1904 into quarters on the corner of Mission and Daly. The school changed its name to the Pacific College of Osteopathy (PCO) in 1904.
    In 1905 Harry Forbes, D.O. and several other former members of the faculty of the S.S. Still College of Osteopathy, Des Moines established the Los Angeles College of Osteopathy (LACO). Because LACO offered both a two-year course and a three-year course, the state Board of Medical Examiners did not recognize the degrees LACO was granting. Additionally, the American Osteopathic Association would not accept LACO as a member because there was already an osteopathic school in Los Angeles, PCO. Despite these difficulties, which also included a suit brought against LACO by PCO and a suit against the California Board of Medical Examiners brought by LACO, LACO persisted until 1914 when it merged with PCO to form the College of Osteopathic Physicians and Surgeons (COPS).
    There was one other osteopathic school in California during this time. The California College of Osteopathy was founded in San Francisco in 1898. This school merged with the American School of Osteopathy in 1912.
    COPS was the most enduring of California's osteopathic schools. It garnered several concessions from the medical profession over the years that enabled it to adequately train osteopaths who were then able to go on to productive careers in California and elsewhere. For example, in 1915 COPS formed an agreement with the Los Angeles County General Hospital (LACGH) to train interns there. COPS brought suit against the Medical Examiners in 1919 after they discontinued recognizing COPS as a qualified educator. During the trial, the burden was on the Medical Examiners to prove that education at COPS was sub-standard compared to education at California schools granting the M.D. degree. In 1921, while the suit was still being argued, the internship program sponsored by the LACGH was discontinued. However, the courts ruled in favor of COPS in June of 1921 (Decision by the Court of Appeal of California, 53 Cal. App. 138; 199 P. 1093; 1921 Cal. App. LEXIS 354). The decision enabled an initiative to be passed in 1922 providing for a separate California Board of Osteopathic Examiners. This eliminated the former problem of M.D.s on the Board of Medical Examiners making all the decisions about the suitability of particular osteopaths to practice their profession. That same year LACGH reinstated the residency training program for COPS.
    The California Osteopathic Association (COA), affiliated with the AOA, was incorporated in 1900 as the osteopathic professional organization in California. The administration of COA and the faculty of COPS overlapped a great deal.
    The California osteopathic tradition led by COPS and COA ended in 1961 by consensus among these two groups and the California Medical Association (CMA) when the two California medical professions merged and D.O.s were no longer awarded in the state of California. The merger was led by Forest Grunigen, D.O., who had begun talks with the CMA in the mid-1940s. In 1962 all COPS graduates were offered an M.D. degree in exchange for their D.O. degree and a $65 fee, with no additional qualifying examination. The new degrees were problematic for some, the M.D.s were not accepted for licensure out-of-state, and few academic or hospital appointments were given to the former D.O.s, but many went on to have successful careers.
    The AOA was vehemently opposed to the merger, and many osteopaths in California agreed. A splinter group, naming themselves the Osteopathic Physicians and Surgeons of California (OPSC), was formed in 1960 from the 500 osteopaths in California who decided against exchanging their D.O.s for M.D.s. In 1974 OPSC succeeded in convincing the California Supreme Court to rescind their decision that had formalized the merger. The problems encountered by Californians dissuaded osteopaths in other states from attempting mergers of their own, and the California experiment was a unique phenomenon.
    In 1967 after much debate, the UC-CCM was assigned to UCI, and the college, its faculty, and its administration moved to Irvine.

    Historical note

    Chronology

    1896 Pacific School of Osteopathy and Infirmary (PSO) incorporated
    1900 First Doctor of Osteopathy degree is granted at PCO
      D.O. degree is recognized in California
      California Osteopathic Association (COA) incorporated
    1904 PSO changes its name to Pacific College of Osteopathy (PCO)
    1905 Los Angeles College of Osteopathy (LACO) incorporated
    1914 PCO and LACO consolidate to form the College of Osteopathic Physicians and Surgeons (COPS)
    1922 California passes initiative to provide for a separate Board of Osteopathic Examiners
    1928 Los Angeles County General Hospital opens Unit 2, an osteopathic unit
    1941 COA and CMA reach an agreement for unification, though it is rejected by the American Medical Association on the grounds that it is illegal. The AOA was also opposed to it at this time, as well as 20 years later when the merger actually went through.
    1955 CMA appoints the Committee on Other Professions
    1961 COPS changes its name to California College of Medicine (CCM)
      COPS awards M.D.s to qualified/willing D.O.s.
      COA merges with the California Medical Association (CMA)
    1963 Bill passes to fold CCM into UC system
    1967 Agreement is signed to make CCM part of Irvine campus
    1968 CCM moves to Irvine campus

