Happy Friday!
The North Carolina Medical College, seen here in a photo from 1916, played an important role in the evolution of medical education in the state of North Carolina. Its roots date to 1887, when Dr. Paul Barringer established a proprietary school in Davidson, NC, initially called the Davidson School of Medicine. Dr. Barringer had become the physician for Davidson College in 1886, and in 1889 he joined the faculty of the University of Virginia and sold his fledgling medical school to Dr. John Peter Munroe, his successor as physician of Davidson College. Dr. Munroe quickly moved to expand the practice, and in 1893 the institution was chartered as a three-year instruction program known as the North Carolina Medical College. In 1902, the college began sending its senior class to Charlotte, where the students had greater opportunities for clinical training with the numerous hospitals located there. In 1907 the entire student body moved to Charlotte, where the North Carolina Medical College Building was completed at 229 North Church Street.
In the summer of 1910, the Carnegie Foundation sent a representation to the college to evaluate the institution, and criticized the college for not having adequate facilities. In 1914, Dr. Munroe and his associates, unwilling or unable to spend the money required to bring the college into accordance with the Carnegie standards, closed the facilities in Charlotte and enrolled their students at the Medical College of Virginia in Richmond, where they received their degrees as graduates of the North Carolina Medical College. The last degrees were awarded in 1917, bringing the total to 340 Doctor of Medicine degrees that had been awarded by its faculty. The building on North Church Street was sold and converted into luxury apartments, initially known as the Churchill Suites. The building is now across from Discovery Place, a science and technology museum opened in 1981 and is partly visible on the right side of the current shot (below).
Until next week!
Chris.
Email me at chris@704shop.com if you have interesting Charlotte facts you’d like to share or just to provide feedback!
Information taken from:
Charlotte Then and Now, Brandon Lunsford, 2013.
“We have to do with the past only as we can make it useful to the present and the future.” – Frederick Douglass