Detail of the Anatomical Theatre from View of the University … by E. Sachse & Co., 1856. Special Collections, University of Virginia Library, Charlottesville, Va.

Welcome to the Anatomical Theatre at the University of Virginia online exhibit. It tells the story of the Theatre’s presence at the University for more than a century. While not included in the earliest plans of the University, the need for the Theatre became clear before the first classes were ever held.  Thomas Jefferson himself drew the design which includes two floor plans, a front elevation view, and a cross section. The exhibit traces the construction and later changes to the building, its demise, and archeological investigations at the site. It also gives a glimpse of what happened inside the building and the deeds that were done to procure cadavers so that medical students could learn anatomy.

Barringer, Paul B. The Natural Bent. Chapel Hill: The University of North Carolina Press, 1949.

Barringer, Paul B. “Opening of the Anatomy Hall at the University of Virginia, with an Address by Dr. Paul B. Barringer, of Davidson College, N.C..” North Carolina Medical Journal 120:5 (November 1887): 277-286. Retrieved from HathiTrust Digital Library.

Barringer, Paul B., James M. Garnett and Rosewell Page, (Eds.). University of Virginia, Its History, Influence, Equipment and Characteristics. New York: Lewis Publishing Co., 1904.

Blanton, Wyndham Bolling. Medicine in Virginia in the Nineteenth Century. Richmond: Garrett & Massie, 1933.

Breeden, James O. “Body Snatchers and Anatomy Professors: Medical Education in Nineteenth-Century Virginia.” The Virginia Magazine of History and Biography 83:3 (July 1975): 321-345.

Cabell, Nathaniel Francis. Early History of the University of Virginia, as Contained in the Letters of Thomas Jefferson and Joseph C. Cabell. Richmond, Va.: J.W. Randolph, 1856. Retrieved from HathiTrust Digital Library.

Cheek, Charles D. and Dana B. Heck. Archeological Investigations at the Site of the Anatomical Theatre (44AB443) University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Virginia. West Chester, Pa.: John Milner Associates, Inc., Alexandria, VA., 1997). Historical Collections, Claude Moore Health Sciences Library, University of Virginia.

Cook, Abner H. “The Winchester Medical College, Winchester, Virginia, 1827-1862.” The Medical Pickwick 4:1 (January 1918): 3-7. Retrieved from HathiTrust Digital Library.

Dabney, Virginius. Mr. Jefferson’s University: A History. Charlottesville: University Press of Virginia, 1981.

Dominic, Puzio. “The Anatomical Theatre (1825-1939).” JUEL June 8, 2015. Retrieved from http://juel.iath.virginia.edu/node/242.

Dorsey, John M. (Ed.). The Jefferson-Dunglison Letters. Charlottesville: University Press of Virginia, 1960.

“Dr. Harvey E. Jordan Dies ….” Medical Alumni News Letter 16:2 (December 1963-January 1964): 6-7.

Duncan, Richard R. Beleaguered Winchester: A Virginia Community at War, 1861-1865. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 2007.

“Editorial: The University of Virginia.” Virginia Medical Monthly 13:10 (January 1887): 755-756. Retrieved from HathiTrust Digital Library.

Fitz-Hugh, G. Slaughter. Anatomical Laboratory – Dissecting Hall 1833-1928, [manuscript], 1981. Historical Collections, Claude Moore Health Sciences Library, University of Virginia.

Ford, Benjamin, Principal Investigator and Nick Bon-Harper, Project Archaeologist and Report Author, Rivanna Archaeological Services. Poe Alley, McCormick Road Investigations, Volume II, McCormick Road Storm and Sanitary Improvement Project, March 2009. Charlottesville, Va.: University of Virginia, 2009. Special Collections, University of Virginia Library, Charlottesville, Va.

Gilliam, Alexander G. “Letters to the Editor: Historical Issues.” Virginia, Fall 2010. Retrieved from http://uvamagazine.org/articles/letters_to_the_editor16.

Grizzard, Frank Edgar. Documentary History of the Construction of the Buildings at the University of Virginia, 1817-1828, A Dissertation Presented to the Graduate Faculty of the University of Virginia, August 1996, Chapter 10, The Building Campaign of 1825, Anatomical Hall.

Hartwell, Edward Mussey. “The Hindrances to Anatomical Study in the United States, Including a Special Record of the Struggles of Our Early Anatomical Teachers.” Annals of Anatomy and Surgery 3 (January-June 1881): 209-225. Retrieved from HathiTrust Digital Library.

Head, Ronald B. (Ed.). “The Student Diary of Charles Ellis, Jr., March 10-June 25, 1835,” The Magazine of Albemarle County History 35 and 36 (1977-1978): 7-122.

Jefferson, Thomas. The Papers of Thomas Jefferson, vol. 2, 1777 – 18 June 1779. Edited by Julian P. Boyd. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1950.

John Hartwell Cocke Papers, 1725-1939. MSS 640, Special Collections, University of Virginia Library, Charlottesville, Va.

John Staige Davis to S.G. Pedigo, January, 9, 1883. MSS 2029, Special Collections, University of Virginia Library, Charlottesville, Va.

Jordan, Harvey E. History of the School of Medicine of the University of Virginia. Charlottesville, Va., 1952.

Journals of the Chairman of the Faculty 1827-1864. RG-19/1/2.041, Special Collections, University of Virginia Library, Charlottesville, Va.

Koste, Jodi L. “Artifacts and Commingled Skeletal Remains from a Well on the Medical College of Virginia Campus: Anatomical and Surgical Training in Nineteenth-Century Richmond.” VCU Scholars Compass (June 18 2012): 1-19. Retrieved from VCU Scholars Compass.

Maddox, William Arthur. The Free School Idea in Virginia before the Civil War; A Phase of Political and Social Evolution, Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy. New York City: Teachers College, Columbia University, 1918.

National Archives. Founders Online. Retrieved from The Papers of Thomas Jefferson: Retirement Series.

Office of the Architect, University of Virginia, The Rotunda, Historic Images, 231-233. Retrieved from http://www.officearchitect.virg inia.edu/pdfs/historicimages1.pdf.

“100 Years of Partnership.” Columns: News from the School of Continuing & Professional Studies (Spring 2915). Retrieved from http://www.scps.virginia.edu/columns/view/100-years-of-partnership-Spring-2015.