    Historical note

    Presidents

    1896 B.W. Scheurer, M.D. (PSO)
    1897-1898 Aubrey C. Moore, D.O. (PSO)
    1898-1903 Charles A. Bailey, M.D., D.O. (PSO)
    1904-1913 George Finley Burton, D.O. (PCO)
    1905-1914 Harry Forbes (LACO)
    1913-1914 W.J. Hayden (PCO)
    1914-1920 Harry Forbes (COPS)
    1920-1923 Louis Chandler
    1922 Edward H. Light, acting
    1923-1935 L. van Horn Gerdine
    1935-1939 Carle H. Phinney
    1940-1970 W. Ballentine Henley (COPS and CCM, Provost of UCI-CCM)

    Collection Scope and Content Summary

    The California College of Medicine (CCM) records span the years from the establishment of its first predecessor, the Pacific College of Osteopathy in 1896 to 1967 when CCM was incorporated into UCI. There are some items from 1968 to 1970, and a few earlier and later, included to preserve the context of some files. The materials document particularly well the two major upheavals for osteopathy in California that occurred at the end of this period: the merger in the 1960s of the Doctor of Osteopathy degree with the Medical Doctor degree, and the merger of CCM with the University of California. The records are also strong in vital records, including student records and financial documents, created while the college was named the College of Osteopathic Physicians and Surgeons from 1914 to 1961.
    The materials in the California College of Medicine records are primarily textual, and include correspondence, reports, proposals, minutes, agendas, financial and legal records, and memoranda, as well as material related to the research and teaching functions of the college, including syllabi, student work, student records, grade books, and faculty reprints. Photographs, film, artifacts, and memorabilia can be found in the last two series.
    Several organizations not a part of CCM or any of its predecessors are also represented in this collection. As osteopathic organizations in California, they had strong ties to what was for many years the only osteopathic school in the state, and their issues and interests overlap. The two most prominent of these groups included here are the Los Angeles County General hospital (LACGH) (its osteopathic unit became known later as the Los Angeles County Osteopathic Hospital), which served as the teaching hospital for many of the school's students, and the California Osteopathic Association (COA), the professional organization that led the D.O./M.D. merger.
    Several individuals figure prominently in the CCM Records. W. Ballentine Henley's office files contain correspondence, topical files and reports from his presidency, as well as a set of 22 scrapbooks of newspaper clippings documenting the school during his tenure. Dain Tasker, who graduated from PSO in 1898, and later served as a faculty member, wrote in the 1950s a manuscript history of osteopathy in California, which is included here. Other individuals represented in the records include Forest Grunigen, Grace Bell, Dorothy Marsh, William W.W. Pritchard, and Warren Bostick.

    Collection Arrangement

    This collection is arranged into eight series:
    • Series 1. Histories, circa 1903-circa 1965. 1.0 linear feet.
    • Series 2. Administrative files, 1896-1967 (bulk 1933-1967). 32.9 linear feet.
    • Series 3. Research and teaching, 1896-1970. 19.3 linear feet.
    • Series 4. Los Angeles County Osteopathic Hospital, 1929-1969. 1.0 linear feet.
    • Series 5. Clinics, 1908-1940. 0.8 linear feet.
    • Series 6. Osteopathy general files, 1899-1967. 4.1 linear feet.
    • Series 7. Photographs and film, 1896-1998. 5.3 linear feet.
    • Series 8. Realia, 1896-1963. 2 linear feet.
    The collection also contains one unprocessed addition:
    • Accession 2021-038. Unprocessed addition, 1892-1988. 1.5 linear feet

    Separation Note

    Publications are have been cataloged in Library Search. The publications include a set of course catalogs and announcements from 1896 to 1967, the yearbook Cortex, newsletters from various departments and student groups, programs and invitations for special events, and other published material.
    Files dated after 1968 were removed to College of Medicine Records (AS-026) or cataloged in Library Search.
    About nine linear feet of osteopathic reference files have been separated and sent to other repositories. Those by or about the American Osteopathic Association were sent there. General files and those about other osteopathic schools were sent to the Western University's Health Sciences Library in Pomona.
    Two letterbooks by Dain L. Tasker dated 1900-1906 and 1913-1938 have been removed to their own archival series, Dain L. Tasker Letterbooks (AS-095).

    Related Collections

    Related materials can be found in the following collections:
    Related materials at other repositories include LACO materials and the papers of LACO graduate, Louis Chandler, housed at Western University's Health Sciences Library in Pomona.

    Subjects and Indexing Terms

    Osteopathic medicine -- Education.
    Photographic prints -- 19th century.
    Osteopathic medicine -- History.
    Osteopathic medicine -- California -- History.
    Osteopathic medicine -- Periodicals.
    Medical educators
    Osteopaths
    Photographic prints -- 20th century.
    Scrapbooks -- 19th century.
    Scrapbooks -- 20th century.
    Osteopathic medicine -- Study and teaching.
    Nutrition.
    Floor plans -- 20th century.
    Letters -- 19th century.
    Letters -- 20th century.
    Tasker, Dain L.
    University of California, Irvine -- Archives
    California College of Medicine -- Archives
    Forty-First Medical Society (Los Angeles, Calif.)