Louisville Medicine Volume 70, Issue 5 | Page 21

MEDICINE AND THE ARTS
Fig . 3a The UofL School of Medicine Building on the left , and the anticipated undergraduate school building on the right . Both were in Greek Revival architectural style .
Fig . 3b Thomas Jefferson ’ s home , Monticello . Note the resemblance between this and the UofL Undergraduate Building . statement of Louisville ’ s transition from a frontier village to a leading city with a college of medicine . The spire was not only an artistic statement , but it lighted the main amphitheater beneath it , as gas and electrical interior lighting did not then exist here .
The Clinical Amphitheater at City Hospital
In 1840 , the UofL Medical School faculty added a stately clinical amphitheater to the west wing of City Hospital at Chestnut and Floyd Streets ( Fig . 2 ). Its octagonal architecture was designed around the semi-circular amphitheater within . This allowed clinical presentations from the hospital to the assembled UofL students , a major improvement in medical education for the era .
The 1846 Building of the Short-lived UofL Undergraduate College
In 1846 , UofL attempted to establish an undergraduate school , and its building was constructed adjacent to the Medical School on Chestnut Street . It was in Greek Revival style , featuring a columned entrance with a central dome , resembling Jefferson ’ s design of his home , Monticello ( Fig . 3 ). The arts college failed , however , and the building ultimately became the city ’ s high school .
The First Kentucky School of Medicine Building
In 1850 , a second Louisville medical school , The Kentucky School of Medicine , was established . It was first housed in a vacated church building at 5 th Street and Green ( now Liberty ) Street ( Fig . 4 ). Whether or not the architectural Gothic motif invoking high calling was key to choice of this building is lost to time .
Post-Civil War Architecture
After the Civil War , Louisville experienced a surge of economic prosperity and population growth . This created a market for elegant business offices and fine residential neighborhoods , which attracted skilled architecture and artisan craftsmen . The artistic results can be seen today in the elegant Victorian houses of Old Louisville and in the business offices on Main and Market Streets between First and Ninth Streets . In this prosperous era , new medical schools and hospitals were established , including the Louisville Medical College , the Hospital College of Medicine , the Louisville National Medical College ( for education of African-American students ), the Southwestern Homeopathic Medical College ( the strongest of non-traditional practice schools ) and Kentucky University . Competition for students became intense , and artistically elegant buildings were built by the schools , when they reached a level of success to move from modest to finer quarters . The prime artistic style of the era was Romanesque Revival , also called Richardson Romanesque , for leading architect nationally , Henry H . Richardson . The style reflected early European Romanesque Churches , with peaked bell towers and entrances framed by Roman arches .
The Final Hospital College of Medicine Building
The Hospital College of Medicine was established in 1873 . Its competitive edges were its location , directly across Chestnut Street from City Hospital , and its own adjacent hospital on Gray Street . Later , it was rebuilt in Romanesque Revival style , featuring a central tower and spire , plus Roman arches in the façade ( Fig . 5 ). After the 1907- 1909 merger of Louisville Medical Schools into UofL , the building then served the Salvation Army over the first half of the 20 th century .
The Louisville National Medical College Building
The Louisville National Medical College ( LNMC ) was established in 1888 for African-American students , who were then excluded from the city ’ s other medical schools . The founder , Henry Fitzbutler , MD , was the city ’ s first African-American physician , and a civil rights champion , along with his wife , Sarah Fitzbutler , MD . Although the LNMC building architecture was modest , the role it served in medical history was heroic ( Fig . 6 ). The school also operated a hospital in western Louisville for African-Americans . ( continued on page 20 )
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