Papers of John Staige Davis, 1839-1885. MSS 3247, Special Collections, University of Virginia Library, Charlottesville, Va.

Papers of John Staige Davis, 1840-1888. MSS 1912, 2842, Special Collections, University of Virginia Library, Charlottesville, Va.

Papers of the Proctor of the University of Virginia. RG-5/3/1.111, Special Collections, University of Virginia Library, Charlottesville, Va.

Penn Medical Students: compiled from the January 1841 University Catalog. Retrieved from http://www.archives.upenn.edu/people/students/med/catalogs/catmedmat1841.html.

Radbill, Samuel X. (Ed.). The Autobiographical Ana of Robley Dunglison, M.D. Philadelphia: American Philosophical Society, 1963.

Randolph-Meikleham Family Papers, 1792-1882. Accession #4726-a, Special Collections, University of Virginia Library, Charlottesville, Va. Retrieved from http://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=uva.x004731971;view=1up;seq=7

Sharp, Henry K. and Morton C. Wilhelm. A History of Cancer Care at the University of Virginia, 1901-2011. Lancaster, Pa.: DEStech Publications, 2011.

T.R. Roberts to Henry A. Wise, January 12, 1857, Box 6 Folder 2, Governor Henry A. Wise Executive Papers, 1856-1859. Accession #36710, January 14, 1857, The Library of Virginia, Richmond, Virginia.

Thomas Jefferson Papers, 1606 to 1827. Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. https://www.loc.gov/collections/thomas-jefferson-papers/.

Turner, Ronald Ray. “The Killing of George Green by his Slaves December 1856” and following documents. Prince William County Virginia, African American and Slave Records. Retrieved from http://www.pwcvirginia.com/RonsRamblings.htm.

“U.Va. Celebrating 75^th Anniversary of Alderman Library’s Opening.” UVA Today October 11, 2013. Retrieved from http://news.virginia.edu/content/uva-celebrating-75th-anniversary-alderman-library-s-opening.

University of Virginia, Board of Visitors. Minutes. Retrieved from http://guides.lib.virginia.edu/bovminutes.

University of Virginia, Board of Visitors. Report of the Rector & Visitors of the University of Virginia to the President and Directors of the Literary Fund. Richmond: Thos Ritchie, 1825.

University of Virginia, Board of Visitors. Reports of the Board of Visitors to the Literary Fund 1814-1837, [manuscript]. RG-1/1/6. 151, Special Collections, University of Virginia Library, Charlottesville, Va.

University of Virginia, Catalogue.

University of Virginia, Faculty. Minutes, March 6, 1865, transcription, Encyclopedia Virginia. Retrieved from http://www.encyclopediavirginia.org/University_of_Virginia_Faculty_Minutes_March_6_1865.

University of Virginia, Faculty, Minutes of the General Faculty 1825-1970, [manuscript]. RG-19/1/1.461, Special Collections, University of Virginia Library, Charlottesville.

University of Virginia, Proctor. Day Book, 1821-1828. RG-5/3/2.102, Special Collections, University of Virginia Library, Charlottesville, Va.

Virginia. Acts and Joint Resolutions Passed by the General Assembly of the State of Virginia during the Session of 1883-84. Richmond: R.U. Derr, 1884.

Virginia. Proceedings and Report of the Commissioners for the University of Virginia, presented December 8, 1818. Richmond: Printed by Thomas Ritchie, 1818. Retrieved from Readex

Wertenbaker, Charles Christian. “Early Days of the University.” The Alumni Bulletin 4:1 (May 1897): 21-25.

Previous: The 20th-Century Anatomical Theatre
Next: Credits

The Albert and Shirley Small Special Collections Library is a treasure trove of information and images. In particular, they house the wonderful letters to and from Dr. John Staige Davis, the 19th-century anatomist and professor. Others associated with the University of Virginia community freely shared their ideas and research. These individuals include Garth Anderson, the Facilities Management Historian; Kirt von Daacke, Assistant Dean and Professor, College of Arts & Sciences; Louis Nelson, Professor in the Department of Architectural History and Associate Provost for Outreach; Robert Bloodgood, Professor in the School of Medicine; Benjamin Ford, Principal Investigator with Rivanna Archaeological Services, LLC; and Sonya Coleman, formerly a staff member in Historical Collections and now at the Library of Virginia. Emily Bowden, the Historical Collections Specialist, answered many technical queries as well as gave editorial assistance. Anson Parker and Jason Bennett provided the programming architecture for the Web exhibit.

Anatomical Theatre Model. Photo by Emily Bowden, Historical Collections, Claude Moore Health Sciences Library, Charlottesville, Va.

Previous: Resources
Beginning: Introduction to the Anatomical Theatre

Dunglison to Jefferson: List of Anatomical Preparations [May 21, 1825] [3]

Head injected so as to exhibit the course of the Carotids — as well as of the vertebral arteries.
A dried preparation of the uterus, bladder, rectum, &c. in situ.
An injected preparation of the heart with the adjacent vessels & Thoracic duct with, or without, the head attached.
An injected foetus to exhibit the foetal circulation.
A prepared penis.
The testes, with the artery, vein, & vas deferens injected.
The vessels of the Mesentery injected.
Bones injected & rendered transparent to shew their vascularity.
Intestine injected.
Liver, spleen, kidney or pancreas, injected preparation
Section of the head so as to exhibit the falx cerebri &c. carried down through the face or not.
Any preparation to shew the lymphatics.
Preparation to shew the cancelli of Bone.
Dried urinary Bladder, Penis, &c.
Dried preparation of the heart to shew its valves, cavities, chordae tendineae, &c.
Preparation of the lungs in Spirit to exhibit their vascularity.
Head laid out according to Gall and Spurzheim’s system.
Wet preparation to shew the thoracic & abdominal viscera in situ in a child (anterior view.)
Preparation of the stomach wet or dry.
Dried preparation of the larynx, trachea, &c.
Urinary or Biliary calculi.
Any preparation of the ligaments, especially of those of the Pelvis.
Male and Female Pelvis. (two or three female).
Foetal Pelvis & Skeleton.
Any morbid preparations with the histories attached.

