Drexel University College of Medicine - Medic Yearbook (Philadelphia, PA)

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2 THE NEW HAHNEMANN JOURNAL OF MEDICINE June 4, 1980 Figure 1. The Allentown Academy. During this time the college was beset with financial difficul- ties, and was reincorporated as a stock corporation. This change also allowed the school to grant a degree of doctor of medicine as well as doctor of homeopathy. However, as a result, one member of the faculty, Dr. Lippe, became majority stockholder. Dr., Lippe subsequently abolished the chair of Special Pathology and Diagnostics in 1867 on the grounds that such instruction was unnecessary for a homeopathic physician. Dr. Hering found this position untenable, and resigned from his lectureship. During the summer of 1867, Dr. Hering and his associates secured the charter of the Washington Medical College of Phila- delphia, which had never held classes, and changed the name to Hahnemann Medical College of Philadelphia. The college was opened September 30, 1867 in a building at 1307 Chestnut Street with 61 students enrolled. Twenty six diplomas were awarded on March 4, 1868. After Hahnemann moved to 16-18 North 10th Street for the next session, the two schools operated as rivals, although the faculty of the old school was in sympathy with Dr. Hering. Dr. Lippe was persuaded to sell his stock to a Dr. Guernsey, who was acting incognito as an agent for Dr. Hering. On April 2, 1869, by act of the Pennsylvania Legisla- ture, the two colleges were merged and by virtue of the Washing- ton Charter, granted privileges of a university. The Hahnemann name was retained as a tribute to the founder of homeopathy and the institution continued on at 1105 Filbert Street. With the opening of the 1869-70 session, Hahnemann became the first Figure 3. Announcement of Courses for the Homeopathic Medical College of Pennsylvania. 31111 1.j'A'l'11l1' Xi1,lvl'IAL. Ill1.I4Z'.f1L il: .xv-Y1.YAY1a. 1'1.11f1-1 121191 l'1r:.xZ'.l fy,-1 ,5 l' :'r1,1',l'.1.'1--1-1.'::1. Q 1Mf,1,1f H-1 i'l1w111111.' 'i ' r1'-l- gi, 41,111 1 4 -111 l'1 r1-1' lr 1' irq' i.u111,,11 q1N'1A5,1g1- 11 1111 f u11'.'4'1.1c', 1 5- 11111111-11 1 11- hrsti Nl1 1'l1 alll 11- :j,,.,. ,111 19. 11.11. l':--'team-1.11.-gl'-1.1C11' P. -C l'ri' 1 i-lu'1'l1- - , . 1 uf 151 Q- t'..1gw:', 311.121, 1:1111-mir 1-' Xl 51 111 1 1-, 11. 1.1. 111 .111z, f11. ll.. l 1 'F1 ll' ll l elm-1-11: Rl11'111i1'.1-1l'111'1 1 . 1.-3114 l1.1l.,.'r1-1'1'ss11r-11 l' --1'1 1, M tl., l'111'1-'14 1' l 1 ,, , 1.1, 51. 11., 1'1111'.. --11 .1 7.1 -1., 1'1 11.111.v iy:-iligywzi-5 1 Y s-'1l'4l 1I.11. l1,1l'1'J1' ll l JPlJW1lil lit.-r-1 1-711 Ilii' '-'1Y1 'lf -1:11.- 1 -.1-111.11111-e 1 ' it l L 1'l1l1.'BZu- I I '111.s1-2: l l. ' .Aki . vt 11: .l 1 ,F ...I nu C1-ll 4 1' ll In. 1i111liA11's1',- f S -WN' 1 4 - t111'11111y, - - lll'1l 1 v1lr1'. ' 7 I 1 1 '11 4 N,Nlll,ll11111' '1 I-l1'u.':-1. ' INN 1 11'-1-'.I'l11l1tl. 1 46 , 1 1 '1- +7-1 ,r .. .1 1 Figure 2. Homeopathic Medical College of Pennsylvania at 229 Arch Street. medical school to adopt an optional three year course of instruc- tion, previous standards being two years. In the summer of 1869 the faculty felt a new hospital was needed to increase the facilities for clinical teaching. A large fund-raising fair was held at Horticultural Hall in November which raised S17,000. In 1870 construction of a five story hospi- tal building at the site of the old soldiers hospital on Cuthbert Street was begun. The hospital had a capacity of 30 beds and was formally opened January 9, 1871 tFig. 65. At this time a new amphitheater was built with access to the hospital. Contention then arose centering around the desire of the hos- pital to remain separate from the college, as the hospital proper- ty was held in trust by the college. In 1874 the hospital was successful in obtaining an independent charter from the college, however, conditions at Cuthbert Street gradually deteriorated due to the inadequate size of the facilities and the poor location. Finally on May 1, 1883 the severance occurred and the College Trustees appointed a committee to secure a lot for a college and hospital. At this time the college had only a charter, a library, a museum which contained the Paracelsian collection and no mon- ey in the treasury. But, in the summer of 1883, a site on Broad Street above Race was found and secured with funds from the faculty. The official purchase was made September 28, 1883 for Figure 4. Homeopathic Medical College of Pennsylvania at 1105 Filbert Street. The structure was designed by Thomas U. Walter, noted architect of Girard College and designer of the wings and dome of the U.S. Capitol. .1 -1 -, .jak f -. 