Repository: UIHistories Project: Book - History of University of Illinois at Chicago (1921) [PAGE 14]

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HISTORICAL SKETCH xxvi SCHOOL OF PHAKMACY

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West was not ready t o support the undertaking, b u t these pioneers had both courage and determination. T h e course opened on Nov. 7, 1859, with an introductory address by Dr. Rauch on " T h e History of Pharmacy.'' I t continued for twenty weeks. Lectures were given upon three evenings each week, two hours each evening. T h e lectures on chemistry b y Dr. Blaney were delivered a t P u s h Medical College; those on pharmacy b y D r . Scammon and on materia medica b y Dr. Rauch a t t h e Lombard block, corner of Clark and Washington streets. The attendance the first year was a little over forty and consisted largely of members of t h e College, of whom there were then about one hundred. Street cars were not yet in operation and t h e omnibuses, t h e only public conveyances, were retired a t dark. There were no paved streets, but heavy planks were laid on State street and traffic was necessarily kept in the middle of the road. A few oil lamps, too far apart to be neighborly, afforded the only pretense of street lighting. T h e students, per-force, walked to the lectures. The students were earnest young fellows, employed in drug stores during the day, and though t h e course was necessarily presented in t h e briefest manner, they were encouraged t o read, study and experiment, utilizing t h e opportunities afforded hi the shops. Manufacturing pharmacists were just beginning; t h e so-called " e l e g a n t " pharmaceuticals, elixirs, fluid extracts, coated pills, etc., were not yet in vogue; the iron mortar, drug mill, drum sieve, percolators and pill machines were in daily use. The students made many of the medicinal preparations and were accustomed t o relate their experiences in class and t o receive suggestions toward overcoming their difficulties. T h e teachers possessed the equipment necessary for demonstration of the lectures, but there? were no laboratories. Students who were sufficiently interested, contrived to assemble primitive apparatus and made good use of it during their spare time in the drug stores. The microscope was referred to and exhibited, b u t chiefly as a curiosity. At the close of the first course, Professor Blaney announced t o the class t h a t he had not had time* even to touch on organic chemistry b u t t h a t if t h e students desired to avail themselves of the opportunity, he would gladly give t h e instruction without charge, other than his railway fare and hotel for the night, as he resided in Evanston and there were no trainr. at night. Three students accepted the proposition, one of whom was a civil engineer who had taken the course in chemistry as an aid to his profession. At the close of this course t h e first diplomas of t h e college were conferred upon Thomas Whitfield and Henry Tomboeken. The second course of lectures was begun in 1860 b u t the financial panic of 1859-60 and t h e political excitement and unrest brought t h e course t o a n early close. The Civil W a r broke out soon afterward, some of the teachers and many of the students enlisted and the course was suspended, though lectures upon chemistry and pharmacy b y Dr. Mahla and upon materia medica by Dr. James Adams Allen, afterward president of Rush Medical College, were given during t h e winter of 1861-2. I n February, 1867, the College was reorganized. E . H . Sargent was elected president, George Buck, vice-president, James W. Mill, secretary and Albert E . Ebert, a trustee. T h e membership of the College was enlarged; many pharmacists outside of Chicago joined the organization; monthly meetings were held a t which papers were read; three delegates were accredited t o the convention for revising the United States Pharmacopoeia, and one delegate, A. E . Ebert, was sent in the summer of 1867 t o the International Pharmaceutical Congress in Paris, and t o t h e British Pharmaceutical Conference in Dundee, Scotland. As it happened, the appointment of Mr. Ebert t o these conferences abroad was most fortunate for the College, as attention was called to t h e institution which resulted in substantial aid a few years later. At the annual meeting in September, 1867, a new constitution and by-laws were adopted, a section of which declared the purposes of the organization as follows: " I t s aim is to unite the educated and reputable pharmacists of theNorthwest in the following objects: T h e advancement of the science and a r t of pharmacy, b y diffusing scientific knowledge among pharmacists; the establishment of a school of pharmacy; the discouragement of the sale or use of inferior or adulterated drugs, chemicals and preparations; the restriction of the dispensing and sale of medicines to regularly educated druggists and pharmacists.'' Shortly thereafter, a proposition was received from Rush Medical College tendering the College of Pharmacy the use of several rooms in return for access to the library anil cabinet of specimens belonging to the latter. Negotiations were unsuccessful, however > b u t as an evidence of good feeling the College tendered the medical faculty the use of the cabinet and library without compensation.