 Back to: The Need for an Anatomical Theatre

Dr. Harvey E. Jordan

Harvey Ernest Jordan, 1924. Prints01873, Special Collections, University of Virginia Library, Charlottesville, Va.

Harvey Jordan, Ph.D. came to the University of Virginia medical school in 1907 to teach histology and embryology. In his History of the School of Medicine at the University of Virginia, he described the Anatomical Hall as he knew it from his arrival until 1924. He said it was a “four-story, unpretentious, square red-brick building, with almost primitive arrangements and equipment.” He gave the uses of the four floors: pathology and bacteriology on the top floor; his own histology and embryology on the street-level floor; a lecture room, called the “Amphitheatre” in the basement; and a furnace and storage area in the sub-basement. [2] He remembered that the building became even more primitive when the furnace was neglected over the 1918 Christmas vacation, and its water jacket froze. This cracked the jacket itself, leaving the medical school without a furnace for two sessions. The faculty and students had to make do with wood-burning stoves. [3]

A columned portico designed by Professor Fiske Kimball, head of the Department of Art and Architecture at the University of Virginia and author of Thomas Jefferson, Architect, was added to the front of the building in 1920. [4] The portico was made under the tenure of Dr. W. A. Lambeth, Superintendent of Grounds and Buildings of the University. [5] Lambeth was also a physician, the University’s first athletic director, and the author of Thomas Jefferson As an Architect and a Designer of Landscapes.

Anatomical Theatre, post 1919. In 1920, a columned portico designed by Fiske Kimball was added to the front of the Theatre. Prints07393, Special Collections, University of Virginia Library, Charlottesville, Va.

Anatomical Theatre, ca 1930s. In addition to the front, the photo shows the right side of the building. Photographs of the University of Virginia, MSS 15048, Special Collections, University of Virginia Library, Charlottesville, Va.

The Anatomical Theatre Condemned in 1924

At the end of the 1923-1924 session, the Anatomical Theatre was condemned as unsafe for medical students. [6] In 1924, the Board of Visitors minutes show a request granted for nearly $3,700 from Theodore Hough, Dean of the School of Medicine, which included funds to pay for the move out of the “old Medical Building” and for 54 chairs to be used by the medical department in the Washington Hall lecture room. [7] Washington Hall, (Hotel B), was located on the other side of the Rotunda at the north end of the East Range. Professors also scattered to the basement of the old Fayerweather Gym, the attic of Cabell Hall, and buildings at the north end of the West Range. [8] It would not be until 1929 that the “new” medical school building opened.

In 1925, a special committee was appointed by the Board to “investigate the condition of the old Medical Hall” with the stipulation that if the building could “be made safe at a cost not to exceed $3,000,” they were to have the necessary work done. [9] The building was deemed salvageable and was reconditioned for the recently formed School of Rural Social Economics. [10]

Alderman Library Dooms the Theatre

On Founder’s Day in 1924, the president of the University of Virginia, Edwin A. Alderman, proposed the erection of a new library to replace the University’s central library housed in the Rotunda. Construction was delayed for many years until the University received a grant to cover part of the cost from the Public Works Administration which had been created under the 1933 National Industrial Recovery Act in response to the Great Depression. [11] Groundbreaking occurred in 1936, and the new library, named for Alderman, was formally dedicated June 13, 1938, during Final Exercises.

Plot Plan Showing Est. Grades & Sub-Soil Drainage, University of Virginia Library by Taylor & Fisher, Architects, November 20, 1936. Grade contours shows the difficult setting the Theatre found itself in with the Library construction. University of Virginia Facilities Management.

Enlarged section of Plot Plan Showing Est. Grades & Sub-Soil Drainage, University of Virginia Library by Taylor & Fisher, Architects, November 20, 1936. The embankments, as drawn, were at an angle of almost 45 degrees. University of Virginia Facilities Management.

After the expanse of land in front of Alderman Library was leveled, the Theatre, built on the side of a substantial slope, found itself with embankments on three sides and in an increasingly deep hole front to back, more than 15 feet in the northwest corner. According to John Milner Associates who excavated the area in 1997, the Theatre was to have been surrounded by an earthen embankment which would have permitted continued use. [12]

Construction Site for Alderman Library, December 21, 1936. The right side of  the Theatre is to the left of the photo; the back faces Miller Hall which was built in 1868 and demolished in 2002. Prints09543, Special Collections, University of Virginia Library, Charlottesville, Va.

Construction Site for Alderman Library, February 20, 1937. The chapel is to the left; the back and right sides of the Anatomical Theatre are to the right of the photo. Prints09460, Special Collections, University of Virginia Library, Charlottesville, Va.

Alderman Library and the Anatomical Theatre, ca. 1938-1939. Alderman Library was formally opened in October 1938, and the Anatomical Theatre was demolished the following summer so this photo was taken in the winter of 1938-1939. Photographs of Francis L. Berkeley, Jr. Charlottesville and the University of Virginia, ca. 1929-1940, Accession #13417, Special Collections, University of Virginia Library, Charlottesville, Va.

Six weeks before the Library’s dedication, John Lloyd Newcomb, the University president who replaced Alderman, had posed the question of the removal of the old Medical Building which by this time was basically a poorly maintained storeroom and a fire hazard. [13] Newcomb asked for the opinion of the Board of Visitors on the issue. Any ensuing discussion was not recorded, but it has been suggested that the presence of the Theatre ruined the vista of the new library, and the following motion was adopted: “Resolved, that it is the sense of this Board that the old Medical Building on West Range be removed at the convenience of the President.” [14] The image to the right shows that both Alderman Library and the Anatomical Theatre coexisted for a time.

Anatomical Theatre Demolition by Atcheson Laughlin Hench, July 1939. Prints07404, Special Collections, University of Virginia Library, Charlottesville, Va.

Anatomical Theatre Demolition by Atcheson Laughlin Hench, June 16, 1939. Prints07406. Special Collections, University of Virginia Library, Charlottesville, Va.

