CAMPUS TREASURES HOME PAGE

CAMPUS HISTORY SCRAPBOOK

CAMPUS ARCHITECTURE TIMELINE

UVM BUILDINGS

CAMPUS MAPS

History of Pomeroy Hall (2)

The timing of the construction of the Medical College building proved to be poor. In the 1830's a glut of doctors in New England began develop, and the College of Medicine at the University of Vermont was forced to compete for a dwindling number of medical students against larger schools in Boston and other cities, as well as the schools in Castleton and Woodstock.

In response to this situation, during the summer of 1831 the University of Vermont Medical College made improvements to the chemical apparatus and museum collection of medical specimens. The College advertised these improvements along with the relatively reasonable cost of room and board available to medical students who came to Burlington. At this point the lecture fee for a term at the College was forty dollars with an additional contingent bill of three dollars and a graduation expense of fifteen dollars,10 however, Castleton was attempting to lure potential students by reducing their tuition to a lower amount.11

In 1836 only one medical degree was awarded by the Medical School at the University of Vermont, and the lack of students and related lack of funds caused the school to close its doors just eight years after opening its new building. The building continued to be used by George W. Benedict, Dean of the Medical College, to teach chemistry to other students at the University. Benedict had purchased the Medical College building and its contents from the heirs of Benjamin Lincoln, the last member of the medical faculty who died in 1835, in order to keep the valuable collection of medical specimens and books from being sold off. He attempted to get the University to reimburse him for the cost of the property, but at this point the University trustees were either unwilling or unable to accommodate his request.12

The Medical College remained closed until 1854 when it was reactivated and students were again enrolled in a medical degree program. In the meantime the University purchased the Medical Building from George Benedict and George Marsh in 1839.13

In 1854 the Medical College was again established as a proprietary enterprise owned and operated by its faculty. The University would allow them to use the Medical College building and its chemical apparatus, anatomical plates, museum, and library, on the condition that the faculty would keep the building in good repair. Only six students enrolled in the Medical College after it reopened in 1854. Because of the low enrollment the faculty had difficulty maintaining the building, which probably had received little maintenance after the Medical College closed in 1836. In 1855 the University's trustees threatened to begin charging the Medical College rent for the building if they did not provide it with the necessary repairs.14 At this time medical schools were not graduate programs and the only requirement for admission was that the students be able to pay their tuition.

By 1857 the number of students had grown to forty-seven, nearly half the number of students enrolled in other departments of the University.15 The increasing number of students and increasing need for repairs on the Medical College building led to fund-raising efforts by the medical faculty for the purposes of enlarging and improving the appearance of the structure.16 The fund-raising efforts were supported by a letter to the editor in The Burlington Free Press which claimed that repairs to the building were absolutely necessary to continue attracting students to the College, and commented on the growing importance of the College to the economy of Burlington.17

We are glad to learn from one of the professors of this enterprising and meritorious department of the University, that an attempt will be made soon to raise means for a considerable enlargement of the building devoted to its purposes. Another lecture room is much needed, and enlarged accommodations for its growing museum. According to the plan briefly detailed to us, the improvement will be useful and ornamental in a high degree. Everything shows that here is the natural place for an important medical school, and the success which has attended the efforts of the professors since its reorganization, is an omen of what can be done if their labors are seconded by the liberal minded inhabitants of the place. We do not doubt they will be. The Free Press, 22 July 1856.

Continue...