History of medical practice in Illinois - Bushnell Historical Society

450 History of Medical Practice in Illinoiscumbed in the struggle of competition only because of an adverse sequenceof circumstances, unfavorable location, financial difficulties or because ofthe clash or the deficient force of personalities.In point of origin, Hahnemann Medical College and Hospital 14 was thesecond school of medicine in Chicago, being incorporated in1855 by thepioneer in homeopathic practice in the city, Dr. David S. Smith, in protestagainst Rush Medical College which refused admission to all students suspectedof any leanings towards Hahnemannian doctrines. Smith, with thehelp of Hon. Norman B. Judd and Hon. Thomas Hoyne, proceeded to thelaw office of Abraham Lincoln where the charter was drafted and written.Owing to ill health, Dr. Smith failed to push the establishment of the College,which was held in abeyance until 1859-60, when at a meeting ofhomeopathic physicians in Chicago, a faculty was organized and nominated.During the first eight years, the course of lectures at the HahnemannMedical College was given at 168 South Clark Street over the pharmacy ofHalsey and King. In 1868, the college removed to 1237 State Street, between12th and 14th Streets, where it occupied the upper stories of a tall brickbuilding, the lower portion of which was utilized as a vinegar factory.Evidently the odors emanating from above were incompatible with thoseproduced by the occupants below, for an item in the college cataloguerecords the dean's report of notification that "the rooms now occupied bythe college would not be rented again for college purposes if dissectingrooms were to be connected with it." A renewal of the lease was obtainedupon the pledge of the faculty "that no offensive smell should in futureannoy the neighbors."In June 1870, the cornerstone of the building that was intended to be thepermanent home of Hahnemann Medical College was laid on CottageGrove Avenue near 28th Street. When completed and ready for occupancyin the following October, the edifice was "the best college building west ofthe Allegheny Mts." The prospects for the future were bright, and thepolicies of the school were liberal, for it was among the first institutionsadmitting women students on equal terms with men, and its work of instructionwas good. But almost immediately its faculty was torn withdissensions which led, in June 1876, to the incorporation of the ChicagoHomeopathic Medical College, while Hahnemann Medical College wasreorganized with a smaller faculty.The Chicago Homeopathic Medical College in the catalogue of its 17thsession (1892-93) described its building as a large, substantial edifice, erected14In Volume i, pages 239-256, Dr. Zeuch devoted a chapter to homeopathy, coveringthe period up to and including the 1850's. Dr. Kampmeier here continues the history,giving special consideration to the colleges and hospitals of the Hahnemann system.—Editor