With that 1938 resolution for removal, the Anatomical Theatre was doomed to become the only University of Virginia building designed by Thomas Jefferson to be demolished. It was razed during the summer of 1939, and the area filled and leveled. Harvey Jordan who taught histology and embryology on the street-level floor of the Theatre and eventually became director of the anatomical laboratories and dean of the School of Medicine was still saddened in 1955 by its demise. [15] He wrote, “It seemed to me that this building should be permanently preserved by reconstruction on some other site because of its historical importance in the development of medical education at the University of Virginia, but the authorities were apparently not impressed with this view of the matter. After spending a good part of 17 years in this modest and homely building, I had naturally developed a sentimental interest in its preservation.” [16] Jordan saved one of the bricks to use as a doorstop in his home. Others were used to repair additional Jefferson buildings and the serpentine walls. [17]

Archeological Investigations at the Site of the Anatomical Theatre

Nearly 60 years after the Theatre’s demolition, the Office of the Curator and Architect for the Academical Village hired the firm of John Milner Associates to determine the location of “the [Theatre] building footprint and document the remaining evidence of construction materials and methods.” [18] This was to be done so that “building remnants could be taken into consideration when planning for projects that might disturb them.” [19] Only part of the area was excavated because of mature trees near the site, deep excavations up to 20 feet that were prone to collapse, and the location of the former front of the Theatre under the McCormick Road and sidewalk.

Anatomical Theatre by Atcheson Laughlin Hench, 1937. This shows how narrow the road in front of the Theatre used to be compared to the present-day McCormick Road. Given the width of the road today, the John Milner Associates concluded that the east wall, or the front of the Anatomical Theatre, is under the middle of the sidewalk bordering McCormick. [23] Prints07408, Special Collections, University of Virginia Library, Charlottesville, Va.

Excavation of Theatre, July 1997. Prints11727, Special Collections, University of Virginia Library, Charlottesville, Va.

Unable to find documentation about how much material had been removed, the team members hoped to find walls within several feet of the surface on the rear, west side. This was not to be, nor were they able to confirm traces of any remaining foundation on the west side. [20] An additional excavation on the south side was more successful, and the team uncovered compressed coal dust, part of the charnel wall, ash, human bones or bone fragments, and portions of the southern brick wall which was 1.4 to 1.5 feet thick. [21] The firm estimated that 75-99% of the site had been destroyed and removed at the time of the 1939 demolition. [22]

Anatomical Theatre Stone Marker, 2016.

After the excavation, markers were placed at the site of the Theatre. One reads: Site of Thomas Jefferson’s ANATOMICAL THEATER 1826-1939. On this site stood the first building devoted solely to medical instruction at the University of Virginia.

In 2000, within several years of the 1997 report, groundbreaking ceremonies were held for the Mary and David Harrison Institute for American History, Literature, and Culture and the Albert and Shirley Small Special Collections Library whose square footage is 80 percent underground stretching in front of Alderman Library and towards the site of the demolished Anatomical Theatre.

In 2008, a study was done by Rivanna Archaeological Services, (RAS), prior to and in conjunction with new sanitary sewer and storm water lines and structures in the area close to the site of the former Theatre. A two foot wide mortared stone wall, presumably dating to 1825, was discovered that appears in the 1856 View of the University of Virginia, Charlottesville & Monticello by E. Sachse & Co. [24] The excavation also uncovered “the east façade of the terrace basement” which was the below grade area that bridged the gap between the Anatomical Theatre and what was historically West Street. [25] According to RAS the brick walls contain Portland cement-based mortar which dates them as being post 1870. [26]

James Bell Bullitt, ca. 1896. James Bullitt was a graduate of the medical school in 1897. Behind Bullitt, notice the terrace basement which joins the Anatomical Theatre and the historic West Street, now McCormick Road. To the right is the stone wall discovered in the 2008 archeological study. Prints09231, Special Collections, University of Virginia Library, Charlottesville, Va.

U.M. Carwell and H. Baptista, 1896. Ulysses Carwell was an 1898 medical school graduate, and Hans Baptista was attending his second session in 1896-1897. To the right is the stone wall discovered in the 2008 archeological study. It abutted the historic West Street, now McCormick Road. Prints10525, Special Collections, University of Virginia Library, Charlottesville, Va.

Roughly two centuries have passed since workmen followed Thomas Jefferson’s plan for the Anatomical Theatre to provide Dr. Robley Dunglison with a dedicated building to teach students about anatomy and medicine. The building is gone now with some few remains buried in place, and its bricks scattered to repair other historic buildings or the serpentine walls around the University of Virginia gardens. However, it still sheds light and casts shadows on parts of the University story: the difficulty of anatomical study, particularly before the passage of the 1884 Virginia Anatomical Act; the treatment of enslaved people, even after death; the effect of the Civil War; the fight for financial support for education; human cooperation and obstruction; a missed opportunity for historical preservation; and faculty dedication, far beyond the expected. More than seventeen hundred medical school graduates were taught and studied in the Anatomical Theatre. They scattered and are gone now too, but their legacy of learning and their desire and ability to heal patients affected thousands of lives in the 19th and 20th centuries which in turn affected many in the 21st century. Remarkable changes have occurred since the Theatre was the center of medical education at the University of Virginia. Today there is a state-of-the-art education building, with a medical simulation center; a large faculty devoted to teaching, patient care, and research; a library that provides an outstanding array of resources, and classes that are much more diverse. What hopefully remains constant over these two centuries is the desire of teachers to teach and students to learn, with the goal of improving health care.

Anatomical Theatre Model and Bricks

Anatomical Theatre Model. The model shows the theatre as designed by Jefferson. Photo by Emily Bowden, Historical Collections, Claude Moore Health Sciences Library, Charlottesville, Va.

Anatomical Theatre Model. The detachable roof is removed to show the top-most floor. Photo by Emily Bowden, Historical Collections, Claude Moore Health Sciences Library, Charlottesville, Va.

Anatomical Theatre Bricks. Photo by Emily Bowden, Historical Collections, Claude Moore Health Sciences Library, Charlottesville, Va.

A model of Thomas Jefferson’s Anatomical Theatre was made by Ira L. Full and presented in 1969 to Dr. Chalmers L. Gemmill, a professor of pharmacology who joined the University of Virginia faculty in 1945 and retired in 1972. In addition to being department chair for most of those years, he was very interested in the history of medicine.  This model now resides in Historical Collections in the Claude Moore Health Sciences Library as do four salvaged bricks.

