Knoxville Medical College

American medical college (1900–1910)

Not to be confused with Knoxville College.

Knoxville Medical College

Location

520 College Street,
Knoxville, Tennessee, U.S.

Coordinates| 35°58′01″N 83°56′14″W﻿ / ﻿35.967021°N 83.937105°W﻿ / 35.967021; -83.937105
Information
School type| African American medical school
Established| 1900
Founder| Henry Morgan Green
Closed| 1910
President| Henry Morgan Green
Dean| E. M. Randall

Knoxville Medical College (1900–1910) was an American medical college segregated for Black students in Mechanicsville neighborhood of Knoxville, Tennessee.[1][2][3] It was short lived in part because of its reputation of "mediocrity" in its training, and the for-profit model.[4]

## History

[edit]

After the closure of the medical department at Knoxville College in 1900, Knoxville Medical College was organized as a replacement facility that opened on December 6, 1900 by the City of Knoxville.[1][5] At the time of its opening, the only other Black medical school in the state was Meharry Medical College in Nashville.[5]

The campus was a single floor in a building, located above an undertaker's business. It was initially located near the corner of College (formerly Clinton Road) and Deaderick streets,[1] now Rogers Memorial Baptist Church. The school did not have a strict admissions requirement and only required a high school diploma.[1] The students had limited clinical training and no campus facilities, and it required visits to the nearby Knoxville New City Hospital.[1][4]

## Faculty

[edit]

Knoxville Medical College founding president was Henry Morgan Green.[1][6][4] The school dean at the time of opening was E. M. Randall, who had served as dean at Knoxville College the year prior.[5][7] Other faculty members included William Wallace Derrick, a Black physician whom had previously taught at the medical department at Knoxville College;[1][4] A. G. Edwards; W. H. Moore; John Clear; and J. H. Morton.[5]

## Final year and closure

[edit]

In January 1909, the school was visited by Abraham Flexner who authored the critical Flexner Report (1910) about the state of medical education.[1]

By 1910, Knoxville Medical College was forced to close, most likely due to the poor educational conditions and its reputation for "mediocrity" in its training.[1][4] The college had graduated 21 students in the 10 years of operations.[2] After the closure of Knoxville Medical College, Lincoln Memorial University bought the college in 1910.[8]

## References

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1. ^ a b c d e f g h i Watson, Wilbur (2017-12-02). Against the Odds: Blacks in the Profession of Medicine in the United States. Routledge. pp. 29–30\. ISBN 978-1-351-53334-8.
2. ^ a b Booker, Robert (2020-11-18). "Tennessee Medical College Lasted 25 Years, Had Ties with LMU". The Knoxville News-Sentinel. pp. A21. Retrieved 2023-04-08.
3. ^ "Grave robbing not confined to movies in city's history". The Knoxville News-Sentinel. 2007-10-30. p. 11. Retrieved 2023-04-08.
4. ^ a b c d e Ward, Thomas J. (2010-02-01). Black Physicians in the Jim Crow South. University of Arkansas Press. pp. 12–13\. ISBN 978-1-55728-936-0.
5. ^ a b c d "Will Open December 6". The Journal and Tribune. 1900-12-01. p. 8. Retrieved 2023-04-08.
6. ^ "Dr. Henry Morgan Green". James E. Walker Library, Middle Tennessee State University.
7. ^ Catalogue of the Officers and Students of Knoxville College. Knoxville College. Ogden Brothers & Company. May 1889. p. 27.`{{cite book}}`: CS1 maint: others (link)
8. ^ "Commencement at Medical School". The Journal and Tribune. 1910-04-10. p. 27. Retrieved 2023-04-08.