The College of Physicians of Philadelphia
Encyclopedia
The College of Physicians of Philadelphia is the oldest private medical society in the United States. Founded in 1787 by 24 Philadelphia
physician
s "to advance the Science of Medicine, and thereby lessen human misery, by investigating the diseases and remedies which are peculiar to our country" and to promote "order and uniformity in the practice of Physick," it has made important contributions to medical education and research. The College hosts the Mütter Museum
, a gallery of 19th-century specimens, teaching models, instruments, and photographs, as well as the Historical Medical Library, which is one of the country's oldest medical libraries.
The College of Physicians of Philadelphia Building, designed by the firm of Cope & Stewardson
and built in 1909, was designated a U.S. National Historic Landmark
in October, 2008. It was also then listed on the National Register of Historic Places
.
Community Health Information Center has provided current information about medical and health topics to the general public. The Francis Clark Wood Institute for the History of Medicine, founded in 1976, supports seminars and conferences in the history of medicine and the Mütter Museum and the College Library specialize in the history of medicine rather than general medical topics. The Library and Museum are open to the public.
, the museum's contents include medical oddities
, anatomical
and pathological
specimen
s, and antique medical equipment
. Anatomical specimens include the conjoined liver
of Siamese twins
Chang and Eng Bunker
; and a section of the brain of Charles J. Guiteau
, who assassinated President Garfield. Medical instruments include a wooden stethoscope
and Marie Curie
's quartz-piezo electrometer
De sedibus et causis morborum (On the Seats and Causes of Disease) by Giambattista Morgagni was one of the first acquisitions of the library. This book, published in Venice in 1761, was given by Morgagni to John Morgan, a founding fellow of the College. The library's collection includes over 400 editions printed before 1501, known as incunables, which they claim is the best-cataloged incunable collection in the world.
Over 12,000 other rare books including De motu cordis (On the Motion of the Heart) (1628) by William Harvey
and De humani corporis fabrica
(On the Fabric of the Human Body) (1543) by Andreas Vesalius are in the collection. The library is open to the public three days per week, by appointment only. Many historical items have been digitalized and are available online.
, founded 1765, were in Philadelphia, as were some of the earliest public health measures, including America's first public water supply in the 1790s. By 1783 Benjamin Rush
, a signer of the Declaration of Independence
, proposed a society similar to Royal College of Physicians in London. The first meeting was held on January 2, 1787. Within weeks the fellows were organizing a library and starting to produce a pharmacopoeia
; within a year a series of scientific papers were being presented, which were collected in the Transactions of the College of Physicians starting in 1793.
The College's public health activism began in 1787 with statement on temperance sent to the Pennsylvania Legislature. In 1793, a yellow fever
epidemic
broke out in Philadelphia and the College proposed eleven public health measures to the mayor. When the epidemic returned in 1794 and 1797, the College organized the municipal response, proposing a city health law and a Board of Health with the authority to enforce quarantine. In 1841 the College encouraged the city to buy land along the Schuylkill River
, to guarantee the purity of the city’s drinking water, leading to the establishment of Fairmount Park
, the nation’s largest urban park. The College of Physicians’ humanitarian activism was reflected in its efforts to prevent the mentally ill from being executed.
The earliest meetings of the College were held at Fourth and Arch Streets but the growth of the library soon made that space inadequate. In 1791, the College moved to a room on the second floor of the American Philosophical Society
’s new hall at Fifth and Chestnut Streets, in the group of public buildings surrounding Independence Hall
. In the 1840s and 1850s the College moved twice, and in 1859 considered new quarters again when Thomas D. Mütter gave the College his pathology collection, and an endowment of $30,000 to support it, on the condition that the College build a fireproof building to house it within next five years.