Previous: The Post-Civil War Anatomical Theatre
Next: Resources

The University of Virginia was spared destruction by General George A. Custer and his Union troops during the occupation of Charlottesville and the University from March 3 to March 6, 1865. Minutes of a faculty meeting following the Union withdrawal report that the institution and its inhabitants fared better than anticipated and, “that very little damage was done to the University property during their sojourn here.” [2] However, the years of war took their toll on buildings, faculty, finances, and enrollment.

John Staige Davis, ca. 1866-1868. This photo was taken within a year or two of when he penned his letters to University officials. Prints10071, Special Collections, University of Virginia Library, Charlottesville, Va.

Sixteen months after the Army of Northern Virginia surrendered at Appomattox and in response to a Board of Visitors’ inquiry, Dr. John S. Davis wrote a letter to inform the University Rector of his department’s need for additional anatomical illustrations and fresh medical specimens. He pointed out that the war interrupted Henry Scharf’s painting of anatomical illustrations and that the medicines for the materia medica class were in such poor condition that he was forced to borrow specimens from a local druggist.

University of Va. Aug: 15th 1866
The Rector of the Board of Visitors,

Dear Sir,
In obedience to the request of the Board
that the members of the Medical Faculty shall
state the most urgent wants of their
respective departments, I beg leave to say,
That my greatest need is for additional Pictorial
Illustrations in Anatomy, and for fresh specimens of
Medicines to assist the lectures on Materia Medica-
The suite of paintings executed for my school by Mr.
Scharf, is of extraordinary beauty & value – But the War
[ended?] his labors, & left the collection incomplete – I shall
be extremely glad, because my Class will be inestimably benefitted,
if we can have the most important deficiencies supplied -
It may not be improper for me to add – that the Artist
works under my constant supervision, and by dissections which
I prepare for him. and that as this involves no expense,
while his compensation is very moderate, the series is worth
several times as much as it cost the University – I have
often been assured that no Anatomical Museum in this
country or abroad is similarly enriched.

The Cabinet of specimens in the Department of Materia
Medica was never adequate nor choice, and having been
in daily use without renewal, for more than sixteen years,
the Medicines have in many cases lost their distinctive
character or been consumed by the examination of many
successive Classes. The consequence is that I have to borrow
articles from the Druggist for exhibition-

I am, with the greatest respect
J.S. Davis. M.D.
Prof. Anat: & Mat: Med, [3]

Dr. Davis must have continued to borrow medicine from the druggist because about a year and a half later he drew up an extensive “List of specimens wanted to complete a Cabinet of Materia Medica.” [4]

In 1867, Davis wrote a letter to the University Proctor and Superintendent of Grounds and Buildings, J.E. Johnson, about the condition of the Theatre building itself and asked that attention be given to the loose sashes and broken panes of glass in the anatomical lecture room skylight as well as the roof which “is in a leaking condition” and “endangering the portfolios of Pictures,” most likely the ones done by Mr. Scharf. [5]

Perhaps, the requests for repairs and supplies were eventually fulfilled because the Catalogue for 1871-1872 states, “The equipment of the Medical Department in apparatus, specimens and drawings is extensive and excellent.” It describes Mr. Scharf’s paintings as numbering in the hundreds and, “unequalled by anything of the kind in the United States, or perhaps abroad. … They delineate the tissues, muscles, heart and blood vessels, brain, spinal marrow and nerves, the organs of sense, the thoracic, abdominal and pelvic viscera, and indeed all the structures and organs of the human body with admirable accuracy and distinctness, and are of great value as helps to lucid instruction in the branches to which they relate. In all the other branches, the appropriate means of illustration of every topic of discussion are likewise at hand, and are duly utilized.” [6]

The Catalogue continues, “The Department furnishes every facility for the study of practical Anatomy that can be furnished in similar institutions elsewhere. Adequate provision is made for the supply of subjects, and each student has the opportunity, by actual dissections under the guidance of the Demonstrator of Anatomy, of acquiring a practical knowledge of the structure of the human body in all its parts.” [7] Fifteen years after this glowing report in the Catalogue, the department would suffer a calamity.

Fire in the Anatomical Theatre

William B. Towles, 1880-1881. Dr. Towles graduated from the U.Va. medical school in 1869 and returned three years later as demonstrator of anatomy. He succeeded Dr. John Staige Davis in 1885 and served until his death in 1939. Prints08141, Special Collections, University of Virginia Library, Charlottesville, Va.

On November 20, 1886, nine years before the disastrous blaze that gutted the University Rotunda, the Anatomical Theatre, or Medical Hall as it was then referred to in Board of Visitors minutes, was partially destroyed in a fire of unknown origin that started in a third-floor bathroom. The brick walls of the building remained sound, the lecture room on a lower floor sustained little damage, and the anatomical models were rescued as were all the paintings and instruments belonging to the chair of physiology and surgery and the chair of the practice of medicine and obstetrics. Unfortunately, the roof and some interior spaces were destroyed along with the anatomical paintings made before the Civil War by Henry Scharf. William B. Towles, the professor of anatomy at the time of the fire, downplayed the loss of the paintings in terms of teaching. He indicated they were considered valuable as works of art, but were little used as he taught “almost entirely from the ‘subject.’ ” [8]

Dr. Towles was in charge of plans for rebuilding and worked to renovate the Theatre “in a manner to insure the greatest comfort and convenience.” [9]  Construction did not proceed quickly enough to open in spring 1887 as predicted, but by fall, the Theatre, minus the cupola and the railing of the previous structure, was ready for new classes. [10] The inaugural day of October 25, 1887, occurred less than a year after the fire, and more than a hundred people attended the formal opening in spite of the inclement weather of rain, sleet, and snow.

Paul Brandon Barringer, undated. Prints05979, Special Collections, University of Virginia Library, Charlottesville, Va.

