The University of Chicago Library > The Hanna Holborn Gray Special Collections Research Center > Finding Aids > Guide to the Rush Medical College Records 1923-1941
© 2007 University of Chicago Library
| Title: | Rush Medical College. Records |
|---|---|
| Dates: | 1923-1941 |
| Size: | 4.5 linear feet (9 boxes) |
| Repository: |
Hanna Holborn Gray Special Collections Research Center |
| Abstract: | Contains agreements between Rush Medical College and the University of Chicago. Also includes some correspondence and copies of miscellaneous documents and printed material, including the Rush Medical School charter, pamphlets, and programs. |
No restrictions.
When quoting material from this collection, the preferred citation is: Rush Medical College. Records, [Box #, Folder #], Special Collections Research Center, University of Chicago Library
Rush Medical College was one of the first medical schools founded west of Ohio. It was named by its founder, Dr. Daniel Brainard, in honor of Benjamin Rush, M.D., the physician-statesman who was a signer of the Declaration of Independence.
During the nineteenth century, Rush grew quickly, paralleling Chicago's rapid growth as a major urban center. In the manner of most medical schools in the 1800's, Rush was a proprietary institution owned and operated by a group of physicians who, in this situation, had joined Dr. Brainard in establishing practices in young Chicago.
By the beginning of the twentieth century, Rush was among the nation's largest and most distinguished medical schools. At that time Rush's faculty "proprietors" accepted a proposal to affiliate with the then new University of Chicago. It was a mutually beneficial development for both institutions. University affiliation brought Rush the research academic connection central to twentieth century medical school organization. Furthermore, the university helped Rush students and faculty create a "new" Rush with a reputation equaling that of the earlier institution. By World War II, however, Rush and the University of Chicago believed their affiliation no longer suited their respective missions and by 1942 Rush had developed an affiliation with the University of Illinois' College of Medicine instead. The U. I. College campus became the city's west side medical district neighbor of Rush and Presbyterian Hospital and its traditional teaching facility.
In the late 1960's, Rush Medical College accepted the proposal of Presbyterian-St. Luke's Hospital to merge its historic charter with the large teaching hospital and to resume accepting students studying for the doctor of medicine. In 1956, Chicago's distinguished St. Luke's Hospital had accepted Rush's teaching hospital's invitation to merge to organize the critical mass of resources contemporary teaching medical centers need.
Rush trustees and alumni were impressed by budding plans for The Rush System for Health. Remarkable plans for a new medical complex were presented as the College considered renewing full instructional capabilities as part of the Rush University Medical Center. A renewed and revitalized Rush Medical College would be a key educational component to help guarantee the success of the comprehensive vision for healthcare research, education, and delivery the Rush System for Health represented. System plans, articulated originally by a group of distinguished physicians at Presbyterian-St. Luke's Hospital, continues to inspire the growth and development of Rush University Medical Center and Rush University.
The collection has been divided into four series.
Series I consists of documents pertaining to the development of the Rush Medical College as an educational institution and hospital. This series primarily consist of legal documents that are related in some capacity or another to a "friendly" legal suit that developed in 1941 between the University of Chicago and Rush Medical College. The suit involved a legal contract that had been begun between the two parties in 1917 and had been completed in 1924 in which Rush Medical College maintained its separate corporation status and continued to allot a large sum of scholarship money on an annual basis, but the University obtained all other ruling powers. The 1941 suit attempted to redefine the relationship between the University of Chicago, Rush Medical College, the Central Free Dispensary of West Chicago, and the Presbyterian Hospital of the City of Chicago.
Series II is a collection of minutes and correspondence from various boards and bureaucratic groups at the college, such as the Board of Medical Affairs, the Faculty of Ogden Graduate School of Medicine, the Faculty of Rush Medical School, the Rush Medical College Board of Trustees, and the Correspondence of the Secretary of the Rush Medical College.
Series III of the collection is composed of materials relating to the development and compilation of a memorial booklet marking the 50th Anniversary of the first graduating class from Rush Medical College. The booklet was entitled, "Records and Reminiscences of the Graduating Class of 1929 of Rush Medical College of the University of Chicago." The document was prepared for and presented at the 50th Reunion of the Class of 1929 of Rush. Besides a copy of the memoirs, this collection is comprised of three sub-sections. The first contains correspondence between Dr. P. Patches, the main writer of the document, and the various members of the Class of 1929. Curriculum vitas of the other members make up the second element. The final sub-section contains some of the letters between Dr. Patchens and Dr. Sippy (another doctor and teacher at Rush) as well as the memoirs of Dr. Sippy about Rush faculty and students.
