Columbus Medical College 1876-1892

Photograph of Dr. James Fairchild Baldwin. Included in The Ohio State University College of Medicine: A Collection of Source Material Covering a Century of Medical Progress, 1834-1934. Blanchester, Ohio: The Brown Publishing Company, 1934.

In 1875, Starling Medical College faculty members were divided over the selection of a new chairperson of materia medica. Dr. James Fairchild Baldwin, the rejected candidate, and four other faculty members resigned and organized another medical school, the Columbus Medical College, in 1876. Classes were held in the Sessions Block on High Street, then later in a new building on Long Street.

In 1882, Dr. W. B. Hawkes donated four lots and $10,000 toward a hospital to serve the Columbus Medical College. The Hawkes Hospital of Mt. Carmel was erected in 1886 at West State Street and Davis Avenue. It was managed by the Sisters of the Holy Cross.

Drawing of Columbus Medical College (ca. 1883). Included in The Ohio State University College of Medicine: A Collection of Source Material Covering a Century of Medical Progress, 1834-1934. Blanchester, Ohio: The Brown Publishing Company, 1934. (format: jpg | size: 66k)

Photograph of the Ohio Medical University house. Included in The Phagocyte, January, 1907. On loan from OSU Archives. (format: jpg | size: 22k)

After sixteen years of independent operation, the Columbus Medical College merged with Starling Medical College in 1892. The faculty was divided on the merger, and again Dr. James Fairchild Baldwin and others resigned to form another school, the Ohio Medical University, in 1892. The first classes were held in a house.

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Last Update: 6/9/97 by EHS