UTAH'S FIRST MEDICAL COLLEGE BY ROBERT T . DIVETT
For many years the American Medical Directory listed among the medical colleges that have existed in the United States the "Medical College of Utah, Morgan City." The section on medical college histories tersely stated that it was founded in 1880, graduated a class in 1882, and was extinct in 1883.1 Prior to the publication of an earlier paper by the author 2 common knowledge of the Medical College of Utah was limited to mere mention in a master's thesis and two histories of Utah medicine. A search of the Deseret News (Salt Lake City) and The Salt Lake Tribune for the years 1879 to 1885 failed to reveal any mention of the school. Unfortunately, the files of the newspaper published in Morgan in the 1880's have been destroyed. A search of the University of Utah libraries failed to reveal further information on this medical school which antedated the founding of the University of Utah School of Medicine by some twenty-five years. The key to the story of the Medical College of Utah was located with the assistance of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints Historian's Office. The "Journal History" of the church revealed a series of articles on the school published in the Salt Lake Daily Herald during July and August, 1882. The clippings of these articles in the "Journal History" provided the foundation for further research. Additional information was gained through correspondence and through personal interviews with residents of Morgan, Utah, and Mifflin County, Pennsylvania. Mr. Divett is librarian of the Library of Medical Sciences at the University of N e w Mexico. This article is based on one which appeared in the Bulletin of the Medical Library Association, XLVIII (January, 1960). All photographs in the article are courtesy the author. 1
American
2
Robert T. Divett, " T h e Medical College of Utah at Morgan," B.M.L.A.,
Medical Directory
(1st ed. to 20th ed., Chicago, 1 9 0 6 - 1 9 5 8 ) . XLVIII, 1-10.
