American College of Surgeons - Yearbook (Chicago, IL)

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6 American College of Surgeons means, and scope. The location was the most important phase on account of the spirit of contest which inevitably ensues when many individuals, who have varying ideals and who reside in widely different areas, are to be satisfied. At the Philadelphia meeting in 19 14 the Regents, as the result of a spirited discussion of the subject of a permanent home, ap- pointed a committee to consider the matter, with Admiral Charles F. Stokes, formerly Surgeon General of the United States Navy and a resident of Washington, as Chairman. This Committee presented a tentative report at the annual meeting of the College held in Washington in 19 14, which distinctly favored Washington as the home of the College inasmuch as it is the capital of the United States, the center of population of the East, and a distinctly neutral ground. Although the report was tentative and not sup- ported by a definite recommendation, it was loudly applauded by a large number of the Fellows present. It was not, however, made a subject of vote because it had not received the cordial endorsement of all the Regents. The subject of location was discussed by the College from three principal standpoints: First, should the home be situated in a medical teaching center? Second, should it be in the capital of the nation, which would also have the advantage of neutrality? Third, should it be in a geographical and medical teaching center of the United States? The greatest difference of opinion in the minds of those who discussed the matter seemed to be between the capital of the United States and one of the medical centers. After the above-mentioned Committee had submitted its report and recom- mendation, the subject of the future home of the College aroused an interest among many Fellows who had previously given it but httle thought, and it became apparent that an opinion was developing which more and more favored one of the medical centers. In the meantime the European v ar, since it was inevitable that we were to be drawn into it, was occupying our minds, and the problems of our medical societies and of the College were tem- porarily dwarfed.

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The Permanent Administrative Home 5 America, and brought to a consummation the recent absorption of the latter organization by the former. The records show that Dr. Martin has at great personal sacrifice both of time and money made this result possible. We also wish to acknowledge our debt of gratitude to that master surgeon, the late Dr. John B. Murphy, for the aid he gave in promoting higher surgical education and fostering purer professional ideals. (Signed) William J. Mayo, President William W. Pearson Miles F. Porter Arthur D. Be van George David Stewart THE PERMANENT ADMINISTRATIVE HOME Since the inception of the American College of Surgeons, a paramount problem in its organization has been the one of fixing a permanent central administrative home. From the beginning, in the minds of its friends and organizers the American College of Surgeons has been compared with the Royal College of Surgeons of England, with its nine centuries of accomplishments; its dignified home in Lincoln ' s Inn Fields, London; its Hunterian Museum; its great medical Hbrary; its collection of paintings and busts of men who made the history of surgery; and its store-house of traditions of unprecedented value. The American College of Surgeons, com- prising the surgical profession of the United States and of Canada, and representing a population of one hundred and fifteen million people, must, they conceived, have a home which will compare favorably in dignity and importance with that of its predecessor in England; and while the counterpart cannot vie with its original in traditional treasures, it can offset these by the compensating advan- tages that accrue to the College because of its greater field of activity and its newer methods of attack. Confronting the Regents at the outset in the consideration of a permanent home was a three-fold problem — location, financial ♦Abstract of Secretary General ' s Annual Report for 1919

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The Permanent Administrative Home 7 Creation of the John B. Murphy Memorial Association But the horrors of a European war could not distract us from the great loss which the medical, and especially the surgical, profes- sion of the world sustained in the death of one of the most distin- guished Fellows and influential founders of our College, Dr. John B. Murphy. His death, occurring as it did at the height of his activity and influence, brought us face to face with the mutability of our transient problems. It also brought vividly to the minds of his nearest friends his transcendent interest in the American College of Surgeons and his regret that, at the time the permanent location of the College was discussed, Chicago, the city in which he had done his work, was not even seriously considered. Before he had been laid to rest, a host of his lay friends were discussing and planning a suitable memorial for this great man — something other than bronze or marble; something connected with his life ' s work; something useful; something essential; something enduring; something in Chicago. The suggestion that in the permanent home of the American College of Surgeons a memorial hall bearing his name be dedicated to his memory, as the Hunterian Museum of the Royal College of Surgeons commemorates a leader of surgery of England, appealed to these friends, and an organization known as the John B. Murphy Memorial Association was immediately incorporated. The plans of this Association included the securing from the municipality of Chicago or from the citizens of Chicago a gift of land on which to build the first unit of the future home of the American College of Surgeons, the building to be known as the Murphy Memorial of the College. It was obviously necessary that the tentative plans of this organization should be immediately considered by the College and a decision definitely rendered. It was mid-August and the Regents were scattered, enjoying their vacations. The Chicago contingent — the Treasurer, the Director, and the Secretary General — realized that favorable action could not be authorized concerning the tentative emergency offer of the Memorial Associa- tion without the consent of the Regents of the College. The