"Men of Unsullied Reputation:" The Founders of the Medical College of South Carolina

Introduction

"Whereas the Medical society of South Carolina, have taken measures for the establishment of a medical school in Charleston, to be conducted by professors chosen by them, and at their own expense, and have petitioned for the authority to confer medical degrees: And whereas it is the duty of an enlightened government to aid the advancement of science: Sec. 35. Be it therefore enacted, That from and after the passing of this act, the Medical Society of South Carolina, shall be, and they are hereby authorized to organize a medical school, to consist of such professorships as they may deem expedient, and to confer medical degrees upon such candidates as may qualify themselves therefor, under the regulations which they may establish."

“City Gazette, “Medical College of South Carolina,” p. 3”

This authorization, nestled between the incorporation of the Protestant Episcopal Church in Pendleton District and that of the Cheraw Steam Boat Company, was passed by the South Carolina General Assembly on December 20, 1823. After several years of lobbying the state legislature, the Medical Society of South Carolina was finally able to establish the first medical school south of Baltimore, and its members did so swiftly. By February 1824, a subcommittee had laid out the course of study, requirements for graduation, and the chairs and professorships to be filled. At special meetings in April and June, the first faculty of the Medical College were elected. By July, newspaper advertisements announced the start of lectures in November.

While the seeds of medical education in South Carolina have long been attributed to Dr. David Ramsay, who successfully lobbied the Medical Society to hold public lectures in medical sciences in 1803, the impetus to establish a medical school did not come until 1821, six years after his death. A variety of economic, political, cultural, and intellectual factors prompted members of the Medical Society in Charleston to secure authorization from the state legislature. Finally, and with the support of a well-respected former state senator, they did so.

The following explores not only the broader, complicated historical context of the school’s founding, but the lives of its founders, the first faculty, and the students who attended the Medical College of South Carolina in its earliest days. Though few records survive from the school’s founding period, this exhibit aims to explore the crucial role these men played in its establishment and the tumultuous historical era in which they founded the first medical school in the southeast.

(Image Description: Announcement for the commencement of the first year of classes at the Medical College of South Carolina. “Medical College of South Carolina.”

City Gazette

. July 22, 1824.")