James H. Windrim designed a utilitarian two story building that opened on March 4, 1863 at Locust and Thirteenth Streets and cost $40,858.28. In 1885 a third story was added and the interior was transformed into the style of a gentleman’s club. By 1900 the growth of the library and museum collections forced consideration of another move. Andrew Carnegie
contributed $50,000 in 1903 to start the building fund, and in 1906 he agreed to contribute the final $50,000 needed for construction. The cornerstone was laid on April 29, 1908 and the building dedicated on November 10, 1909. The completed cost was $289,266, excluding the furniture and finishing of the principal rooms.
, designed by Robert Hooke
and built in 1673–77. The building houses the library, a lecture hall, the museum, and offices. Three facades are highly decorated – the main facade on South 22nd Street facing west, the northern facade facing Ludlow Street, and the southern facade facing a courtyard. Three broad horizontal bands of limestone – along the basement, at the top of the first floor, and the balustrade – artistically unite all the facades.
The 22nd Street facade is most richly ornamented with a grand entrance behind a monumental gate and a wrought iron fence. The entrance is classically composed, flanked by Roman Doric columns with richly carved capitals. Outside this pair of columns are two pilasters, carved with the seal of the College of Physicians, that support a Doric entablature.
The interior is an opulent example of the Beaux-Arts architecture. A 30 feet (9.1 m) octagonal rotunda, the main hall, and a rich formal marble stair form the central axis, with the main rooms branching off this axis. The stair, which dominates the first story, has a bronze railing and a niche holding a sculpture of Aesculapius, the god of healing. Mitchell Hall, originally called the Hall of Portraits, is a grand ceremonial hall measuring 71 by 48 feet (14.6 m). It holds much of the College's art collection, including works by Robert Vonnoh
and William Merritt Chase
. The Norris Room contains an unusual carved stone Gothic fireplace designed by Theophilus Parsons Chandler, Jr.
The fireplace was donated in 1885 by George William Childs
, publisher of the Philadelphia Public Ledger, and originally built in the College’s old Locust Street building. The Mütter Museum is a two-storied space surrounded by a gallery in the northeast corner of the building,
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Philadelphia is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the county seat of Philadelphia County, with which it is coterminous. The city is located in the Northeastern United States along the Delaware and Schuylkill rivers. It is the fifth-most-populous city in the United States,...
physician
Physician
A physician is a health care provider who practices the profession of medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring human health through the study, diagnosis, and treatment of disease, injury and other physical and mental impairments...
s "to advance the Science of Medicine, and thereby lessen human misery, by investigating the diseases and remedies which are peculiar to our country" and to promote "order and uniformity in the practice of Physick," it has made important contributions to medical education and research. The College hosts the Mütter Museum
Mütter Museum
The Mütter Museum is a medical museum located in the Center City area of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It contains a collection of medical oddities, anatomical and pathological specimens, wax models, and antique medical equipment. The museum is part of The College of Physicians of Philadelphia. The...
, a gallery of 19th-century specimens, teaching models, instruments, and photographs, as well as the Historical Medical Library, which is one of the country's oldest medical libraries.
The College of Physicians of Philadelphia Building, designed by the firm of Cope & Stewardson
Cope & Stewardson
Cope & Stewardson was an architecture firm best known for its academic building and campus designs. The firm is often regarded as a Master of the Collegiate Gothic style. Walter Cope and John Stewardson established the firm in 1885, and were later joined by Emlyn Stewardson in 1887...
and built in 1909, was designated a U.S. National Historic Landmark
National Historic Landmark
A National Historic Landmark is a building, site, structure, object, or district, that is officially recognized by the United States government for its historical significance...
in October, 2008. It was also then listed on the National Register of Historic Places
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...
.
Current programs
The College remains a private membership organization of physicians, whose members or "fellows" attend regular meetings on professional education and development. Starting in 1995 the C. Everett KoopC. Everett Koop
Charles Everett Koop, MD is an American pediatric surgeon and public health administrator. He was a vice admiral in the Public Health Service Commissioned Corps, and served as thirteenth Surgeon General of the United States under President Ronald Reagan from 1982 to 1989.-Early years:Koop was born...
