Records of the University of Louisville School of Medicine and its predecessor schools are held in the History Collections of Kornhauser Health Sciences Library including records from the University of Louisville School of Medicine which traces its history from the Louisville Medical Institute (1837 to 1845), the Medical Department of the University of Louisville (1846 to 1922), and other schools absorbed by the University of Louisville including the Kentucky School of Medicine (1850 to 1908), the Louisville Medical College (1869 to 1908), the Hospital College of Medicine (1873 to 1908), and the Kentucky University Medical Department (1898 to 1907). These records date to 1837, with a fairly complete set of school announcements or catalogs, listing the names of the faculty and students, the required classes and texts, the cost, and other pertinent information. Faculty minutes date to 1859, along with faculty photographs. Admission to medical classes and lectures in the 19th and early 20th centuries was by matriculation tickets, and there are samples of those dating to 1848. There are student records, mainly in the form of ledgers, for some of the schools, beginning in 1875. Class photographs date to 1886 and document most graduating classes from all of the various schools. There is also an incomplete set of photographs of the anatomy classes beginning in 1892. Commencement programs start in 1909.
More recent records include a consultant's report of 1948, curriculum committee records from 1957 to 1967, accreditation reports from 1965,Alumni Bulletin , executive committee minutes from 1923 to 1927, reports, correspondence, and other general material from the office of the medical school dean from 1923 to 1978. There is memorabilia from the university's centennial and sesquicentennial celebration, along with various publications of the schools and student organizations including yearbooks. The collection also includes records of the history of the University of Louisville School of Dentistry (previously the Louisville College of Dentistry, Department of Central University of Kentucky and associated with the Hospital College of Medicine (1887 to 1900); and the Louisville College Dentistry, Department of Central University of Kentucky (1900 to 1918). Also present are class photographs beginning in 1889, school publications such as newsletters and yearbooks beginning in 1908, annual bulletins or catalogs beginning in 1918, faculty records which date to 1923 and include minutes, contracts (1930 to 1937), scrapbooks (1945 to 1969), and grant proposals. There is material related to the dental hygiene program, as well as photographs of the buildings, clinics and laboratories, and deans of the schools of medicine, dentistry, and nursing. There also is a collection of records relating specifically to the Kornhauser Health Sciences Library, including those of the library administration, complete with book and journal orders, financial records, faculty minutes, director's correspondence, annual reports, reference requests, publications, and photographs of the construction of the library and commons building which houses Kornhauser Health Sciences Library. The history of the Medical Library Committee and the Friends of Kornhauser Health Sciences Library are documented by minutes, reports, correspondence, and photographs from 1919 to 1980. Among the History Collections also are the papers of Joan Titley Adams, Director of the Health Sciences Library from 1961 to 1978.
Open to researchers
The copyright interests have not been transferred to the University of Louisville. For further information, see the section on copyright in the regulations and Procedures of the Special Collections Library or consult a reference archivist.
15 linear feet
The Louisville Medical Institute opened for classes in the fall of 1837. In 1846 the name was changed to the University of Louisville Medical Department to reflect the fact that it was now one of two departments in the University, the other being Law. From 1850 through the rest of the 19th century other medical schools were established in Louisville and by 1900 there were seven operating. Four of those schools were absorbed by UofL in 1908, and the other two closed by 1913. The name of the school was again changed in 1922 to the University of Louisville School of Medicine, which remains it name.
Part of the Kornhauser Health Sciences Library Repository