Temple University School of Dentistry - Odontolog Yearbook (Philadelphia, PA)

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when grounds were purchased at 18th and Bur-tonwood Streets and a new school building was erected, the cornerstone being laid with Masonic ceremonies on January 13, 1897. The new building had a frontage of 200 feet on Buttonwood Street with a clear and unobstructed northern light. The building and equipment were considered the most modern and up-to-date for the teaching of dentistry at that time. The Philadelphia Dental College, being the first institution to include the study and practice of Oral Surgery, now had ample space to include an operating room and ward in the furtherance of this new specialty. This alone was enough to attract world wide attention to the school which was now known as the Philadelphia Dental College and Hospital of Oral Surgery. Further growth of the institution necessitated an appropriation being sought from the state, the granting of which made possible the erection of a hospital building located on Hamilton Street, adjoining the College. This new building was ■ :fe v wr .»•

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The School HISTORY AND LOCALE TEMPLE University actually originated in 1884 when, at the request of a group of young men who desired to prepare for the ministry, Russell H. Conwell, minister, lecturer, and philanthropist, organized a program of night study. Within four years the group had grown from seven students to almost six hundred. Dr. Conwell then secured a college charter. In 1891 the College of Liberal Arts established a day department, and obtained the power to confer degrees. In 1907 the College became a University, with Dr. Conwell as its first president. The growth of the University has proceeded with the same extraordinary rapidity. The Philadelphia Dental College, which became the Dental School of Temple University in 1907, was organized by Dr. John H. McQuillen and several professional associates in the fall of 1862, a charter for the new school being granted by an act of the Legislature of Pennsylvania in the spring of 1862. In November of that year a competent faculty was secured and the first term of the school was inaugurated. At that time there were but three other dentals schools in the United States; now there are thirty-nine. After being located at 108-110 North 10th Street for twenty-four years, larger quarters were found necessary and so in 1887 larger and better quarters were found on Cherry Street below 18th, in association with the Medico-. Chirurgical College, with each institution retaining its individual identity. There the school remained and grew in prominence until 1896, 9

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said to be the only hospital in the United States devoted to the specialty of Oral Surgery and was named in honor of Dr. James E. Garretson, who was the father of Oral Surgery and for many years Dean of the Philadelphia Dental College when it was located at 18th and Cherry Streets. In 1907 the Philadelphia Dental College and the Garretson Hospital of Oral Surgery were, by mutual agreement, taken over by Temple University. This consolidation resulted in the inauguration of one of the finest professional institutions in the country. During the next thirty years many physical changes took place in the school. The building formerly occupied by the Garretson Hospital, which was separate and apart from the main iJAItKKTHOX llOHI'ITAt . College building, was used to accommodate the various scientific laboratories and the School of Oral Hygiene. The administration offices were located on Spring Garden Street, from which thoroughfare the main entrance to the campus and College building was located. During the early months of 1946, Temple University was fortunate in securing a new building for its School of Dentistry located within one and one-half blocks of Temple University Hospital and the Medical School on North Broad Street. This new building is a four story steel reinforced concrete structure faced with white limestone on its front elevation, has a total floor space of 197,000 square feet and covers the en- 11