Community Health Information Center has provided current information about medical and health topics to the general public. The Francis Clark Wood Institute for the History of Medicine, founded in 1976, supports seminars and conferences in the history of medicine and the Mütter Museum and the College Library specialize in the history of medicine rather than general medical topics. The Library and Museum are open to the public.
Museum
Founded by Thomas Dent Mütter in 1858 for medical researchBiomedical research
Biomedical research , in general simply known as medical research, is the basic research, applied research, or translational research conducted to aid and support the body of knowledge in the field of medicine...
, the museum's contents include medical oddities
Medical oddity
A medical oddity is an unusual predicament or event which takes place in a medical context. Some examples of medical oddities might include: "lost and found" surgical instruments , grotesquely oversized tumors, male pregnancy, rare or "orphan" illnesses, rare allergies , strange births , and...
, anatomical
Anatomy
Anatomy is a branch of biology and medicine that is the consideration of the structure of living things. It is a general term that includes human anatomy, animal anatomy , and plant anatomy...
and pathological
Pathology
Pathology is the precise study and diagnosis of disease. The word pathology is from Ancient Greek , pathos, "feeling, suffering"; and , -logia, "the study of". Pathologization, to pathologize, refers to the process of defining a condition or behavior as pathological, e.g. pathological gambling....
specimen
Specimen
A specimen is a portion/quantity of material for use in testing, examination, or study.BiologyA laboratory specimen is an individual animal, part of an animal, a plant, part of a plant, or a microorganism, used as a representative to study the properties of the whole population of that species or...
s, and antique medical equipment
Medical equipment
Medical equipment is designed to aid in the diagnosis, monitoring or treatment of medical conditions.-Types:There are several basic types:* Diagnostic equipment includes medical imaging machines, used to aid in diagnosis...
. Anatomical specimens include the conjoined liver
Liver
The liver is a vital organ present in vertebrates and some other animals. It has a wide range of functions, including detoxification, protein synthesis, and production of biochemicals necessary for digestion...
of Siamese twins
Conjoined twins
Conjoined twins are identical twins whose bodies are joined in utero. A rare phenomenon, the occurrence is estimated to range from 1 in 50,000 births to 1 in 100,000 births, with a somewhat higher incidence in Southwest Asia and Africa. Approximately half are stillborn, and a smaller fraction of...
Chang and Eng Bunker
Chang and Eng Bunker
Chang and Eng Bunker were the conjoined twin brothers whose condition and birthplace became the basis for the term "Siamese twins".-Life:...
; and a section of the brain of Charles J. Guiteau
Charles J. Guiteau
Charles Julius Guiteau was an American lawyer who assassinated U.S. President James A. Garfield. He was executed by hanging.- Background :...
, who assassinated President Garfield. Medical instruments include a wooden stethoscope
Stethoscope
The stethoscope is an acoustic medical device for auscultation, or listening to the internal sounds of an animal body. It is often used to listen to lung and heart sounds. It is also used to listen to intestines and blood flow in arteries and veins...
and Marie Curie
Marie Curie
Marie Skłodowska-Curie was a physicist and chemist famous for her pioneering research on radioactivity. She was the first person honored with two Nobel Prizes—in physics and chemistry...
's quartz-piezo electrometer
College library
Their library was established in 1788 and served as Philadelphia's main medical library for over 150 years. It is now a research library specializing in the history of medicine.De sedibus et causis morborum (On the Seats and Causes of Disease) by Giambattista Morgagni was one of the first acquisitions of the library. This book, published in Venice in 1761, was given by Morgagni to John Morgan, a founding fellow of the College. The library's collection includes over 400 editions printed before 1501, known as incunables, which they claim is the best-cataloged incunable collection in the world.
Over 12,000 other rare books including De motu cordis (On the Motion of the Heart) (1628) by William Harvey
William Harvey
William Harvey was an English physician who was the first person to describe completely and in detail the systemic circulation and properties of blood being pumped to the body by the heart...
and De humani corporis fabrica
De humani corporis fabrica
De humani corporis fabrica libri septem is a textbook of human anatomy written by Andreas Vesalius in 1543....