Series IV holds ephemera and published works regarding meetings and administrative decisions. The first bound journal contains the minutes of the Fender Memorial Association, which was an organization established in honor of Dr. Christian Fenger (1840-1902), who was one of the most noted surgeons in Chicago at the time of his death. In 1877 he moved to Chicago, where he successively lectured in the Rush Medical College, College of Physicians and Surgeons, Chicago Medical College and the Chicago Polyclinic. He was president of the Chicago Medical Society, Vice President of the American Association of Surgeons, and a member of various American, British, and German societies. He was a contributor for twenty years to various medical journals. The collection contains the early minutes of the organization, which was begun in 1907. One of the organization's first goals seems to have been the collecting of Fenger's work and notes with the purpose of being donated to and housed in the Rush Memorial Library. Over the course of the organization's lifespan it provided grants for medical research and publication, often to projects emerging from the Rush Memorial site. In 1930, the corporation decided to be absorbed into the John Rockefeller McCormick Memorial Institute for Infectious Diseases.
The following related resources are located in the Department of Special Collections:
http://www.lib.uchicago.edu/e/spcl/select.html
Irons, Ernest E. The Story of Rush Medical College, Chicago: 1953.
Hirsch, Edwin F. "The Medical School of the University of Chicago," in Frank Billings: A Leader in Chicago Medicine, Chicago. 1960
University of Chicago. Presidents' Papers
Series I: Legal Documents |
| Box 1 Folder 1 | Drafts
|
| Box 1 Folder 2 | Contract Copy, 1901 |
| Box 1 Folder 3 | Miscellaneous, 1941 |
| Box 1 Folder 4 | Trustees of the Rush Medical College, 1941
|
| Box 2 Folder 1 | Legal Agreements, 1917 |
| Box 2 Folder 2 | Legal Agreements, 1924
|
| Box 2 Folder 3 | Legal Agreements, 1924
|
| Box 2 Folder 4 | Legal Agreement, In Re Thompson-Bevan Fund, 1924 |
| Box 2 Folder 5 | Legal Agreement, In Re Thompson-Bevan Fund, 1941 |
| Box 2 Folder 6 | Legal Agreements, 1941
|
Series II: Minutes and Correspondence |
| Box 3 Folder 1 | Board of Medical Affairs, 1901-1921 (bound) |
| Box 3 Folder 2 | Board of Medical Affairs, 1921-1929 |
| Box 3 Folder 3 | Faculty of Ogden Graduate School of Medicine, 1924-1930 |
| Box 3 Folder 4 | Faculty of Rush Medical School, 1924-1925 |
| Box 3 Folder 5 | Faculty of Rush Medical School, 1926 |
| Box 3 Folder 6 | Faculty of Rush Medical School, 1927-1928 |
| Box 3 Folder 7 | Faculty of Rush Medical School, 1929-1930 |
| Box 4 | Bound collection of Rush Medical College Board of Trustees Minutes, 1911-1930. |
| Box 5 | Bound collection of Notes of the Secretary of the Rush Medical College, 1921-1927. |
| Box 6 | Correspondence of the Secretary of Rush Medical College (bound), 1914-1921. |
Series III: Class of 1929 |
| Box 7 Folder 1 | Correspondence, A-G, From Dr. Paul Patchens to members of the Class of 1929 |
| Box 7 Folder 2 | Correspondence, H-M, From Dr. Paul Patchens to members of the Class of 1929 |
| Box 7 Folder 3 | Correspondence, N-R, From Dr. Paul Patchens to members of the Class of 1929 |
| Box 7 Folder 4 | Correspondence, S-Z, From Dr. Paul Patchens to members of the Class of 1929 |
| Box 7 Folder 5 | Correspondence, A-G, From Members of the Class of 1929 to Dr. Paul Patchens |
| Box 7 Folder 6 | Correspondence, H-R, From Members of the Class of 1929 to Dr. Paul Patchens |
| Box 7 Folder 7 | Correspondence, S-Z, From Members of the Class of 1929 to Dr. Paul Patchens |
| Box 7 Folder 8 | Curriculum Vitaes of the members of the Class of 1929, A-Be |
| Box 7 Folder 9 | Curriculum Vitaes of the members of the Class of 1929, Bl-G |
| Box 7 Folder 10 | Curriculum Vitaes of the members of the Class of 1929, H-M |
| Box 7 Folder 11 | Curriculum Vitaes of the members of the Class of 1929, N-P |
| Box 7 Folder 12 | Curriculum Vitaes of the members of the Class of 1929, Q-Z |
| Box 7 Folder 13 | Letters from Patchen to Sippy |
| Box 7 Folder 14 | Letters from Sippy to Patchen |
| Box 7 Folder 15 | Memoirs Written by Sippy about Rush faculty and students |
| Box 7 Folder 16 | "Records and Reminiscences of the Graduating Class of 1929 of Rush Medical College of the University of Chicago" |
Series IV: Ephemera and Published Works |
| Box 8 Folder 1 | Records. Handwritten notes of meetings of the Directors of the Fenger Memorial Association beginning from 1907-1930. |
| Box 8 Folder 5 | By-laws of the Fenger Memorial Association. |
| Box 8 Folder 2 | Ephemeral, 1919-1941
|
| Box 8 Folder 3 | Ephemeral
|
| Box 8 Folder 4 | Published Works.
|
| Box 9 Folder 1 | Diploma, Kate Francis Scott, 1917 |