Collection of Founding Documents and Other Materials from the University of the Pacific's Medical Department and the Medical College of the Pacific, 1855 - 1883

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Summary

Creators:
Cooper, Elias Samuel, Plummer, Richard H., M.D., 1840 - 1899, and Cole, Richard Beverly, MD, 1829 - 1901
Abstract:
This collection compiles the earliest materials produced by the institution that became the Stanford University School of Medicine: the University of the Pacific's medical department, otherwise known as the Medical College of the Pacific. These materials date back to the 1850s and represent the School's origins and first thirty years.
Extent:
1.08 Linear Feet 2 short archives boxes and 1 half-width short archives box.
Language:
English .

Background

Scope and content:

This collection compiles the earliest materials produced by the institution that became the Stanford University School of Medicine: the University of the Pacific's medical department, otherwise known as the Medical College of the Pacific. These materials date back to the 1850s and represent the School's origins and first thirty years.

Founding documents of the school, including its constitution and the letter that proposed its creation, are present and may be the materials most directly related to the school's history, but everything here offers a glimpse into its earliest years. The minutes of most of the Medical Department faculty meetings held between October 31, 1858 and November 9, 1882 record discussions of matters including the school's 1864 closure, 1870 reopening, and decision to admit female students, among other matters; the student records reveal the makeup of its student body; Dr. R.H. Plummer's notes likewise demonstrate what a formal medical education looked like in 1860s America, as well as what a practicing physician might expect from daily life; financial records show how the school sustained itself; correspondence, student petitions, building records, and letters of resignation are all available.

Biographical / historical:

In early September of 1858, a small group of physicians approached the trustees of the University of the Pacific with a proposition to found the first medical school in California. These physicians, led by Dr. Elias Samuel Cooper, had seen the "existing and growing necessity for a Medical School upon this [West] Coast," and wanted to meet that need.(1) To this end they offered their services, promising to "furnish everything necessary to the commencement of such an enterprise."(2) In return, they asked for the University's backing, which would allow them to award the degree of M.D. On September 22nd, the trustees agreed, and the Medical Department of the University of the Pacific was born.(3)

The Medical Department opened its doors on May 5th, 1859, officially becoming "the first Medical College on the shores of the Pacific."(4) Six professors taught "Pathology and Principles and Practice of Medicine," "Chemistry and Toxicology," Physiology, Anatomy, Surgery, "Obstetrics and Diseases of Women and Children," "Materia Medica and Pharmacy," and Medical Jurisprudence.(5) The faculty also organized "teaching clinics" at the Pacific Clinical Infirmary, and in some cases provided one-on-one mentorship.(6)

Dr. Cooper was the Medical Department's progenitor and perhaps its staunchest supporter—his death on October 13th, 1862 was a blow to the young school's stability.(7) Dr. Levi Cooper Lane, Dr. Cooper's nephew, quickly established himself as a new pillar of support for the shaken institution, and for a time it continued running smoothly.(8) However, by 1864, Dr. Hugh Huger Toland had arrived in San Francisco with the intention of starting his own medical school.(9) With Dr. Cooper gone and those left behind unprepared for competition, the University of the Pacific decided to suspend their Medical Department.(10)

Dr. Lane was unsatisfied with this turn of events, as well as with his new position at Dr. Toland's university, to which many of the Medical Department's staff had relocated.(11) Enough of his former coworkers shared this sentiment that on May 23rd, 1870, they all met to declare their intent to revive their former workplace.(11) The rapid planning, hiring, and curriculum-building that followed paid off later that year, when the Medical Department of the University of the Pacific officially resumed operation.(13)

In 1882, Dr. Lane built a facility "at the corner of Sacramento and Webster Streets in San Francisco…said to have no superior in the world for medical education at the time."(14) This building he gave freely to the Medical Department for their use. The resulting institution, which became independent of the University of the Pacific, came to be called Cooper Medical College, in honor of the late Dr. Cooper.(15)

Cooper Medical College was absorbed by Stanford University in 1908, becoming the Stanford University School of Medicine. Despite its new affiliation, the School of Medicine remained in San Francisco until 1959, when it joined much of the rest of the university on its main campus in Palo Alto.(16)

(1) Proposition to the trustees of the University of the Pacific for a medical department, Dr. Richard Beverly Cole to trustees, c. September 10, 1858, Box 1, folder 20, Collection of Founding Documents and Other Materials from the University of the Pacific's Medical Department and Cooper Medical College, Medical History Center, Lane Medical Library.

(2) Correspondence accompanying proposition for medical department, describing it, Dr. Richard Beverly Cole to Reverend E. Thomas, c. September 10, 1858, Box 1, folder 20, Collection of Founding Documents and Other Materials from the University of the Pacific's Medical Department, Medical History Center, Lane Medical Library.

(3) John Wilson, Stanford University School of Medicine and the Predecessor Schools: An Historical Perspective (Stanford, California: Lane Medical Library, 1999), 214. https://lane.stanford.edu/elane/public/L140815/john-wilson-history.pdf.

(4) Wilson, Stanford University School of Medicine and the Predecessor Schools, 224.

(5) Wilson, Stanford University School of Medicine and the Predecessor Schools, 217.

(6) Wilson, Stanford University School of Medicine and the Predecessor Schools, 217.