(On the Fabric of the Human Body) (1543) by Andreas Vesalius are in the collection. The library is open to the public three days per week, by appointment only. Many historical items have been digitalized and are available online.
History of the college
Because of the Quaker tradition of philanthropy, Philadelphia became a leader in the development of medicine in the 18th century. America's first public hospital, founded 1752, and first medical schoolUniversity of Pennsylvania School of Medicine
The Perelman School of Medicine , formerly the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, was founded in 1765, making it the oldest American medical school. As part of the University of Pennsylvania, it is located in the University City section of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It is widely...
, founded 1765, were in Philadelphia, as were some of the earliest public health measures, including America's first public water supply in the 1790s. By 1783 Benjamin Rush
Benjamin Rush
Benjamin Rush was a Founding Father of the United States. Rush lived in the state of Pennsylvania and was a physician, writer, educator, humanitarian and a Christian Universalist, as well as the founder of Dickinson College in Carlisle, Pennsylvania....
, a signer of the Declaration of Independence
Declaration of independence
A declaration of independence is an assertion of the independence of an aspiring state or states. Such places are usually declared from part or all of the territory of another nation or failed nation, or are breakaway territories from within the larger state...
, proposed a society similar to Royal College of Physicians in London. The first meeting was held on January 2, 1787. Within weeks the fellows were organizing a library and starting to produce a pharmacopoeia
Pharmacopoeia
Pharmacopoeia, pharmacopeia, or pharmacopoea, , in its modern technical sense, is a book containing directions for the identification of samples and the preparation of compound medicines, and published by the authority of a government or a medical or pharmaceutical society.In a broader sense it is...
; within a year a series of scientific papers were being presented, which were collected in the Transactions of the College of Physicians starting in 1793.
The College's public health activism began in 1787 with statement on temperance sent to the Pennsylvania Legislature. In 1793, a yellow fever
Yellow fever
Yellow fever is an acute viral hemorrhagic disease. The virus is a 40 to 50 nm enveloped RNA virus with positive sense of the Flaviviridae family....
epidemic
Epidemic
In epidemiology, an epidemic , occurs when new cases of a certain disease, in a given human population, and during a given period, substantially exceed what is expected based on recent experience...
broke out in Philadelphia and the College proposed eleven public health measures to the mayor. When the epidemic returned in 1794 and 1797, the College organized the municipal response, proposing a city health law and a Board of Health with the authority to enforce quarantine. In 1841 the College encouraged the city to buy land along the Schuylkill River
Schuylkill River
The Schuylkill River is a river in Pennsylvania. It is a designated Pennsylvania Scenic River.The river is about long. Its watershed of about lies entirely within the state of Pennsylvania. The source of its eastern branch is in the Appalachian Mountains at Tuscarora Springs, near Tamaqua in...
, to guarantee the purity of the city’s drinking water, leading to the establishment of Fairmount Park
Fairmount Park
Fairmount Park is the municipal park system of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It consists of 63 parks, with , all overseen by the Philadelphia Department of Parks and Recreation, successor to the Fairmount Park Commission in 2010.-Fairmount Park proper:...
, the nation’s largest urban park. The College of Physicians’ humanitarian activism was reflected in its efforts to prevent the mentally ill from being executed.
The earliest meetings of the College were held at Fourth and Arch Streets but the growth of the library soon made that space inadequate. In 1791, the College moved to a room on the second floor of the American Philosophical Society
American Philosophical Society
The American Philosophical Society, founded in 1743, and located in Philadelphia, Pa., is an eminent scholarly organization of international reputation, that promotes useful knowledge in the sciences and humanities through excellence in scholarly research, professional meetings, publications,...
’s new hall at Fifth and Chestnut Streets, in the group of public buildings surrounding Independence Hall
Independence Hall
Independence Hall is the centerpiece of Independence National Historical Park located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States, on Chestnut Street between 5th and 6th Streets...