Dr. Paul Barringer, a graduate of the University of Virginia medical school in 1877, gave a well-received address he titled, “A History of the Medical Department of the University of Virginia – Its System of Education and Its Results.” [11] In January 1888, money was appropriated by the Board of Visitors to defray the cost of 400 copies of the Virginia Medical Monthly, which contained the address that had been printed in the North Carolina Medical Journal two months earlier. [12] In June 1888, the University Proctor gave a financial report on the reconstructed building. [13]

No delay in classes occurred during construction. A temporary lecture room for anatomy was erected near the Dissecting Hall while other medical professors moved to the “main building of the University,” probably referring to the Rotunda or the Annex to the Rotunda. [14] In January 1888, the Board of Visitors resolved that the “temporary frame building heretofore used by the Prof. of Anatomy be turned over to the Medical Faculty of the University, to be used in connection with the Charlottesville Hospital.” [15] Apparently, Dr. Towles did not move his classes back into the Theatre as in 1887 it was recommended that $2,000, to include $500 from insurance money on the contents of the Theatre, be appropriated to erect a permanent lecture room for the Professor of Anatomy. [16] This permanent lecture room was likely the north wing of the Dissecting Hall which had room for faculty, instruction, and dissecting tables. [17]

Inspection of the Anatomical Theatre in the 1890s

Anatomical Theatre, post 1886. This photo shows the Theater as rebuilt in 1887 after the fire a year earlier. The railing and cupola were not replaced. Prints07392, Special Collections, University of Virginia Library, Charlottesville, Va.

In 1893, the Board of Visitors engaged Mr. Charles H. Read, Jr., a prominent architect from Richmond, Virginia, to examine the building and attest to its safety and stability, which were in question. His detailed report, dated December 15^th, provides a unique description of both the inside and the outside of the building. Read declared that he had inspected the Medical Building on the West Range with the assistance of Professor W. H. Echols, the Superintendent of Grounds and Buildings, and described his methodology and careful measurements. He found that the front wall “dishes inward towards the top,” … “an outward bulge” was at the rear, and there was “some departure from a true vertical” on the north or right wall, but concluded, “the walls were found to be exceptionally true for a building of this character.” His assessment was that any slight variances had been present since the beginning when the building was constructed “with no interior brick walls above the Basement, nor any pilasters on the outside or inside to stiffen the long reaches of about forty ft. & help to keep them true.” [18] Finding “no external signs of any changes in the position of the walls since it was erected,” he considered the building “as safe now as it has ever been, & that with the proper amount of care & looking after needful to the preservation of all building property; can be kept so for an indefinite number of years.” [19]

He described the interior above the basement as being of frame construction with the “middle portion of the floors being carried by joists resting on strong girders of short spans, which are supported by stout wooden columns, the lowest series of which rest on brick partition walls in the basement.” He found these supports in good condition. [20]

Anatomical Theatre, ca. 1901? This photograph from the turn of the century shows the left side and back of the Theatre. Note the bricked up door to the charnel in the back right and the bricked up area to the back left that eliminated two windows. University of Virginia Photographs, 1901?, RG-30/1/3.093, Special Collections, University of Virginia Library, Charlottesville, Va.

Mr. Read suggested extra bracing on the hip roof and rebuilding the chimney at the rear. His final statement to the Board was, “it is, I think, proper that I should call to your attention the fact that – ‘The Life of a Building’ – is prolonged in proportion to the care taken of it.” He then explained that one had to replace material inside the building that had worn out and also prevent the elements on the outside from causing disintegration because of a neglected opening or crevice. Mr. Read stated that in his opinion the expenses of the improvements would be $150, a sum that was then appropriated to cover the recommended repairs. [21]

Previous: The Pre-Civil War Anatomical Theatre
Next: The 20th-Century Anatomical Theatre

University of Va,
Decr 15th, 1893.
To the Board of Visitors, University of Va.
Gentlemen.

In response to a call from the Superintendent
of Grounds & Buildings, Profr W. H. Echols, I have today
visited and inspected the Medical Building on West Range,
regarding which some questions have been raised as to its stability
& safety; & would hereby make my report as to the condition
I found the Building in, and submit as the result my
opinion on the points in question.

With the assistance of Mr Echols, two lines of levels
were run around the Building with an accurate field instrument
about Eight ft apart & through that part of the building
to which attention had been called as showing weakness in the
external walls. Sight lines were also taken on brick courses
at lower levels, & in both cases by both instruments & Eye the
walls were found to be exceptionally true for a building of
this character, & no indications whatever were found either in
the exterior, or interior basement walls of settling. No cracks
were discovered that seemed to indicate that the walls were not
abundantly able to safely carry all floor & roof weights that
it is probable they will ever be called upon to bear.

The front, rear, & side walls are practically plumb, as
well as absolutely level on joint beds, up to the offset from
an 18 inch to a 13 inch wall on the level of the second story
floor. Above the point on the Front (or East side) of the
Building, the wall dishes inward towards the top, & had done
so when the roof was put on, as is shown by the thickening of
the wood casing at the center & bottom of the Freize [sic].

At the rear (or west side) of the building, there is an
outward bulge about the level of the Third story floor, but
both of these deflections from vertical planes have been known
to exist for some time, the former Superintendent Maj. Peyton
having noticed them twenty five years ago & had a careful examination
by competent experts made, which resulted in a favorable
report as to their stability and strength, though not
exactly true in their lines.

The present Supt Mr Echols, on having his attention
called to these deflections about a year ago, took accurate
observations with a plumb bob & has recently repeated them
without being able to find that the slightest change had
taken place.

The face of the north wall shows also some departure
from a true vertical, but there is no sign that this is of
recent date.

The above stated facts would seem therefore to agree
that the upper part of the building was not built to true
lines when originally constructed about sixty years ago, &
the fact that there are no interrior [sic] brick walls above the
Basement, nor any pilasters on the outside or inside to
stiffen the long reaches of about forty ft.& help to keep
them true; would itself account for the present condition
the walls are in. As there are no external signs of any
changes in the position of the walls since it was erected
that can be detected, I am of the opinion that the Building
is as safe now as it has ever been, & that with the proper
amount of care & looking after needful to the preservation
of all building property; can be kept so for an indefinite
number of years.

I would recommend the pointing of the joints that have
come out, & the filling & grading at north rear corner so as
to divert all surface water away from the foundation walls.

Having found no just cause for any apprehension from
an external examination of the building, attention was next
turned to the interior construction with the following result.

Above the basement floor the entire interior of the Building
is of frame construction, the middle portion of the floors
being carried by joists resting on strong girders of short
spans, which are supported by stout wooden columns, the lowest
series of which rest on brick partition walls in the Basement.

