University of Cincinnati College of Medicine - Annual Yearbook (Cincinnati, OH)

Page 174 text:

THE MORNING CEREMONIES The celebration began with an academic procession from the Administration Building of the Cincinnati General Hospital to the Medical College, Dr. A. C. Bachmeyer and Dr. Carey P. McCord acting as marshalls. All who took part were in cap and gown and preceded in the following order: Members of the Medical Faculty of the University. Members of the other Faculties 0f the University. Visiting Delegates from other Institutions. The Board of Directors. Recipients of Honorary Degrees. Speakers and Clergy. Acting Dean of the Medical College. President of the Board of Directors. President of the University. At the entrance to the Medical College those who took part in the pro- cession, passed through a lane headed by the Senior Class and made up in order of members of the other classes and student nurses. The day was bright and sunny, adding a touch of cheerfulness t0 the general solemnity of the occasion. The Medical College auditorium was not large enough to seat the crowd of alumni and guests. The medical students, however, had agreed previously that for them standing room was far good enough and that the visitors should be shown every possible courtesy; in this way perhaps a hundred more guests were able to witness the ceremony in comfort. The morning program was opened with an invocation hy the Reverend George A. Thayer. Bless. he said, the memory of those who have builded this institution. May we all, as we share the blessings of this cooperation of our brother men one with another, be glad'of our time and yet be humble that so little has been accomplished. May these blessings quicken our spirits and guide us in the everlasting ways. ADDRESS OF RUFUS L. SMITH, LL. D. Following the invocation was an address of welcome by Rufus 1.. Smith, LL. 13., President of the Board of Directors of the University. He said in part, The mere fact that an institution of learning has continued to live for a hundred years is a solemn circumstance. The presumption is that it has served a benehcent purposeesomewhere it must have been in touch with the eternal verities or it would have withered and died. A Tribute to Dean Holmes With medical education centered in the University, another great medical reformer. Dr. Christian R. Holmes appeared. To Dr. Holmes, more than any other force is due the fact that the people of this city taxed themselves to erect this hospital and other athliated hospitals. and that private citizens erected this Medical School. Dr. Holmes had secured many endowments for the support of the Medical School, and had he lived, would have secured many more. In June, 1916. the University established a School of Nursing and Health. The Board hesitated sometime before taking this action, not being readily con- Page One H und-red Seventy-two

Page 173 text:

RETROSPECT A hundred years in human affairs holds within its compass an overwhelming number of events. It is only by calling a hall for a mmnent and looking back. that the magnitude of what has been tlnne becomes really apparent. Since 1820. when Daniel Drake founded the. First medical college west of the Alle- ghenies and the third in the. United States. Harvard and Pennsylvania alone taking precedence, the whole aspect of the world has altered. The country has prospered beyond all expectation of its early settlers 'l'ravel. production and commerce have been expedited by invention. New ideas dominate thought. Empirea have risen and fallen. A war has. shaken the very foundation of Western Civilization. In all things there has been change; in a few. progress. For it is doubtful that people are happier or more contented now than a century ago. In medical affairs, however, one has but to glance over the hundred years gone by to assure himselft that. judged by the criterion of having benefited humanity. true progress has been made. It is interesting in this regard to contrast during this epoch the impressive structures reared by selhsh rulers and ambitious politicians at the cost of human life and agony, with the less im- pressive but more enduring achievements of medical workers whose only aim was the alleviation of human suffering. The intrigues of nations and the ambitions of rulers are written in the blood of their people. They make up history as it is written and cover the pages of that glorious book with a record of man's inhumanity to man. It is refreshing to turn from all the sordid strife and perhdy of state-craft to quiet laboratories and silent bed-sidcs where men, just as keen-minded as a Bismarck or a Cavnur, won by patient observation the knowledge which has helped to make the world a better place in which to live. After a period of such change. it is fitting that a day should be set aside to commemorate the founding of a medical school which took a worthy part in the general growth of the healing art. With this in mind. Dr. Christian R. Holmes. nf sacred memory. planned the celebration which would mark the hundreth year of the. founding of the Ohin Medical College. But it was not given to the beloved dean to take part in the ceremony which he had planned. THE CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION The date set for the commemoration of the founding of the Medical College was November 6th, 1921. Universities and medical schools in all parts of the country sent representatives. and old alumni came hundreds of miles to do honor to the occasion. The fund regard in which the college is held by its former graduates was borne out in the replies to many of the invitations. One of the most interesting of these was a letter from 10121, Kansas. from Dr. W. S. Hendricks, who said in part: llI presume I am the oldest living member of that class USGOl being now nearly 93 years of age. 1 have retired from active practice but still take a deep interest in medicine and its advancement. 1 ex- tend greetings to the college, and best wishes for continued prosperity. The letter was addressed to Dr. Martin H. Fischer and has been carefully filed away by the librarian of the college. Miss Frances Currie. Page One Hundred Swenty-om

Page 175 text:

vinced that such a school was prnperly a part nf a university. The school. however, has justilied the action of the. Board, and has acquired a national reputation. The action of the Board has since. been followed by a large number of other Universities Later in 1916, the medical work and nursing in the Cincinnati General Hoapital were by the new Cincinnati Charter. placed under the direction of the Board of Directors of the University, and in effect, hemme a part of the work of the College of Medicine of the University: thus bringing about a union of a Medical School and a Hespital. cmnhining in such a school hnth the theory and practice of medicine. surgery. and nursing, a result of which all interested in medical education have always dreamed but scarcely hoped to see realizetlx tlln all at there later movements to which I have referred. Dr. Holmes was an active and forceful Figure, patient, tireless. sagaeious and CHCCtive. lt lb 21 sul'hcicnt eulogy of Dr. Holmes to say of him that at the time of his death. Cincinnatit in the judgment of the highest medical authorities has the Enest medical educational plant in the United States. A Look into the Future llhe hiatury nf all modern professional schools. bUCll as those of Medicine Law and Engineering shows that the bulk of the work Cannot be done. by prac- ticing physicians. lawyers or engineers. These men are too busy in their active. practice to give the necessary time In teaching: and the schools which have followed such a policy suffer in competition with their rivals who follow a diHerent policy. Full time men must and inevitably will fill most of the important Chairs. 'lOur educational circles in this country have in recent years made a fetish of numbers. The impression prevails all too generally that a university is to be judged like at factory- by the quantity of its product. Let us in this Medical School, hitch our wagon to 11 star. Better a dozen hrst-class physicians and surgeons, than a hundred fuurth-class ones. The former are benefactors of society; the latter are a menace to the community in which they practice. Tu the citizens of Cincinnatit I would say that they have within their grasp the opportunity to make of Cincinnati, one of the greatest, if not the greatest medical center of the Middle lNest. We must not. we cannot fail. ADDRESS OF ACTING DEAN OLIVER 'llt is not within my province on this occasion, said Dr. Dlivert to extol the virtues and merits of Dr. Holmes. but it is my pleasant duty to honor his memory by calling attention to the fact that he was a dreamer 0f magniticent dreamst an architect of noble planst and a man 01' aL'Cotlelislnueut His memory will ever remain as an inspiration to those who seek the heights. of medical possibilities. He and Dr. Daniel Drake will go clown in medical history as progreSssive. far-seeing and successful pioneerSeeach in his own way. Drake created something out of nothingiHolmes re-created a great institution out of material that was decaying. All honor to each one of them. A Glimpse of Early Cincinnati 'llt is almost impossible for any one of us. unless perchanee he he. upwards of ninety years of age. to conceive of the conditions in Cincinnati one hundred Page Om Hundred SeventEy-lkree