. In the 1840s and 1850s the College moved twice, and in 1859 considered new quarters again when Thomas D. Mütter gave the College his pathology collection, and an endowment of $30,000 to support it, on the condition that the College build a fireproof building to house it within next five years.
James H. Windrim designed a utilitarian two story building that opened on March 4, 1863 at Locust and Thirteenth Streets and cost $40,858.28. In 1885 a third story was added and the interior was transformed into the style of a gentleman’s club. By 1900 the growth of the library and museum collections forced consideration of another move. Andrew Carnegie
Andrew Carnegie
Andrew Carnegie was a Scottish-American industrialist, businessman, and entrepreneur who led the enormous expansion of the American steel industry in the late 19th century...
contributed $50,000 in 1903 to start the building fund, and in 1906 he agreed to contribute the final $50,000 needed for construction. The cornerstone was laid on April 29, 1908 and the building dedicated on November 10, 1909. The completed cost was $289,266, excluding the furniture and finishing of the principal rooms.
Building
The College of Physicians of Philadelphia Building is a two story rectangular red brick structure with limestone trim that was completed in 1909. Many of its forms are drawn from London's Royal College of PhysiciansRoyal College of Physicians
The Royal College of Physicians of London was founded in 1518 as the College of Physicians by royal charter of King Henry VIII in 1518 - the first medical institution in England to receive a royal charter...
, designed by Robert Hooke
Robert Hooke
Robert Hooke FRS was an English natural philosopher, architect and polymath.His adult life comprised three distinct periods: as a scientific inquirer lacking money; achieving great wealth and standing through his reputation for hard work and scrupulous honesty following the great fire of 1666, but...
and built in 1673–77. The building houses the library, a lecture hall, the museum, and offices. Three facades are highly decorated – the main facade on South 22nd Street facing west, the northern facade facing Ludlow Street, and the southern facade facing a courtyard. Three broad horizontal bands of limestone – along the basement, at the top of the first floor, and the balustrade – artistically unite all the facades.
The 22nd Street facade is most richly ornamented with a grand entrance behind a monumental gate and a wrought iron fence. The entrance is classically composed, flanked by Roman Doric columns with richly carved capitals. Outside this pair of columns are two pilasters, carved with the seal of the College of Physicians, that support a Doric entablature.
The interior is an opulent example of the Beaux-Arts architecture. A 30 feet (9.1 m) octagonal rotunda, the main hall, and a rich formal marble stair form the central axis, with the main rooms branching off this axis. The stair, which dominates the first story, has a bronze railing and a niche holding a sculpture of Aesculapius, the god of healing. Mitchell Hall, originally called the Hall of Portraits, is a grand ceremonial hall measuring 71 by 48 feet (14.6 m). It holds much of the College's art collection, including works by Robert Vonnoh
Robert Vonnoh
Robert William Vonnoh was an American Impressionist painter known for his portraits and landscapes. He traveled extensively between the East Coast and France, more specifically the artists colony Grez-sur-Loing....
and William Merritt Chase
William Merritt Chase
William Merritt Chase was an American painter known as an exponent of Impressionism and as a teacher. He is also responsible for establishing the Chase School, which later would become Parsons The New School for Design.- Early life and training :He was born in Williamsburg , Indiana, to the family...
. The Norris Room contains an unusual carved stone Gothic fireplace designed by Theophilus Parsons Chandler, Jr.
Theophilus Parsons Chandler, Jr.
Theophilus Parsons Chandler, Jr. was a Philadelphia architect best remembered for his churches and country houses. He founded the Department of Architecture at the University of Pennsylvania , and was its first head.-Career:...
The fireplace was donated in 1885 by George William Childs
George William Childs
George William Childs was an American publisher who co-owned the Philadelphia Public Ledger newspaper with financier Anthony Joseph Drexel.-Early life:...