These columns were tested and found to be in true vertical
lines over each other, thereby answering any questions as
to the shifting of floor timbers and floor [wads?] from their
proper supports so as to have had any part in producing the
departures from plumb lines in the brick walls heretofore referred
to.

The Girders running north and south, & carrying the
floor joists were found to rest square on their beds, nor was
any “twisting” found to exist except that of some light ¾
inch warped casing, which on being taken off exposed the girder
in good order & proper position.

The roof construction is a simple deck and hipped roof
sufficiently tied together to keep from spreading. Four stout
posts resting almost directly on the line of column & girder
construction below act as auxiliary supports for the deck portion
of the roof. I advise that these four posts be braced &
trussed together as a stile from their protection against any
unusual wind pressure or snow load.

The chimney that has been built for the Furnace flue from
the Basement up through the roof, was built independent of the
rear wall. The footings of this chimney rest partly on the
heel course of the rear wall of the building.

When it began to settle, as all new brick work may be
expected to do, it parted away from the rear wall, cracking
the plaster in the corners where it adjoined the rear wall
through each of the three upper stories & shows a settlement
on these floors of from 1/4 to 3/8 of an inch.

In the basement a rotation & sliding away from the rear
wall shows itself until the chimney & rear wall have become
entirely separated. The rear wall of the building does not
appear to have suffered in any way from the settling of _____
Chimney.

This chimney should be taken down & rebuilt on a foundation
entirely independent of the walls of the building.

The foundation should be of concrete of sufficient size
to carry, not more than two to two & one half tons to sq. ft
bearing surface.

The bricks now in this chimney are of inferior quality
& should be replaced with first class hard brick, laid in
strong cement mortar and well hammered down with close joints
to reduce any settling to a minimum.

The cracks shown in the joints between stud & brick walls
(as shown in the plastering), are nothing more than what might
be expected at the unions of old well settled brick walls &
new frame studd [sic] partitions. These cracks should be pointed
up, as they have in all probability by this time reached their
extreme limit.

In closing my report, it is, I think, proper that I should
call your attention to the fact that—”The Life of a Building”—
is prolonged in proportion to the care taken of it. This
applies not only to replacing from time to time what is worn
out on the inside by use of it.

The elements are always on the watch to get in their work
of disintegration on the outside of some neglected opening or
crevices from the highest coping to the lowest foundation stone,
& a careful supervision that will foresee & prevent it will not
only lessen the “Expense of Repairs”, but tend also to preserve
& prolong the Life, Safety & Stability of the old University
Buildings.

All of which is respectfully submitted.

C. H. Read, Jr
Architect. [2]

Previous: The Post-Civil War Anatomical Theatre

Creating Room for Classes, the Boiling House and the Dissecting Hall

Student Notebook of Jethro Meriwether Hurt, 1839-1840. Hurt attended the University of Virginia for the 1839-40 session. See the top of the right hand page which refers to Dr. James L. Cabell, the Virginia anatomy professor at the time. Hurt graduated from the University of Pennsylvania Medical School in 1841. [2]  University of Virginia Student Notebook Collection, Box 16, Folder 1, Historical Collections, Claude Moore Health Sciences Library, Charlottesville, Va.

The sporadic references to the Anatomical Theatre in minutes from the Board of Visitors meetings give some insight into the interior of the building and its use. A resolution made in July 1830, stipulated that the lecture room, which according to an early complaint lodged by Dr. Robley Dunglison was on the upper floor, [4] and dissection room be switched with the necessary removal and replacement of seats and the addition of a furnace and boiler in the new dissection room if necessary. In addition, the museum in the small basement room was to move to the large basement room, leaving the smaller to be used as a working room for Dr. Thomas Johnson, [5] the demonstrator of anatomy. [6]

Minutes from the next year’s meeting make it clear that not all these modifications had occurred as it was resolved, “That the Authority given to the Executive Committee at the last annual meeting of the Visitors to exchange the lecture and dissecting rooms at the Anatomical Theatre and to make alterations in those apartments having reference to such exchange be and the same is hereby revoked.” [7] Nevertheless, these minutes, dated less than six years after the opening of the University of Virginia, indicate that there was a substantial, functional basement, not just a charnel on the lower level as indicated in Thomas Jefferson’s design.

Outside the Theatre, it was agreed in 1831 that the contiguous kitchen garden be removed so that a lawn and trees could be planted with the thought of a future botanical garden. [8] The plan for the botanical garden was evidently abandoned as two years later it was again resolved to remove the kitchen garden, but simply replace it with grass and trees. [9]

In 1831, it was also determined to address the dampness in the front, eastern side of the building that was affecting the museum, to add shutters to the windows of the museum room, and to prevent general entry to the Theatre by keeping the building locked. [10] Blocking visual access to the museum would come up several more times in the minutes of the Board of Visitors. Blinds were approved for the museum windows in 1833 and in 1843. [11] In 1833, it was again resolved to fix a leak in the eastern wall of the basement as well as put backs on the museum cases and add new cases if necessary. [12]

An entry in the journal of the Chairman of the Faculty in early April 1833 relates an unpleasant discovery in the University ice pond. The Chairman was informed that, “on drawing off the water from the ice pond, a day or two since, an anatomical subject had been found.” Upon communicating this news to the University Proctor, he was informed that a “skeleton had been sunk there” by students without the knowledge of the anatomy demonstrator, Dr. Johnson, for the purpose of “bleaching.” [13]

Just a little over a month later, another complaint was made to the Chairman by a student named J.B. Washington about the building he called the Anatomical Hall. He said that it had been “greatly neglected of late” by the servant who was to be attending it, and “it was now extremely offensive to the students occupying the dormitories in the vicinity.” The Chairman asked the Proctor to have the servant “remove all the offensive matter” and use “chloride of lime.” (While he was addressing this unpleasant subject, the Chairman also requested that the Proctor do everything in his power to keep all hogs off the lawn.) [14]

It is probably not a coincidence that in July of this same year the Board of Visitors agreed that a small brick building in a valley to the west of the Anatomical Theatre could be appropriated by the professor of anatomy and surgery as a “boiling house and receptacle for subjects immediately after dissection.” [15] It has been speculated that the building had been used as a workshop, storage shelter, or dormitory prior to 1833. [16]

Stiff Hall, 1910. This photo shows the original south wing with the cupola as well as an attached north wing built in the 1880s. [20] After the new School of Medicine opened in 1929, this building was used for the Extension Division, a precursor to the School of Continuing and Professional Studies. [21] It was torn down for the ground-breaking of Newcomb Hall in 1956. [22] Prints20654, Special Collections, University of Virginia Library, Charlottesville, Va.

