Cornell University Medical College - Samaritan Yearbook (New York, NY)

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for faithful and meritorious service . He was an iron manufacturer and oil refiner in Cleveland from 1866 to 1884, at which time he moved to New York. Dr. Lewis A. Conner describes Colonel Payne in his later years as a tall, spare, quiet man, still a bachelor, in whom modesty, simplicity, and gentleness were dominant char- acteristics. He despised ostentation and publicity and his gift to the Cornell School was made with the understanding that his name should not be made public in connection with it. ' The school is founded . . . a contemporary account It behooves us now to examine the story behind the story of the founding of Cornell Medical School. Time has worn away some of the bitter feelings of those early years, and we may now examine objectively a contemporary ac- count in the Evening Post of April 16, 1898: A serious dissension divides the council of trustees of New York University, it may be stated upon authority, and such friends of the University as are informed of the state of affairs fear that unless 'peace with honor' shall be estab- lished at an early day, there wil-lf ensue complications det- rimental to the good name and to the prosperity and useful- ness of a seat of learning which had just attained a prospect of winning a place in the front rank. The latest visible consequence of the council's internal discord is the secession of the eminent surgeons and physicians who have so long given distinction to the Medical School of the University, and their attachment in a body to the medical department which Cornell University has just established in this city. How a result so deplorable to the New York University- so fortunate on the other hand for Cornell University-has been 'brought about, is a question to which all the sons and supporters of the former institution eagerly desire answer. A gentleman who is thoroughly familiar with the whole situation in all of its details has given to the Even- ing Post the following explanation of the seeming mystery: 'From the year 1841 to the year 1887 there was a medical department of the New York University. The whole control of that department was vested in a governing faculty, who accepted the entire financial responsibility and collected and disposed of the tuition fees. Their compensation was limited to such fees, after payment of expenses. The eight govern- ing professors were elected by the council, but only on the recommendation of the medical faculty, all other professors were selected and appointed by the governing faculty of physicians. The University conferred degrees of medicine upon the recommendation of the medical faculty. 'From time to time gifts were made to this governing faculty, as individuals, with which monies, in 1883, they purchased large buildings on East Twenty-Sixth Street, at a net expense of somewhat over 3150,000, of which 390,000 had been borrowed upon bond and mortgage, 340,000 had been contributed by the faculty themselves, and about 320,000 received from subscribers. 'In 1885 a corporation was formed, called the Medical College Laboratory, and individual members of the govern- ing faculty, who then held certificates representing their interests in the property, conveyed the property to the Medi- cal College Laboratory, as a convenient method of holding 3 . s E scam Broome Street downiowfz extension clinic old N. Y. H. title. Thereafter the governing faculty contributed additional amounts. In 1892, Colonel Payne, a friend of the medical governing faculty, 'contributed 3150,000 to the Medical Col- lege Laboratory, with which he satisfied the mortgages upon the buildings, and cancelled the certificates of interests held by the members of the governing faculty, so that the title to the property, free and unencumbered, thereafter stood in the name of the Medical College Laboratory. That amount in effect represented the entire value of the -property, part of the additional sum contributed before that 'by the faculty and their friends having been spent in the care of the insti- tution and in repairs and alterations which added little or nothing to its value. 'Early in 1897, the Chancellor of the University, Dr. Henry M. MacCracken, represented to the governing faculty that it would be much for their interest, as well as that of the University, if the system of self-government, which had hitherto prevailed as to the medical department, should be abandoned, and if, in place of a fluctuating income, de- pendent on the amount earned from year to year, the faculty should receive fixed salaries, to be -paid by the University, and that, to enable the University to meet such salaries and expenses, the property owned by the Medical College Laboratory should be conveyed to the University. He also ' agreed medical mittee 4 lected t committ in every to be rr of the of salary by 'Clie 1 agreed t College agreemen were full of the ot 'There mittee ol wants an. Payne, W to put th With tho: satisfied, , -l:2lCl1liy Sup mittee thg E- Miller, New York Were Prom University mittee wh, Mr- Cllarlc Charles E- 'Sh01'tly .of discord PFOPO-5lll0n Wh the th, Plan That tell throuotl allflbutinf ihe Ullixirs ij, The C0111 e medical fel' to tl l