i I iiri looking toward the resumption of the School were made early in 1868 and the • •«» i««•• were empowered to take measures t o establish a course of lectures the ensuing ".I.I U'ooms were secured in Rice's Building, Dearborn street near Randolph. i •• •. r:ir:i passed, however, before arrangements could be completed. \i< mwhile, N . Gray Bartlett, a member of the class of 1860-61 whose studies had ' • >.mir rru])ted by t h e war, proposed the establishment of a monthly journal 1 1 devoted • •• tin inl.i^rests of chemistry, pharmacy and the collateral sciences" t o be published • • f I" -I'll hority of the College as a means toward the re-establishment of the School. • • • 11-:.ii 11,, a monthly journal, the Pharmacist, t h e third pharmaceutical journal in .... i I.-:I :ind the first in the West, made its bow in September, 1868. T h e first article ". i lit mil ijil number, "Pharmaceutical Education," was contributed by E. H. Sargent, • !.• •• 1'i.r.ident of the College, while the chief editorial, b y N . Gray Bartlett, discussed «i.. mi i hug of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, held t h a t year

«" ' Inr.MjMi.

< MI ;:«-pt. 30, 1870, the lectures were resumed with a faculty consisting of Blaney, i •••!• ii. I'»;irtlett a n d G. M . Hambright. T h e lectures in chemistry were given a t I-M '• \I«•<Iical College, the others a t the rooms of the College on Dearborn street. T h e • i- numbered twenty-eight. hi In:i presidential address in 1871 Mr. Sargent urged a separate course of lectures i •• f In junior and senior classes, for, a t t h a t time, following the custom of many medical »• i I , 11 to second year's instruction was merely a repetition of the first. H e asked . «i- •• 111.11 n permanent home for the college be planned. A committee of the trustees i.«i'l pi<-|ared a draft for a state pharmacy law, which was approved for submission t o »•«• in l legislature. D r . Blaney now resigned from the faculty and Mr. Ebert was • i. • i. .1 professor of pharmacy. «mi«- forty or more students were enrolled for the course of 1871-72 but only three i.-. im. -i 11.<ul been given when the Great Fire destroyed the equipment. The library, »|.|i-.i linn and museum,—the accumulation of years,—were suddenly wiped out. •ilmi:- daunted, t h e members of the college entered immediately upon a vigorous »H-MI !«• retrieve the loss and establish the school anew. A notice published in t h e f /..., u,,u /.•;/, in November, 1871, announced this intention and asked the aid of pharma.. • • i v.i y where, since most of the members of the College had lost all they possessed. ti. ip r.imr promptly. Pharmacists throughout the world but especially those of Great |I».IMIII r.nve generously. Books, apparatus, supplies and money came in surprising A circular letter was issued inviting all the druggists of the Northwest M.i.iiiiiinr,. • f i n i lie college. At the annual meeting Mr. Sargent as the retiring president said: v' • li i\«* met today more for the purpose of reorganizing t h a n t o review the past. ** • f' ill proceed to elect officers for another year,—a year of hard work, and, we hope, » !•!• 1 n wilts. Some will leave us in adversity, and they may declare our work a 1 *•• • i m. M • l, the seeming loss is a positive gain. We want none who will add discouraget..-i.i i.i our burden; b u t we do want t h e l i e a r t y co-operation of all who believe t h a t • I- •' i. useful work t o be done, and are willing t o help in its doing 1 •"•:•.I. as have been our losses, they are not irretrievable; time and faithful effort **.i» • i. ililr us t o do again all and more than we have yet accomplished. Chicago, we *» '• • • . --luill rise again. From her ashes shall come forth beauty; not only shall she *« •• ••• i In- pleasant homes, the lofty churches, the business palaces, and the busy work-1- M . I-ul, in all t h a t pertains t o education, refinement, the arts and sciences, and in -II 11, ,i ii Kikes us better and happier. Let us strive as becomes men t o do our part t** ti«- 'i«-;it work of reconstruction. Our reward shall be as sure, and the result as • * *•"in .«•' that effect will follow cause. Thus faithful to duty, and so laboring for the £ -ii ..! .-(hers, it may with t r u t h be said of us t h a t we have not lived in vain." 1 •• i\ in 1872, temporary quarters consisting of a lecture room and a library were I**I. .1 up .u the new Rice's building, 77 Dearborn St. A faculty was elected consisting - * ' •••• W. Mill, pharmacy, D . ' B . Trimble, materia medica, N . Gray Bartlett, chem*-•• -ml II. H . Babcock, botany. I n t h e " S i x t h Annual Announcement," dated • • -uiMes in these subjects were outlined. The requirements for the diploma were -i..i. .i T | I O candidate " m u s t be of good moral character, must have arrived a t t h e -*• ••• im-tity-one years, have attended two full courses of lectures and have had ex,,f Hfc least five years in the drug business." He was also required t o submit k......... ... MI 11 dissertation or thesis upon some subject related t o materia medica, phaf*s i-lieniistry. s '•• •• Mm session began, a large shipment of. books and scientific apparatus was • • • 11 H mi the pharmacists of Great Britain. " The Pharmaceutical Society of London lis. I'l.ifnsHor Attfield had raised several thousand dollars which had been wisely