Meharry Medical College
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Established | 1876 |
|---|---|
| Location | Nashville, Tennessee |
Meharry Medical College, which is located in Nashville Tennessee, is a graduate and professional institution whose mission is to educate healthcare professionals and scientists. It was founded in 1876 as the Medical Department of Central Tennessee College and is currently the largest private historically black institution in the United States soley dedicated to educating healthcare professionals and scientists.
Contents |
[edit] History of Meharry Medical College
A young man named Samuel Meharry, who was a Salt Trader, was traveling through the rough terrains of Tennessee when suddenly his wagon slipped off of the road and fell into a swamp. Samuel Meharry sought and found the help of a family of freed slaves, whose names are unknown. This family of freed slaves gave Mr. Meharry food and shelter in the night and helped him to recover his wagon the next morning. That morning, Samuel Meharry told the slave family, "I have no money, but when I can I shall do something for your race."
In 1875, Samuel Meharry along with four of his brothers donated $15,000 to assist with the establishment of a medical department at Central Tennessee College. Meharry Medical Department was established as a Department of Walden University, which was initially established as Central Tennessee College, by the Methodist Episcopal Church North. With the contribution of the Freedman's Aid Society of the Methodist Episcopal Church North, Dr. George W. Hubbard and Dr. John Braden, an English Methodist Clergyman, were able to open the Medical Department of Central Tennessee College in 1876. The first class had one graduate. The second class which had its Commencement in 1878 had three graduates with the diplomas written in Latin, among those graduates was Lorenzo Dow Key, the son of Hillery Wattsworth Key, D.D., one of the founding members with Dr. John Braden of the Tennesssee Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church North, which split from the Methodist Episcopal Church South on the issue of Slavery and was not reunited until 1939. In 1886, the Dental Department was founded, followed by a Pharmacy Department which was founded in 1889.
In 1900, Central Tennessee College changed its name to Walden University after that of a Bishop of the Methodist Church. In 1915, the medical department faculty of Walden University established a separate Charter as Meharry Medical College. Dr. George W. Hubbard served as Meharry Medical College's first president until his death in 1921.
After George W. Hubbard's death, Meharry Medical College presidents included Dr. John J. Mullowney (1921-1938), Dr. Edward Lewis Turner (1938-1944), Dr. M. Don Clawson (1945-1950), Dr. Harold D. West (1952-1966), Dr. Lloyd C. Elam (1968-1981), Dr. David Satcher (1982-1993), Dr. John E. Maupin (1994-2006), Dr. Wayne J. Riley (2006-present).
Today Meharry Medical College includes a medical school, dental school, graduate school, and an allied health school. The degree’s that Meharry offers includes Doctor of Medicine (M.D.), Doctor of Dental Surgery (D.D.S.), Master of Science in Public Health (M.S.P.H.), Master of Science (M.S.), and Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) degrees. Meharry is the second largest producer of African American medical doctors and denstists in the United States of America. Also, it is the largest producer of African American master's in public health graduates and Ph.D. in biomedical science graduates.
[edit] Public Health Journal Owned by and Edited at Meharry Medical College
[edit] Research Centers at Meharry Medical College
- Asthma Disparities Center
- Center for Molecular and Behavioral Neurosciences
- Center for Women's Health Research
- Clinical Research Center
- Export Center for Health Disparities
- Meharry Center for Health Disparities Research in HIV
- Sickle Cell Center
[edit] Notable Alumni
- Dr. Willie Adams, Jr. - Mayor of Albany, Georgia
- Dr. Hastings Kamuzu Banda - President of the Republic of Malawi
- Dr. Edward S. Cooper - President of the American Heart Association
- Dr. Reginald Coopwood - CEO of the Metropolitan Nashville Hospital Authority
- Dr. Cleveland W. Eneas, Sr. - Senator, Government of The Bahamas. Author of The History of The Class of 1941 of Meharry Medical College
- Dr. Sandra Gadson - President of the National Medical Association
- Dr. Audrey F. Manley - Deputy Surgeon General of the United States
- Dr. John E. Maupin - President of Morehouse School of Medicine
- Maj. General Leonard Randolph, Jr. - Acting Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense, Health Plan Administration
- Dr. Charles V. Roman - President of the National Medical Association. Author of A History of Meharry Medical College
- Dr. Walter R. Tucker, Jr. - Mayor of Compton, California
- Dr. Reuben Warren - Associate Director for Minority Health, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
- Dr. Charles H. Wright - Founder of the Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History
- Lorenzo Raymond Sylvanus Nelson, M.D.- Regimental Surgeon, Major, Medical Corps,366th Infantry Regiment, 5th Army,World War II, grandson of Lorenzo Dow Key, M.D., 1878 and great-grandson of Hillery Wattsworth Key, D.D., Trustee, Walden University, one of 22 founders of Tennessee Conference of Methodist Episcopal Church North, (1833-1912), years of Ministry including District Superintentent of Cumberland River District, Methodist Episcopal Church North, Nashville, Tennessee (1866-1912)
- Jeanne Spurlock, M.D., noted Psychiatrist, Chairman of Department, Meharry Medical College (1968) and Department of Neuropsychiatry, Michael Reese Hospital, Chicago, Illinois; Fellow, American Association of Psychiatry
[edit] References
- Johnson, Charles (2000). The Spirit of a Place Called Meharry. Franklin, Tennessee: Hillsboro Press.
- Smith. Cross and Flame: Two Centuries of United Methodism in Middle Tennessee,. Commission on Archives and History of the Tennessee Conference, United Methodist Church, Parthenon Press, Nashville, Tennessee (1984)..