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.Mo for 0 RNELL UN co Msmc I ARLY IN THE posals were made for the establishment of a medical schooli In fact, one such move took place before the university h d d ' ' a opene its doors to students, in 1866. Three times subsequently the issue was revived but h d 21 to be abandoned because of financial and organizational ,difficul-ties. The nearest approach to the founding of a medi- cal school was the estabilishmen-t in 1887 under the d' , , irec- tion of Mr. W. A, Viall, of a school of pharmacy, which l cosed three years later because of lack of interest For many years there existed in connection with the un' 1- versity what had been termed a medical preparatory course which, under the efficient direction of Dr. B. G. Wilder, imparted instruction in comparative and human anatomy and physiology, also in microscopy and biology. The thought of establishing a medical school in connection with the universit Y at Ithaca appealed strongly to the trustees, but they recognized th . . . e necessity of securing in advance an adequate endow- ment for its -support, as well as the establishment of hos- pitals or wards in the vicinity of the university which h ld s ou supply. the necessary clinical and hospital practice Colonel Oliver Hazard Payne founded the Medical Be- partment of Cornell University in 1898. This far-reaching, b 5 . . ene cent act was the expression of a deep-seated interest in medical education, an interest which had grown and been fostered largely through an association with Dr. Alfred L. Loomis, his physician and friend. Colonel Payne saw that for the proper development of the best type of medi- cal school it should be an integral part of a university of the first class, and he selected Cornell University as the institution best suited to fulfill the ideals he had in mind. Through the judicious management of Mr. Henry F. Dim- mock and Dr. Lewis A. Stimson, plans were perfected which resulted in the acceptance by Cornell of a Medical College fully equipped in all particulars. On the part of the university, arrangements. had been entrusted to President Schurman, Mr, Wil'liam H. Sage, and Mr. Samuel D. Halli- day of the trustees. Mr. Horace White and ex-Governor A. B. Cornell were subsequently added to this committee, and on April 14, 1898, upon theiunanimous recommenda- tion of the committee, the Cornell Medical College was inaugurated. The school was established in New York City in order that it might have adequate facilities for clinical teaching, but arrangements were made for the duplication of the Hrst two years of study at- Ithaca. ' HISTORY of Cornell University pro IVERSITY AL CCLLEGE In the words of President Dr. jacob Gould Schurman who spoke along with Dr Lewis A Stimson Th od 7 . . , e ore Roosevelt fthen the Governor of New Yorkj, and Seth L .V . . . ow fPres1dent of Columbia Universityj at the official opening of the school building in 1900 The ori in of : 8 the Cornell University Medical College remin.ds one of th b' ' e irth of Minerva. That goddess, you remember, sprang full-armed from the brain of love Our medical coll . ege is almost as miraculous a creation. A year ago no one d . . . reamt of its existence. Today it stands before the world with an actual organization and a potency of achievement which seem to presage its manifest destiny as the American A . A . . cropolis of Aesculapius. I know no better illustration of Professor Huxley's saying that 'the question of medicl a education is, in a very large and broad sense a question f o financef Most assuredly this institution could not have come into existence but for the unlimited capital which a wise head and generous hand have furnished for its foundation and support. That munificent gift is the offer- ing to humanity of one who feels deep sympath with hi y I s suffering fellow men, and who believes that their lot is to be ameliorated by the elevation of medical education. 'I suppose,' this generous benefactor once said to me, 'we all want to do some good in the world, and I should like to do something by improving the education of that profession which cares for the lives of men, heals their wounds, and alleviates their suffering' Of such a compassionate heart and intelligent understanding was the Cornell University Medical College born. Oliver Hazard Payne was bo-rn in Cleveland, the son of U. S. Senator Henry B. Payne and Mary Perry fwhence he derived his given name after the Commodorej. He was a menmber of the class of 1863 at Yale and it was there he formed the close friendship with Lewis A. Stimson, a classmate, later Dr. Stimson, which was to have such a pro- found influence on the history of our school. fFortunately for Cornell, legal difficulties prevented Yale from sponsor- ing the New York medical school, in 1898j. He left Yale to join the Union forces and rose from First Lieutenant to Lieutenant Colonel in the 124th Ohio Infantry by Sep- tember, 1862, and in january, 1863, was made Colo-nel at the head of the regiment, which was to see much hard Hghting in the Army of the Tennessee. Colonel Payne was wounded, returned to service, and when the war closed held the brevet rank of Brigadier General of Volunteers 0130 2

