Silverprint photo of the faculty of Cooper Medical College

Cooper Medical College. Gelatin silver print photograph of the faculty of Cooper Medical College. N.p., 14 September 1896. 234 x 296 mm. Light rubbing at the margins where previously framed, a few other unobtrusive worn spots but very good.

An extremely rare photograph of an historic event in California medical history. In September 1896 William MacEwen, the Scottish surgeon who founded neurosurgery, traveled to San Francisco to deliver the first Lane Medical Lectures, endowed by Levi Cooper Lane. Cooper Medical College, the forerunner of Stanford University's School of Medicine, was the first medical school established on the West Coast of the United States. Originally part of the University of the Pacific, the school was founded in 1858 by Elias Samuel Cooper, who ran it from its inception until his death eight years later. After a period of decline the school was revived in 1870 by Cooper's nephew, Levi Cooper Lane, who renamed the school Cooper Medical College after its founder. After several decades of independent existence, Cooper Medical College was acquired by Stanford University; Stanford University's School of Medicine thus can trace its ancestry back to the first medical school founded on the West Coast.

The photograph shows, from left to right, Drs. Lane, Joseph Hirschfelder, Adolph Barkan, visiting professor William MacEwan, and J. Stillman.