Atlantic Medical College
Baltimore, MD
1890-1910
E-Travel
HathiTrust has digital copies of the 1908 school announcements and the 1910 Flexner Report. The Baltimore Sun covered some school news.
History
Southern Homeopathic Medical College was chartered in 1890 by a Baltimore homeopathic association. That name was selected to attract students from the South, which had few colleges of homeopathy. Classes opened in the fall of 1891. The first graduating class had six men, but with promise of 40-50 the following year. Flexner gives enrollment as 43 in 1909. Almost all students were from outside the state and only one was a matriculate.
Starting in 1895 the city gave $800 annually to the school, an amount later raised to $1000. However, after the fire of 1905, that funding was withdrawn to help rebuild the city. To attract more students, the focus of the school broadened. The 1907-08 catalog carried the following statement: "To be among progressive practitioners of the present time, it is necessary to know more than homeopathy alone." The school now wanted to turn out physicians "who grasp intelligently the whole subject of therapeutics but who are thorough and practical believers in homeopathy."
Bricks and Mortar
Southern Homeopathic College occupied a building on Saratoga Street near the city center. In 1902 the school moved to a new building constructed at 1140 Mount Street in the northeast part of the city. This cherry-red brick building was two stories above a basement. That basement contained the free dispensary with waiting rooms. Two large lecture halls were on the first floor. Utilizing the skylight, the dissecting room was on the second floor, which also had facilities for the female students and the assembly room. The building boasted of seven laboratories.
The Mount Street building was adjacent to the new Maryland Homeopathic Hospital, providing easily accessible clinical opportunities for students. St. Luke's, another new (and competing) homeopathic hospital, was also open to Atlantic Medical College students.
The catalogs boast of the healthful, elevated ground which provided a "charming view. . . reaching the harbor across the city to fields and woods beyond the city."
Immediately after the college closed in 1910, the property was purchased by a private individual. In 1911 it was sold to the Maryland Homeopathic Hospital, which was looking to expand. However by 1921 that facility had also closed.
The Mount Street Building (https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015020178730;view=2up;seq=6) accessed 2-11-2017
Atlantic Medical College students assist a rurse in the dispensary. (https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015020178730;view=2up;seq=54) accessed 2-11-2017
So in accord with this new focus, the name was changed to Atlantic Medical College in 1907.
The catalog shows that the college Y.M.C.A. chapter provided Bible study and devotions as well as assisting students with housing. Professional fraternities included Alpha Sigma and Epsilon Tau (for female students); all students were encouraged to become members of the Hering Institute, an academic support group. The Sun covered an entertainment and dance sponsored by students of A.M.C. and the student nurses of St. Luke's Hospital in 1909.
Atlantic Medical College was excoriated by the 1910 Flexner Report. It noted that of 21 graduates in 1908, "almost all had failed at other schools or before the regular state board before entering Atlantic Medical School." Even three members of the teaching staff a year later had been members of that class. Flexner described the building as "filthy" and lab equipment as "scant and dirty." It criticized the clinical arrangement with St. Luke's Hospital since it was "several miles off." The report concluded that the existence of such a school was "a blot on the state of Maryland and the city of Baltimore."
Sports
Colors: Garnet and gold
The 1908-09 catalog carried the statement "Sparring, fencing, wrestling, tennis, baseball, football, basketball, etc. have claimed more or less attention, and it is anticipated that an excellent football will be organized for work immediately following the opening of the session."
Newspaper accounts in 1908-09 show baseball and basketball teams. In 1908 the football team is described as "fast." The coach, recruited from the University of Pennsylvania, had organized "a number of trick formations" and had recruited key players from Baltimore club sides.
College Football Data Warehouse shows two games in 1908--both losses to Maryland University and Mount St. Mary's. In addition, the Sun says that a game had been scheduled with Baltimore Medical College that season.
Note: Images are used in accordance with their “terms of use” as I understand those terms. Recopying or republishing these images may be restricted or forbidden.