MUSC Bicentennial Timeline

The effort was spearheaded by some of society’s youngest members, with Samuel Henry Dickson and James Moultrie Jr. at the helm. The society secured state approval to establish the medical college and confer degrees in Charleston 13 months later.

The first classes were held on Monday, November 8, 1824. Students were required to purchase tickets for lectures, which helped to pay the faculty’s salaries.

In 1832, the faculty petitioned the state to create a new medical school, separate from the Medical Society. The Medical College of the State of South Carolina opened two blocks away in the Old City Theatre. As a result, the Medical Society filled the faculty ranks of the original college with physicians from out of state.

By 1838, it became clear that the Medical Society could not continue its operation, and the two schools merged, with the Medical College of the State of South Carolina returning to the building on Queen Street.

Modern seismologists estimate that the 1886 Charleston Earthquake had a magnitude between 6.7 and 7.7, and it was felt as far as New York City and St. Louis, Missouri. In total, 83 people died, and numerous others were injured. No building in Charleston was spared, including the Medical College’s original building, which had been used for six decades.

Following the 1910 publication of “Medical Education in the United States and Canada,” better known as the Flexner Report, it became clear that the Medical College needed to improve. The physical devastation resulting from the 1886 earthquake and its lack of a full-time faculty and funding led to its poor Flexner ranking. Dean Robert Wilson, M.D., realized he would need to transfer the college to state ownership, or it would close.

Wilson’s plan faced major opposition from the state governor, apathetic legislators, and a faculty that feared the college would be moved to Columbia. After two years of campaigning, Wilson successfully lobbied for the necessary state support. The state legislature appropriated $10,000 to help fund a new building to replace the original Queen Street building.

The new building was completed in 1914 on a site donated by the City of Charleston and with donations provided by a city fundraising campaign.

The first African American student was admitted to the College of Medicine in 1965.

It was not until 1971, however, that Bernard W. Deas Jr. (College of Medicine) and James Hodges (College of Pharmacy) became the first African American graduates of the Medical University of South Carolina.

Rosslee Douglas was the first African American woman to graduate from the College of Nursing, the following year. Despite continued racial discrimination and tension in the wake of Jim Crow, these early graduates paved the way for greater diversity and inclusion on campus.

On the evening of Sept. 21, 1989, Category 4 Hurricane Hugo battered the Lowcountry with 140 mph winds and rain for hours before making landfall on Sullivan’s Island. The devastation left in the hurricane’s wake was widespread; boats were swept ashore, and houses completely destroyed.

Despite the raging storm, hospital staff attended to patients, and faculty members helped students and families threatened by flooding. Maintenance staff ensured building safety as electricity faltered, and members of the facilities’ team manually turned generator cranks located on rooftops to ensure continued critical and intensive patient care.

Before assuming the presidency of MUSC, James B. Edwards, D.M.D., served as the 110th governor of South Carolina, from 1975 until 1979. He then served as Secretary of Energy under President Ronald Reagan, and in November of 1982, he stepped down to become president of MUSC.

A staunch advocate for elevating MUSC’s bench and clinical research presence, he set out to recruit leading scientists and grow state-of-the-art lab space to facilitate cutting-edge research. Campus size increased exponentially during his tenure.