Ohio Medical University Scrapbook
A unique glimpse into the life of a medical student at Ohio Medical University in the early 1900s
Introduction
Ohio Medical University (1890–1907) is one of five medical colleges that together became The Ohio State University College of Medicine in 1914.
Ohio Medical University scrapbook, from the Medical Heritage Center Collections
Scrapbook details: Dimensions, closed: 8” high by 9.5” wide Dimensions, opened: 8” high by 17” wide Number of pages: 35 sheets (total of 69 front and back pages; all pages with images on both sides except one) Scrapbook materials: gray textured construction paper-like paper, with a black textured board exterior/cover.
This medical student scrapbook, created by Dr. David E. McBroom, was donated to the university by Samuel B. Mayo, Dr. McBroom’s son-in-law, in 1978. The scrapbook includes photos of various classrooms, exam rooms and study spaces in the Ohio Medical University (OMU) building around 1904–1907, as well as some student photographs.
The scrapbook gives us a fascinating glimpse into what a medical student’s life was line in this time period. These images also provide insight into what OMU looked like while it was in operation.
Historical Disclaimer
As historians, we do our best to identify historical persons in archival photographs. However, sometimes it is difficult to ascertain with 100% certainty the identity of individuals. In some cases, we can offer only a best guess based on historical research and documentation available. We welcome community feedback to assist in establishing more certain identification when possible.
The experiences and views expressed within the scrapbook belong to David E. McBroom, the author of the scrapbook, and do not necessarily express an endorsement by The Ohio State University, the Health Sciences Library, the Medical Heritage Center or its staff. Some of the images and nomenclature in this scrapbook represent historical depictions of the culture of the time, and may not be considered culturally acceptable now. We preserve these elements for historical purposes and not necessarily as endorsements of what we deem correct or appropriate.
David Edward McBroom
The creator of the scrapbook, Dr. David E. McBroom, was born on December 31, 1883 in Akron, Ohio. He was educated in Cleveland Public and Bryan High Schools. He graduated from Ohio Medical University in 1907.
He was superintendent of the Minnesota Colony for Epileptics at Cambridge from 1929 to 1944 and the State School and Home for the Feeble Minded in Redfield, South Dakota from 1944 to 1948. He also served as senior physician of the Minnesota School and Colony in Faribault.
He married Medora A. McRoberts (April 6, 1879 – November 8, 1963). The couple had a daughter, Helen, in 1909.
McBroom died on September 3, 1955, at the age of seventy-one, of coronary thrombosis and arteriosclerosis.
Campus Life
History
Chartered in 1890, Ohio Medical University (OMU) opened in 1892 to teach the medical and collateral professions. It originally offered schools of medicine, dentistry and pharmacy. For a short time, OMU had a school of midwifery.
OMU’s uniqueness came from its “recitation plan” of instruction, a supplement to large lectures and clinical experiences. Photos show that students gathered in smaller groups to recite from the texts.
Josiah Medbery, AM, MD (1853–1931) was a physician and professor of anatomy at Columbus Medical College (1882–91) and Ohio Medical University (1898–1907). Medbery married Alice Roston in 1882 and they had two children, Roston and Louise Medbery. After Alice’s death in 1902, Medbery was remarried to Frances B. Lodwick.
The image on the left depicts pages from an Ohio Medical University catalog from Dr. McBroom’s time as a medical student, showing the curriculum and fees. At least one of the textbooks, Holt’s Diseases of Children , is part of the Medical Heritage Center’s collections.
Fun facts: On March 22, 1870, the Ohio legislature passed the Cannon Act, establishing the Ohio Agricultural and Mechanical College, later renamed The Ohio State University. The trustees for the new college bought the Neil Farm and adjacent land, and began to build a main building to hold classrooms, offices and the library. This main building, later named University Hall, opened on September 17, 1873 – the first day of classes. At that time, twenty-four students were accepted into the college, including two women. The Board hired six faculty members and the president, Edward Orton, who also served as the professor of geology. The college taught ten approved areas of study, including modern and ancient languages, civil polity, vegetable physiology, and the required subjects of agriculture, mechanical arts and military science.