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The New Hahnemann ournal of Medicine Volume 1 JUNE 4, 1930 Number l HOMEOPATHIC MEDICINE REVISITED SAMUEL HAHNEMANN, M.D. Abstract. Hahnemann Medical College was initially estab- lished as a school where the controversial principles of homeopathy could be taught. The course of Hahnemann has varied from periods of financial and academic instability to periods of expansion of facilities and academic recogni- N 1790, while experimenting on myself with cinchona bark iquininel, I developed the symptoms of intermittent fever, the same disorder for which the bark was prescribed. This was my first observation of the fundamental principle of homeopathy: Similia similibus curantur , or like cures like. After years of research, in 1810 I set forth the principles of my new system of medicine in the Organon of the Art of Healing, opposing the barbaric medical methods of the day, and advocating the use of single remedies in small doses to stimulate the body's natural mechanisms for combatting disease. Although homeopathic ideas were not universally accepted, they were introduced into America by Dr. Hans Burch Gram when he settled in New York City in 1825. Since that time homeopathy has been both ridiculed and accepted as equivalent to allopathic medicine. The purposefof this paper is to follow the indroduction of homeopathy into American medicine and to determine its effects on and the subsequent development of an institution which bears my name, Hahnemann Medical College and Hospital. MATERIALS AND METHODS On July 24, 1828, Dr. Henry Detwiller of Hellertown adminis- tered the first homeopathic medication in Pennsylvania: Pulsa- tilla to treat a case of retarded menstruation with severe colic. A later epidemic of dysentery was effectively controlled in 1829 with the resultant conversion of many allopathic physicians in Lehigh and Northampton counties to homeopathy. Under the guidance of Dr. Wesselhoeft of Bath and Dr. Detwiller, the Homeopathic Society of Northampton and Adjoining Coun- ties was formed August 23, 1834. On April 10, 1835 the North American Academy of the Homeopathic Healing Art, later known as the Allentown Academy fFig. lj, was founded as the first school of homeopathy in the world. Dr. Constantine Hering was president, with Drs. Romig, Praeses, Wesselhoeft, Detwiller, Freytag and Pulte as faculty. The academy published a periodi- cal and taught courses in physical examination, semeiotics, fsymptomatologyj, pharmacodymanics, therapeutics, botany, pathology, physiology, anatomy, zoology, surgery, midwifery, diseases of women and children, medical jurisprudence, phyto- logy, physics, mineralogy, chemistry, geology, astronomy, math- ematics and the history of medicine during sessions from No- vember to August. Diplomates, of which there were 16, were required to pass a Colloquium, to present a Curriculum Vitae and to write a dissertation on a medical subject. However, such factors as lack of funds and the exclusive use of the German language for teaching contributed to the Academyis eventual failure in 1843. Two years after the academy closed, the American Institute of Homeopathy was organized and contemplated the establishment of a homeopathic medical college. In 1847, the National Medi- tion. The most recent expansion effort has been the con- struction of the New Hospital Tower which will provide improved facilities for administering and teaching the art of medicine. CN Hahn J Med 1:1-6, 19807 cal Convention iof allopathic physiciansj, predecessor to the American,Medical Association, resolved that allopathic medical schools were not to accept students on the certificate of physi- cians not of allopathic training, thus denying those interested in homeopathy a medical education. RESU LTS These developments led to a meeting in early February of 1848 among Drs. Constantine Hering, Jacob Jeanes, and Walter Wil- liamson for the purpose of petitioning the legislature for the incorporation ofa homeopathic medical college. The charter was granted April 8, 1848, forming the Homeopathic Medical Col- lege of Pennsylvania, the first successful homeopathic college in the world. The first 2-year course of lectures began on October 16, 1848 in rooms at the rear of a building at 229 Arch Street fFig. 21. Fifteen students, paying a S100 course fee were enrolled under a faculty of nine professors fFig. 35. Six doctors who had already attended lectures elsewhere graduated on March 15, 1849 in the Musical Fund Hall. In September 1849 the college was moved to more spacious quarters on 1105 Filbert Street, a building formerly occupied by the Pennsylvania College of Medicine fFig. 41. Additions were made to the faculty, 55 students matriculated and 20 were graduated. From the college's inception, clinical instruction took place in a dispensary. On April 20, 1850 a charter was granted for the formation of the Homeopathic Hospital of Pennsylvania, which took physical existence in 1852 in a large building on Chestnut Street near the Schuylkill River fFig. SJ. The hospital had about 40 rooms, admitted accident cases at any hour, but did not admit infectious disease cases. Vincent L. Bradford was president. However, although 32,800 was raised at a 1853 fair in the Chinese Museum, Ninth and Sansom Streets, the hospital closed after two years of operation. Efforts continued to reestablish a hospital, succeeding September 9, 1862 with the formation of a women's association for the management of a hospital. Two dwellings at the rear of the college on Cuthbert Street were altered into a hospital, equipped with the furnishings of the old Chestnut Street Hospital, and opened for the treatment of sick and wounded soldiers. Although the United States Government would not allow their soldiers to be treated homeopathically until after their discharge, about 25 cases were seen daily. After the war the hospital remained opened with few patients, barely sur- viving on charity. In 1865 the faculty voted to allow women to listen to the college's lectures. Also the first issue of the Hahnemannian Monthly appeared this year, and Dr. Boericke was authorized to prepare a standard Homeopathic Pharmacopoeia the following year.

