Columbia University College of Pharmacy - Apothekan Yearbook (New York, NY)

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COLLEGE

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MESSAGE FROM THE DEAN If Although completing their studies under a less stringent program than that effective for the entering Class of this year, the Class of 1958 does not represent an inferior type of pharmacy graduate. It must not be regarded that an abrupt educational change is a limiting factor which works to their disadvantage. There can be no sharp line of demarcation between an old and a new regime in the course of a business or profession and it is well that this is so. The gradual merging of the old with the new gives time for experimentation out of which should come a retention of the advantages of both. It also affords those in the business or profession an opportunity for adjustment to changed conditions. H 7 believe that the class of 1958 will participate in benefits accruing from the new order and the effects on the practice of pharmacy ultimately resulting therefrom. It is said that one of the objectives is the placing of pharmacy on a firmer professional basis, especially in the estimation of the public. Educational advances will be but partially successful in this attainment unless they are supplemented by the activities and attitude of those now in pharmacy. 11 The opportunity of favorably molding public opinion in regard to pharmacy has been open to each succeeding class. May the class of 1958 be an active force in this direction for in this manner they will insure the welfare of the profession they have chosen and reflect credit upon the College.

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1829 to 1938 A HISTORY OF THE COLLEGE H It is a propensity or college graduates to reflect in later years the glory or their alma mater. The class of 38 has much of which to be proud, for its college has always fostered all that is honorable , ethical and best in the profession of pharmacy. And so, it is with pride that we present to you your personal record of the history of a noble insNViLion. H The history of the College of Pharmacy may be diyided for purposes of clarity into three periods— one of stress, ono of security, and one of established success. We who have both witnessed and contributed to the latter period, cannot possibly hope to thoroughly appreciate the conditions preceding the establishment of the College un- less we momentarily shut our eyes to the present and let the power of our imagination open them to the past. |[ In 1829 New York City was made up or a heterogeneous population whose views are expressed by the New York Mirror of the period as follows: No subjects engage public attention more at the present time than the diffusion of knowledge and the instruction of the young. Such an atmosphere could not help but arouse some of the members of the then stagnant pharmaceutical profession. It seems that the com- plexities of the profession were such that preliminary training was necessary for its prac- tice. In March of that year, therefore. John Keese, a graduate of the already established Philadelphia College ol Pharmacy and a member or the firm of Lawrence. Keese and Company, suggested that a College of Pharmacy be founded in New York. Acting upon his suggestion, a committee of thirty pharmacists met in the then famous meeting house, the Shakespeare Hotel, and drew up a constitution. The College, as stated, was established for the purpose of cultivating, improving, and making known a knowledge of pharmacy, its collateral branches of science, and the best mode of preparing medicines and of giving instruction in the same by public lectures. Ij After numerous retarding technicalities, the College officially opened its doors in 1829, lectures being given at the College of Physicians and Surgeons. Dr. John lorrey was selected as lecturer of Chemistry and Physics. Dr. J. Smith Rogers as lecturer of Materia Medica. The courses extended over a period of three months, the fee for which was three dollars. Chemistry was the most popular subject, for many amazing demon- strations were shown. • Water was actually decomposed, metals were burned, and hydrogen and oxygen were made to explode when brought in contact with a spark ' The mysteries of electricity were explained, too, and Leyden jars and galvanic batteries were experimented upon. |[ For the next 25 years, the trustees of the College had to struggle continually for the very existence of the institution. Funds were meagre and so the College was shifted about from place to place, classes being held in the New Dispensary, the basement of the City Half and in rented rooms over Lockwood s bookstore at 285 Broadway. The years 1855-60 were especially critical; bondholders demanded repayment of capital, and the College was faced with dissolution. Only by great economy and sacrifice did it manage to pay off its debts and continue to exist. U The period of security, 1870 to 1906. saw the College housed .in the remodeled Grace Chapel on Twenty-third Street. However, the available facilities soon became inade-