In 1907, Ohio Medical University merged with its Columbus competitor, Starling Medical College. In 1914, Starling-Ohio Medical College became the medical and dental departments of The Ohio State University.
Bricks and Mortar
Originally operating out of rooms in a private residence, Ohio Medical University built a four-story facility on Park Street overlooking Goodale Park. In addition to laboratories, classrooms, library, museum and dispensary, the building contained a 400-seat amphitheater. It also housed the YMCA chapter.
Goodale Park
Dr. Lincoln Goodale, one of the first residents of Columbus, was the county’s first doctor. Through his mercantile, pharmacy and real estate businesses, Dr. Goodale became Columbus’ first millionaire and donated the land for Goodale Park to the city in 1851.
Goodale Park is the oldest public park in Columbus and among the oldest in the United States. Originally a 40-acre plot of land, the park now consists of 32.563 acres.
Goodale Park 1904 vs. Present Day (present day image credit: Courtney Fleming)
Protestant Hospital and Ohio Penitentiary
In 1898, a new Protestant Hospital was built on land provided by OMU. The building was connected to the university and in consideration of this financial assistance, OMU students were able to use the hospital for clinic experience. In addition to the Protestant Hospital and the Free Dispensary, students had use of the nearby State Hospital for the Insane and the Ohio Penitentiary Clinic.
Fellow Students and Friends
Dr. McBroom’s scrapbook includes many photos of fellow students and other individuals from his time at Ohio Medical University.
Fun fact: at least one photo that is today part of Dr. McBroom’s scrapbook can be seen in the background of the first “Our Flat” image.
Medical Cadavers
Beginning in the fourteenth century and lasting through the eighteenth century, students learned anatomy by observing dissection: the students would observe their professors performing dissection but did not do the dissection themselves.
Things began to change in the mid-eighteenth century, as students increasingly performed their own dissections upon cadavers, constituting a fundamental change in medical education. Hands-on learning placed a greater emphasis on the value of learning not only by seeing, but also by doing. Through dissection, students obtained anatomical information and insights that formed the cornerstone of their medical knowledge.
Medical students were often proud of having dissected a human cadaver. This act comprised one of the most important initiations into a life in medicine and took on the character of a ritual.
Dissection gave more than merely utilitarian knowledge, however. Dissecting a cadaver also compelled students to come to terms with their own apprehensions and anxieties about death and the bodies of the dead. It engendered a special camaraderie among physicians, and at the same time set them apart from the rest of society. Given the centrality of this experience, students sought some way to record it and with the advent of photography in 1839, they could.
Although this practice might generate ethical considerations in present day, in the 1800s medical students occasionally staged photographs with cadavers, sometimes with a humorous intent. A popular subject was having the cadaver join in a card game. Another variant featured a role reversal: the medical student on the dissection table, attended by cadavers.
However, the most common dissection image was a bit more academic and showed students gathered around the dissection table in gross anatomy class, with the school name and students’ class year often inscribed on the table.
Extracurriculars
Football
Ohio Medical University had a football team that was separate from The Ohio State University’s football team. The team was called the “Tigers,” but was also referred to as the “Ohio Medics.” They played in the Midwest College Football Independent Conference.
Unlike many medical schools, OMU’s football team played well and had a winning season most years. Common opponents included Otterbein, Ohio State, Washington and Jefferson, Denison, Wittenberg, Ohio Wesleyan and Marietta. The OMU team had a 2-5-2 record against Ohio State and played Notre Dame four times, one resulting in a 5-6 loss despite outplaying the Irish.
The Cleveland Plain Dealer newspaper once charged the team with “ruffianism,” noting that the game with Western Reserve was “full of slugging, holding, kneeing, heeling, and holding.”
Major league baseball players Harry “Doc” Gessler and Frank “Doc” Reisling both attended OMU.
