University of Maryland School of Pharmacy - Terra Mariae Yearbook (Baltimore, MD)

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Dr. Davidge had erected near the southeast corner of Liberty and Saratoga streets, the site now occupied by the Rennert Hotel. This violent demonstration, however, had the effect of uniting the medical profession of the city in the effort to establish a Medical School, and on December i8, 1807, an act founding a Medical College in the city or precincts of Baltimore, for the instruction of students in the different branches of medicine, was passed by the Legislature of the State of Maryland. This original charter is still in force, and when it was granted Baltimore was the third city in size in the United States, having a population of 33,000, and its growth from 1790 to 18 10 far exceeded that of New York and Philadelphia. The Board of Regents at a meeting held December 28, 1807, pursuant to an Act of the General Assembly of Maryland, at the horse of Dr. Davidge, elected the first medical faculty as follows: George Brown, M.D., Professor of the Practice and Theory of Medicine ; John B. Davidge, M.D., and James Cocke, M.D., joint Professors of Anatomy, Physiology and Surgery ; John Shaw, M.D., Professor of Chemistry; Thomas E. Bond, M.D., Professor of Materia Medica, and William Donaldson, M.D., Professor of the Institutes of Medicine. Dr. Brown having resigned, Nathaniel Potter, M.D., was elected Professor of the Practice and Theory of Medicine. Dr. John B. Davidge was the first Dean. The lectures of the first session of the chartered institution were delivered at the houses of Professors Davidge, Cocke and Shaw, to seven students, there being no graduates at this session. Dr. Potter began his lectures in 180S. Dr. Donaldson declined to accept his appointment, but Dr. Brown continued to act as the President of the Board of Regents until the year 181 2. The second session was held in a building on the southwest corner of Fayette street and McClellan ' s Alley, and the class consisted of ten members. In 1809 the vacancies in the Chairs of Chemistry and Materia Medica were filled by the election of Elisha DeButts, M.D., and Samuel Baker, M.D., and the matriculates had increased to eighteen. During the session of 1824-5 the matriculates num- bered 320. In 1 8 10 the first public Commencement was held, and the degree of Doctor of Medicine was conferred upon five graduates. In 1812 Dr. William Gibson was elected Professor of Surgery, and Dr. Richard Wilmot Hall, Adjunct Professor of Obstetrics and Diseases of Women and Children. 23

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A lot on the northeast corner of Lombard and (ireene streets was purchased from Colonel John Eager Howard, and the erection of the present University Building was begun in May, 1812, and the ensuing session was held in the partially completed structure. It was built in imitation of the Pantheon at Rome, and at the period of its comple- tion was the finest structure devoted to medical teaching in this country. Its Anatomical Theatre and Chemical Hall were described in the papers of that date as being as extensive and appropriate as those of any of the European schools. On the completion of this building the idea was first conceived of founding a University upon the Medical School, and on December 29, 18 12, the Legislature of Maryland passed an Act authorizing the College of Medicine of Mary- land to constitute, appoint and annex to itself the other three Colleges of Faculties, viz : ' ' The Faculty of Divinity, the Faculty of Law and the Faculty of the Arts and Sciences, and that the four Faculties or Colleges thus united, shall be, and they are hereby constituted an University, by the name and under the title of the University of Maryland. The first Faculty of Divinity consisted of Rt. Rev. James Kemp, D.D. ; Rev. James Inglis, D.D. ; Rev. J. Daniel Kurtz; Rev. George Roberts, and the Rev. John Glendy, The Rev. Dr. William E. Wyatt was appointed in 1819, and the last survivor of this Faculty was the Rev. J. G. Hamner, D.D. In 1878 this Theo- logical Department ceased to exist. The Department of Law was organized in 1823, and its first Faculty consisted of Messrs. David Hoff man, Robert Goodloe Harper, John Purviance, Robert Smith, Nicholas Price, and Nathaniel Williams. This Law Department is in active operation, and among its Alumni and present Faculty are to be found the names of many of the most prominent jurists in the State of Maryland. The first Faculty of Arts consisted of such eminent scholars as Charles W. Hanson, Rev. John Allen, John E. Hall, Rev. Archibald Walker, John D. Craig, Samuel Brown, and Henry Wilkins, M.D. With the death of Rev. Edwin A. Dalrymple, about the year 1865, the Department of Arts and .Sciences became extinct. The first Provost of the University was the Hon. Robert Smith, who had occupied the position of Secretary of State of the United States. Professor Richard Wilmot Hall was the first Secretary of the Board of Regents. The present Secretary of this Board is the 24