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Vol. 1 No. 1 HOMEOPATHY REVISITED - HAHNEMANN 3 Ill! :Il l Figure 5. First Homeopathic Hospital in Pennsylvania, Chestnut Street. the sum of S103,666.67. In July of 1884 construction of the new college and one of the hospital buildings began. The cornerstone of the college was laid on November 6, 1884. After the separation, the hospital suffered financially and on May 16, 1885 merged with the college under the title of The Hahnemann Medical College and Hospital of Philadelphia. On September 20, 1886 the college building was dedicated at a cost of 573,695 fFigs. 78:81. The institution also absorbed the Penn- sylvania Homeopathic Hospital for Children this year. On October 3, 1887 the first building of the new hospital was opened, Clinical Hall, a dispensary used temporarily as a hospi- tal. This year also saw the optional 3 year course become manda- tory. In 1889 Hahnemann started its first outreach program, a branch dispensary in Johnstown to aid the victims of the flood. On October 21, 1890 three primary buildings of Hahnemann Hospital were opened on North 15th Street at a cost of S138,000 fFig. 91. The school of nursing was also established at this time, and a four year optional medical school course was offered. During the following years Hahnemann grew in prestige. Dr. Rufus Weaver won the Gold Medal of the Columbian World Exposition for Harriet, his dissection of the human cerebrospi- Figure 7. Hahnemann Medical College Building, Broad Street. -.ff 'Q E315 r-fgfiff lliiu ipgi hm m .. 'J-J? Figure 6. Cuthbert Street Homeopathic Hospital. nal nervous system fFig. 101. In 1894 Hahnemann established a mandatory four year curriculum. In 1906 the student nurses residence, maternity building, powerhouse and laundry were opened on North 15th Street at a cost of S350,000. Hahnemann succeeded in passing the famous Flexner Survey of 1910 with a class A rating, a tribute to the school's laboratory instruction as well as its faculty. After the Flexner report, Dr. Van Lennep, appointed dean in 1910, further raised Hahnemann's academic standards to those required of a university teaching center. To comply with state regulations, a College of Science was opened in 1913 to provide a one-year premedical course. It later was expanded to two years, and finally closed in 1929 because of an ample supply of adequately trained premedical students. After much negotiation and several setbacks, the decision was made to construct a new hospital. Two million dollars were raised, and in 1927 the college building was demolished to pre- pare for the construction of the Greater Hahnemannfi The college was temporarily moved to another building and later was relocated in the refurnished old hospital building on 15th Street. The new 735 bed, 20 story hospital was completed in 1928 at a cost of 82,500,000 and dedicated January 3, 1929. It was said to be the second largest private hospital in the United States and the first skyscraper type of teaching hospital fFigs. 12, 138L 141. Among its advanced features were a steel skeleton, fireproofing, a telephone in each private patient's room, a two-program radio outlet at each bedside, six high-speed, ultra-silent elevators, a flash page system, a nurse page system, sun rooms, softly lit corridors, tables which fit over the bed, self-stopping dumb waiters and adjoining bathrooms for the private patients' rooms. The exterior architecture was modified American Gothic while the main entrance was Tudor English Gothic. In the early 30's Hahnemann ran afoul of the Liaison Com- mittee of Medical Education because of oversized classes in relationship to faculty and facilities. This was remedied with the construction of the Klahr Building which was opened in 1938 and which provided more modern laboratory teaching facilities, classrooms and even an auditorium fFig. 151. After the start of World War II, courses were taught on a year-round basis for several years, and women were first ad- mitted in 1941. In 1944 the former Northwest Grammar School at 1417 Race Street was reconverted into an outpatient clinic building fFig. 161.