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The New York H orpilal, lVeJt 16117 Slreel, efzznzfzfe gate. Completed in 1877 tbir was lbe recom! N. Y. H. and was used for the fore of pfzliefzlf znzlil llae prerem' hospital was opened ill 1932. agreed that, if such change were made, the conduct of the medical department would be carried on by a medical com- mittee of the University, to be composed of gentlemen se- lected by the then governing faculty, and that such medical committee shouldin effect represent the wishes of the facult Y in every respect as to the appointment of professors, changes to be made in the professorships, and general management of the medical department, always excepting the amount of salary to be paid the professors, which was to be fixed by the council. These matters being fully understood and agreed upon, the property was conveyed by the Medical College Laboratory to the University. The conditions and agreements were not included in the terms of the deed, but were fully understood, each party relying on the good faith of the other. 'There were then two gentlemen on the medical com- mittee of the University, thor-oughly acquainted with its wants and needs, and one of whom, Colonel Oliver H. Payne, was the gentleman who had given the 2I5150,000 to put the Medical College Laboratory upon a firm basis. With those two gentlemen the governing faculty were fully satisfied. At the request of the Chancellor, the governing .faculty suggested as the other two members of the medical com- mittee the names of Mr. Henry F. Dimmock and Mr. Charles E. Miller. These gentlemen, although not graduates of the New York University, or connected with it in any manner, were promptly eleoted members of the council of New York University and appointed members of the medical com- mittee which thus consisted of Colonel Oliver I-I. Payne Mr. Charles T. Barney, Mr. Henry F. Dimmock, and Mr., Charles E. Miller. 'Sho Of discord was introduced by Chancellor MacCracken by a proposition to unite the faculty of Bellevue Medical College with the then existing medical department of the University. That plan, after numerous conferences and negotiations, fell through. The Chancellor was bitterly disappointed, and, attributing the loss of the lan to the medical faculty of spite upon away from rtly thereafter a new and entirely unexpected element the University, promptly prdieeded to vent his lt. The control of the medical faculty was taken the medical committee of the Universi-ty by him, and trans- ferred to the executive committee of the council, a body of which only one The faculty was out consultation medical faculty. committee voted they could earn of the medical committee was a member. ,appointed by the executive committee, with- with either the medical committee or the No salaries were fixed, but the executive that compensation should be limited to what by their own labors, not crediting them in any manner with the property which they had given to the University, and imposing upon them numerous charges and expenses with which they were not properly chargeable and which they had not hitherto paid. There was one nota'ble ex- ception in the case of the dean, Dr. LeFevre, who was a friend of the Chancellor, and whose salary was fixed without reference to what might have been earned. It is needless to say that his appointment was not only not approved by the faculty of the medical department or the medical com- mittee, but was very objectionable to them. 'Measures of this character followed thick and fast, until it became manifest that it was the purpose of the University council to violate the agreement upon which they had got possession of the property of the medical laboratory, and to drive the old faculty out, leaving the University the possessors of property acquired under false pretences, and without the burden of consulting or advising any gentlemen to whose generosity they were indebted for the property. 'The next step that followed was at the annual election for trustees of the university council, 'fin the month of November, 1897. In pursuance of the above plan, Mr. Henry F. Dimmock was dropped from -the council at the elec- tion, after a spirited contest in which many of the leading members of the council strongly disapproved of the ac-tion taken. The failure to reelect Mr. Dimmock was immediately .followed by the resignation from the council of Colonel Oliver H. Payne and Messers. Barney and Miller. 'It was, however, apparent to many members of the Council that they could not violate all the pledges given, under which they had obtained the property of the Medi- cal College Laboratory, and still continue to hold such property, and thereupon, on the motion of a member of the council, a resolution was adopted appointing a com- mittee of six members of the council to investigate the matter of the property of the medical department and -15'