(7) Wilson, Stanford University School of Medicine and the Predecessor Schools, 266.

(8) Wilson, Stanford University School of Medicine and the Predecessor Schools, 270-271.

(9) Wilson, Stanford University School of Medicine and the Predecessor Schools, 274.

(10) Wilson, Stanford University School of Medicine and the Predecessor Schools, 6.

(11) Wilson, Stanford University School of Medicine and the Predecessor Schools, 281.

(12) Wilson, Stanford University School of Medicine and the Predecessor Schools, 285.

(13) Wilson, Stanford University School of Medicine and the Predecessor Schools, 6.

(14) Wilson, Stanford University School of Medicine and the Predecessor Schools, 6.

(15) Wilson, Stanford University School of Medicine and the Predecessor Schools, 6.

(16) Wilson, Stanford University School of Medicine and the Predecessor Schools, 6.

Processing information:

This collection was formerly known by the title of "Collection A," as well as "Medical Department of the University of the Pacific Collection of publications" and "Medical Department of the Unviersity of the Pacific 1856-1872." Some of the arrangement from this collection has been maintained, such as the assignment of a single folder to all of the faculty meeting minutes, and the decision to give single items like the student register, the opening ceremonies announcement, and the lecture notes book folders of their own. However, the [Proposal to Trustees of University of Pacific to establish a Medical Department] has been added to the "Founding Documents" series, and the existance of correspondence accompanying this proposal has been made clearer. Also made clearer is the fact that the book of lecture notes is also a diary. The date range for the collection has also been expanded.

The collection formerly known as "Collection B," comprised of similar materials produced by faculty and students from the Medical Department's early years, has been merged into this collection.

Arrangement:

The records are arranged into twelve series and six items:

- Addresses to students

- Celsian Association materials

- Character witness testimonies, introductions to potential students, and documents certifying that an individual has received some medical education

- Correspondence

- Examination results and related documentation

- Faculty meeting minutes

- Faculty meeting minute books

- Financial records

- Founding documents

- [Lecture notes and personal diary by anatomy professor R.H. Plummer, 1864 - 1865 and October 1 - December 31st, 1867]

- [Page from the September 1, 1877 Murrurundi Times with advertisement for "Dr. W.H. Gordon Murrurundi Dispensary" circled]

- [Pamphlet on changes to curriculum and graduation requirements at the Bellevue Hospital Medical College for the 1880-81 session, February 1881]

- [Photocopy of medical department opening ceremonies announcement in Daily Alta California, May 5, 1859]

- Records about the construction and use of school buildings

- ["Record of students and instructors April 1859 - January 1883"]

- Resignations

- ["Rules for the Dissecting Room"]

- Student petitions

"Addresses to students" is comprised of speeches given at commencement ceremonies and similar events.

"Celsian Association materials" is comprised of the by-laws and meeting minutes of the Celsian Association student group. It also contains a folder of loose materials, such as correspondence and further meeting minutes, that had been stored with the books.

"Character witness testimonies, introductions to potential students, and documents certifying that an individual has received some medical education" is comprised of correspondence, legal documents, and petitions attesting to the good character and/or medical experience of individuals who likely saught acceptance to the school.

"Correspondence" is comprised of letters to, from, and about the alumni, applicants, faculty, and students of the Medical Department of the University of the Pacific, as well as people and groups not directly related to the school.

"Examination results and related documentation" is comprised of records showing which students passed certain tests, as well as a copy of some test questions.

"Faculty Meeting Minutes" is comprised of the minutes of meetings of the Medical Department faculty held between October 31, 1858 and March 10, 1863, as well as a photocopy of a note on the dates of these meetings written by "Dr. Wilson."

"Faculty meeting minute books" is comprised of the meetings of the Medical Department faculty held between May 23, 1870 and November 9, 1882, arranged into three books.

"Financial records" is comprised of bills, receipts, tax paperwork, staff salary lists, supply lists, and some correspondence discussing matters related to the school's finances, as well as the finances of some private property possibly belonging to Dr. Lane.

"Founding Documents" is comprised of the proposition that led to the Medical Department's creation, as well as the constitution and by-laws subsequently drawn up to govern it. Also included is correspondence discussing the above-mentioned proposition, a declaration of intent to open a Medical Department-affiliated clinic, and the 1855 charter of the University of the Pacific.

"Records about the construction and use of school buildings" is comprised of correspondence and a sketch relating to the creation, ownership agreements, use of some of the buildings that made up the school.

"Resignations" is comprised of the letters of resignation submitted by school faculty over the years.

"Student petitions" is comprised of petitions circulated by the students amongst themselves. These advocate for things like the hiring of an individual and the relocation of a class to another building.

Dimensions:
5W x 12 1/2L x 10 1/2"H (short archives box); 3W x 12 1/2L x 10 1/2"H (half-width short archives box)
Rules or conventions:
Describing Archives: A Content Standard

Access and use

Terms of access:

Property rights are held by the Stanford Medical History Center. Publication or use of collection materials outside the scope of the public domain and fair use is the sole responsibility of the researcher.

Location of this collection:
Lane Medical Library & Knowledge Management Center
300 Pasteur Drive, Room L109
Stanford, CA 94305-5123, US
Contact:
(650) 725-8045
medhistory@lists.stanford.edu
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