, publisher of the Philadelphia Public Ledger, and originally built in the College’s old Locust Street building. The Mütter Museum is a two-storied space surrounded by a gallery in the northeast corner of the building,
Notable fellows
Founders
Among the 24 founding fellows were:- Adam KuhnAdam KuhnAdam Kuhn was an American physician and naturalist, and one of the earliest professors of medicine in a North American university....
- John Redman, first president of the College
- Benjamin RushBenjamin RushBenjamin Rush was a Founding Father of the United States. Rush lived in the state of Pennsylvania and was a physician, writer, educator, humanitarian and a Christian Universalist, as well as the founder of Dickinson College in Carlisle, Pennsylvania....
, signer of the Declaration of IndependenceDeclaration of independenceA declaration of independence is an assertion of the independence of an aspiring state or states. Such places are usually declared from part or all of the territory of another nation or failed nation, or are breakaway territories from within the larger state... - John MorganJohn Morgan (physician)John Morgan was co-founder of the Medical College at the University of Pennsylvania, the first medical school in Colonial America; and he served as the second "Chief physician & director general" of the Continental Army...
, founder of America's first medical school - Benjamin SayBenjamin SayBenjamin Say was a member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Pennsylvania.Benjamin Say was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He graduated from the medical department of the University of Pennsylvania at Philadelphia in 1780 and practiced in that city. He also worked as an apothecary...
- William Shippen, Jr., the second Surgeon General of the Continental Army
Others
- Arthur CaplanArthur CaplanArthur L. Caplan, Ph.D., is Emmanuel and Robert Hart Professor of Bioethics and director of the Center for Bioethics at the University of Pennsylvania. Prior to coming to Penn in 1994, Caplan taught at the University of Minnesota, the University of Pittsburgh, and Columbia University. He was the...
- Samuel D. GrossSamuel D. GrossSamuel David Gross was an American academic trauma surgeon. Surgeon biographer Isaac Minis Hays called Gross "The Nestor of American Surgery." He is immortalized in Thomas Eakins' The Gross Clinic, , perhaps the most important American painting of the nineteenth century.-Early life and...
- Joseph LeidyJoseph LeidyJoseph Leidy was an American paleontologist.Leidy was professor of anatomy at the University of Pennsylvania, and later was a professor of natural history at Swarthmore College. His book Extinct Fauna of Dakota and Nebraska contained many species not previously described and many previously...
- Joseph ListerJoseph Lister, 1st Baron ListerJoseph Lister, 1st Baron Lister OM, FRS, PC , known as Sir Joseph Lister, Bt., between 1883 and 1897, was a British surgeon and a pioneer of antiseptic surgery, who promoted the idea of sterile surgery while working at the Glasgow Royal Infirmary...
, foreign fellow - Silas Weir MitchellSilas Weir MitchellSilas Weir Mitchell was an American physician and writer.He was son of a physician, John Kearsley Mitchell , and was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania....
, America's first neurologist - Stephen G. PostStephen G. PostStephen G. Post PhD, is the best selling author of The Hidden Gifts of Helping: How the Power of Giving, Compassion, and Hope Can Get Us Through Hard Times , as listed on the nonfiction best seller list with the Wall Street Journal....
- William RuschenbergerWilliam RuschenbergerDr. William Samuel Waithman Ruschenberger was a surgeon for the United States Navy and an author.-Biography:...
, naval surgeon - John Anderson Strong
- Caspar WistarCaspar Wistar (physician)Caspar Wistar was an American physician and anatomist. He is sometimes referred to as Caspar Wistar the Younger, to distinguish him from his grandfather of the same name.-Biography:...
- C. Everett KoopC. Everett KoopCharles Everett Koop, MD is an American pediatric surgeon and public health administrator. He was a vice admiral in the Public Health Service Commissioned Corps, and served as thirteenth Surgeon General of the United States under President Ronald Reagan from 1982 to 1989.-Early years:Koop was born...
Former Surgeon General