University of Maryland School of Medicine - Terrae Mariae Medicus (Baltimore, MD)

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♦ ♦ ♦ The Library . . . The library of Dr. John Crawford, which the medical school purchased from his estate for five hundred dollars in 1813, formed and in a sense still forms the nucleus of the medical library. Dr. Crawford was born in Ireland and received his M.D. from St. Andrews. He served as a ship’s surgeon for the East India Company and then settled in the Barbadoes. Later he practiced in the Dutch colony of Demerara, in Africa. At the age of forty he moved to Holland and received a degree from the University of Leyden. In 1796 he came to Baltimore. Here he quickly developed an extensive medical practice and his fame as a physician spread. He was a close friend of Ben- jamin Rush. In 1800 he introduced smallpox vac- cine to Baltimore. His theory of the “contagium animatium” (that certain diseases were caused by microscopic organisms) was published in 1800 bringing him denounce- ments from the medical leaders. On May 9, 1813 he died and was buried in Westminster cemetery. The library was first located in the old Green Room of the medical building. Here the library went through periods of growth and decay until 1903 when Dr. Eugene Eauntleroy Cordell, the medical historian, was appointed librarian and professor of the history of medicine. In 1913 the library moved to its present location, a former church, renamed Davidge Hall. In 1914 Mrs. Ruth Lee Briscoe was appointed librarian to fill the vacancy left by the death of Cordell the preceding year. It was in Mrs. Briscoe’s administration that the greatest growth and develop- ment of the library occurred. Mrs. I. M. Robinson is the present librarian. In addition to its extensive collection of current medical literature there are two departments of peculiar interest to the university. The Maryland Room contains a collection of books on the history of the medical school and the graduate theses from 1817 to 1886. The Crawford Room contains most of the original collection of Dr. John Craw- ( Continued on Page 111) The Hospital The teaching of clinical medicine and surgery at the university was put on a practical basis when the Baltimore Infirmary was opened on September 20, 1823. The faculty of the Medical College had found that the use of old City Hospital on Broadway was unsatisfactory for teaching purposes due to its great distance from the medical school. By the construction of the Infirmary on the southwest corner of Greene and Lombard Streets, diagonally opposite the medical school, the faculty was one of the first in the country to provide for clinical instruction of its students. The professors paid for the hospital by their own personal effort and financial support, thus were able to devote it ex- clusively to teaching purposes. This was the first hospital for the care of the sick in the state of Maryland. The first building ac- commodated 50 patients and was limited to acute cases. There were four wards of which one was limited to cases in oph- thalmic surgery. Two students who were chosen on the basis of their scholarship lived in resi- dence and paid $300 per annum for their board -and lodging. Ward class- es were held several times a week and students had the privilege of accompanying the physicians on their ward rounds. A large surgical amphi- theater was adjacent to the main hospital building and here surgery and anatomy were taught to large groups of students. Through the years the Baltimore Infirmary prospered and underwent many alterations and additions. After a remodelling in 1880 the name University Hospital first came into use. The present dispensary building is the result of an extensive remodelling program carried out in 1896. The new hospital building at Greene and Red- wood Streets was opened in November of 1934. Since that time the old building on Greene Street has housed the group of clinics of the flourishing Outpatient Department, while the new building houses the acute hospital. A new Psychiatric In- ( Continued on Page 111) UNIVERSITY HOSPITAL IN 1823 8

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medical thesis in the Latin language. During the war with England the medical faculty banded to- gether to attend citizens wounded at the Battle of c North Point. Following the war classes began to increase in size. In the years 1824-5 there were at least 300 students, the exact number being unknown even to the Dean. At this time the course of medicine was two years, a Bachelor of Medicine being awarded after completion of 1 year, and Doctor of Medicine degree after completion of the full two years. At the commencement of 1825, held in Chemical Hall, an honorary degree of Doctor of Medicine was conferred upon Ephraim McDowell, the famous ovariotomist from Kentucky. And in 1824 an hon- orary L.L.D. was given to the Marquis de Lafay- ette. By an act of the legislature passed in 1826 the Board of Regents was abolished and a board of twenty-one Trustees was established with the Governor of the state ex officio president of this board. This move was said to have been instigated by certain members of the faculty who were jealous of Drs. Davidge and DeButts. The latter had given series of lectures in their homes which were very popular with the students. Whatever the cause of the act it resulted in 13 years of instability for the medical school during which time the faculty and students bitterly opposed the government of the Trustees. On the second of February, 1828, a duel was fought between two students, Samuel J. Carr of South Carolina and William Bond Martin of Mary- land. The duel followed an argument in which Carr declared that Martin was “no gentleman.” Carr put a pistol ball through Martin’s forehead and Martin died. Following the duel Carr eloped with Davidge’s step-daughter and was temporarily expelled from the university. He left the country for a time, becoming United States Consul to Tan- giers. Later he returned to school, obtained his degree in 1834, then entered the army. After a brief but distinguished medical career he died at old Pikesville Arsenal in 1847. A revolution within the medical school occurred in 1837. This was said to have started when the janitor struck a student for bringing a friend into the university grounds in order to show him an anatomical specimen that he had prepared. Later, Professor Potter objected to this janitor conducting a gambling establishment with the sale of whiskey and brandy to the students between classes. The janitor threatened to thrash the professor who objected to the Board of Trustees. However no action was taken and the janitor continued his dubious activities. The sympathy of the students was with Professor Potter who carried side arms for his protection. The appointment of a new faculty member against the wishes of the faculty caused further ire, culminating on the second of May 1837 with a meeting of the old Board of Regents and certain of the faculty in the Infirmary. At this meeting, they voted themselves independent and decided to hold classes in the Indian Queen Hotel. Most of the students attended these classes; others either transferred to other schools or quit school entirely. A new faculty appointed by the Trustees also held classes, however before an al- most empty Chemical Hall. On the night of September 21 several of the faculty, assisted by a number of the students, obtained keys to the university. They expelled the janitor and occupied the grounds for two days, then decided to resort to legal proceedings rather than force to regain control of the university. In ( Continued on Page 211) 7

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PRESIDENT HARRY CLIFTON BYRD, B.S., L.L.D., D.Sc. P resident, 1 Jniversittj of- 1 1]ary(and