1903 team roster
Edgar V. Berry, Andrew C. Callahan, Murat H. Cherrington, James B. or Ervin G. Dougherty, Walton F. Dutton, John B. C. Eckstorm, John P. Farson, Francis, Irwin W. Howard, Luster G. Ice, Philo A. Kelso, Clark M. Leiblee, W. E. Lloyd, Joseph A. McCallum, Frank Oldt, Rush R. Richison, Rodriquez, Caleb M. Sickles, Dessie D. Thompson
The OMU team had a 2-5-2 record against Ohio State and played Notre Dame four times, one resulting in a 5-6 loss despite outplaying the Irish.
The scrapbook photo captures an exciting moment at the Thanksgiving Day, 1909, football game: “Taken as “Jack” Marcus kicked a goal from the 57 yard line.”
Fraternities
Alpha Kappa Kappa, Pi Chapter
Alpha Kappa Kappa (AKK), Pi Chapter at Ohio Medical University was chartered by the National Medical Fraternity on October 2, 1902.
In 1906, Phi Sigma Psi, a local fraternity at Starling Medical College , petitioned for a charter and was approved. Before the charter could be granted, the AKK Council was informed that Starling Medical College and Ohio Medical University were merging to form Starling-Ohio Medical College. The merger meant that the men of Phi Sigma Psi could join forces with AKK without a new charter. Phi Sigma Psi had 113 members at the time.
Fun fact: In addition to a chapter of the Alpha Kappa Kappa medical fraternity, OMU had an orchestra that performed at graduation ceremonies. According to the catalog, one third of OMU students were members of the YMCA. The school felt that the presence of the YMCA contributed to "character culture" and "religious development" of students.
The men of Alpha Kappa Kappa lived in various locations around the Ohio Medical and then Ohio State campuses. The map below charts their movements during the history of the fraternity. Note that after the house at 797 Dennison Avenue, the fraternity lived at 216 Marshall Avenue before building the house on 199 W. Tenth Avenue. The Marshall Avenue address no longer exists on modern maps.The AKK Pi Chapter ceased operations in 1974.
688 North High Street
First AKK Chapter house. 12 men lived here.
68 Buttles Avenue
Second location of Chapter house.
797 Dennison Avenue
Third location of Chapter house.
199 W. Tenth Avenue
Chapter house purchased by Pi Chapter Company in 1923. Expanded to join the house to the west.
466 King Avenue
Final Chapter house built at this location in 1966.
68 Buttles Avenue today is several condominiums with multiple addresses (image credit: Courtney Fleming)
Alpha Mu Pi Omega
In 1899, a group of students in the Ohio Medical University who had been chums throughout their three years of medical work formed a society. These men were: Clarence F. Schultz, Frank M. Casto, Fred M. Foster, Albert E. Cotes, Charles A. Stevens, Ernest Scott and Charles W. McGavran.
These students, along with ten men of the faculty, were granted a charter of the Alpha Mu Pi Omega Medical Fraternity in February, 1900.
Below is an excerpt from some of the chapter's archival documents:
First Job and Coworkers
Dr. McBroom’s first job after graduating seemed to be at City Hospital in Springfield, Ohio. The images from the scrapbook serve as snapshots of some of the people and scenes from City Hospital.
The Medical Heritage Center at The Ohio State University
Founded in 1997, the Medical Heritage Center (MHC) is the special collections of the Health Sciences Library at The Ohio State University. The Center preserves, promotes, teaches and celebrates the health care legacy of central Ohio as the essential foundation from which the future of the health sciences is born.
Medical Heritage Center: Prior Hall Fifth Floor, The Ohio State University, 376 W 10th Ave Columbus, OH 43210
The Center's holdings include rare books, archives and medical artifacts. Tours available upon request.
This story map was conceptualized and designed by Courtney Fleming, Health Sciences Library Medical Visuals medical illustrator, in collaboration with the Medical Heritage Center.