That same year a Board of Visitors resolution was made to move the Museum which had been in the Anatomical Theatre basement up one floor into the dissecting room to free up space for another lecture room in the basement that was to be offered to other schools of the University. [23] Whether or not other schools were ever offered this room, or would have accepted given the other uses of the Theatre, is not clear. If one did, it could not have been for more than several sessions because three years later, in 1840, the minutes show a resolution to add a large stove to the middle of the basement lecture room to supplement smaller stoves along the sides to take away the winter chill, specifically for the professor of medicine and his students. [24]

Additional Anatomical Theatre Modifications

Detail of the Anatomical Theatre from View of the University … by E. Sachse & Co., 1856. A cupola was not part of Jefferson’s design. It was probably added after the 1837 resolution to raise the roof. This image clearly shows the cupola was present in 1856. Special Collections, University of Virginia Library, Charlottesville, Va.

In 1837, a resolution was made to raise the roof of the Theatre and cover it with slates. [25] The original roof with its skylight likely leaked as did so many of the early University buildings. It is possible the first roof was removed, but it is more likely that a second roof with a pitch was added over the first. Either way, Edward Sachse’s View of the University, Charlottesville & Monticello, taken from Lewis Mountain clearly shows that the cupola, absent in Jefferson’s original design, was present in 1856. It seems reasonable that the cupola was added when the new roof was installed. With its many panes of glass it would have functioned as a lantern during the day by sending shafts of light into the top floor of the Theatre.

Also in 1837, Dr. Augustus Warner, who had earlier waged a spirited battle for the use of the University wagon and horse to carry cadavers for dissection, suggested various improvements needed at the Anatomical Theatre. As a result, it was resolved to remove the brick pavement and vault that were constructed in front of the Theatre to span the space between the building and the road. They were to be replaced with a platform of plank to permit “a free passage of air under neath the platform between the parallel wall supporting the platform in front and the wall of the building.” In a process “recently discovered,” the wood was to have been “kiannized” [kyanized] or soaked in mercuric chloride. [26] This must have been proposed as a way to address the dampness problem referred to in prior years.

View of the University, Charlottesville & Monticello, taken from Lewis Mountain by E. Sachse & Co., published by Casimir Bohn, 1856. This shows the relation of the Anatomical Theatre in the left foreground to the rest of the University. The annex on the back of the Rotunda was added in 1853. Special Collections, University of Virginia Library, Charlottesville, Va.

Lighting was understandably an issue for the Anatomical Theatre. In 1843, the Proctor, under the direction of the anatomy professor, Dr. James L. Cabell, was authorized to make an alteration in the lecture room, “by removal of the present partition in the room, so as to admit light from the western window of the story, and by the formation of a new but smaller apartment for the reception of subjects for dissection in the South western angle of the building,” the corner that contained the charnel. [27] This mention of the reception of subjects indicates that some dissection continued to occur in the Anatomical Theatre after the building of the Dissecting Hall in 1837.

Interior modifications continued to be mentioned in the Board of Visitors minutes. Particularly, in 1850 it was recommended that the cupboards in the Museum should be altered to provide without delay an enlarged space for separate lecture rooms for Drs. Cabell and Davis because of increased student “numbers too large to be accommodated at lecture with such a regard to health or comfort as prudence demands.” [28]

Detail of the Plan of University Cleared Land by
William Pratt 1858. University of Virginia Maps and Plats, 1856-1869, n.d., Accession # RG-31/1/2:2.532, Special Collections, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Va.

The map to the left shows the University as it was in 1858. Clicking on it will show a larger version which makes it easier to see the relative placement of the Dissecting Rooms, also called Stiff Hall, and the Anatomical Hall or Theatre. Both are in the upper left quadrant. The pavilions are labeled with the names of the resident professors. Dr. Davis lived on the west side and Dr. Cabell on the east. The Rotunda is to the north of the pavilions and is connected to the New Hall, which was added in 1853. Later known as the Annex, it burned down in 1895.

Anatomical Theatre Museum and Plates

In 1837, Dr. Augustus Warner, who was instrumental in suggesting various improvements to the Anatomical Theatre itself, also made known to the Board of Visitors the condition of the anatomical plates then in use. [29] A Board resolution in 1837 to set aside $400 to purchase additional plates and another $400 to buy necessary anatomical preparations was evidently accomplished as the Catalogue for the 1842-1843 session of classes states the, “Anatomical and Pathological Museum … has been lately enriched with valuable and rare specimens selected in Paris by one of the Professors.” [30] Additionally in 1837, probably at the behest of Dr. Warner, the Board of Visitors minutes stipulated guidelines for the use of money that might be left from the $5 dissection fee collected from each student and the $100 given by the University for procuring subjects. Up to $50 could be spent for medical periodicals with any additional surplus to be used to purchase works on medical science. These periodicals and books were to be added to the collection of anatomical plates and books already housed in the Theatre. [31]

Board of Visitors minutes from the late 1840s indicate all was well, specifically in the anatomical museum: “every thing there bore the appearance of being well arranged & in good order; & the various preparations in the Museum in good condition & State of preservation.” [32] In 1850 Professor James L. Cabell, professor of zoology and comparative anatomy, was reimbursed for his purchase of plates and drawings related to those subjects. [33]

In 1856, the University employed Henry Scharf, an artist, illustrator, and actor, to make colored anatomical drawings for physiology and anatomy classes. He came to the University of Virginia after being recommended by the anatomy professor, Dr. A.E. Peticolas, at the Medical College of Virginia in Richmond. Dr. Peticolas suggested that the paintings be done, “as they do the scenes at theaters, with opaque colors on prepared cotton cloth … primed with whiting and glue“ and stretched on a frame. [34] In 1857 Scharf was paid $500 for his year’s work. At least $3,000 was paid over the course of six years, and the medical department consequently “accumulated an unequalled collection of plates, executed with an exquisite truth to nature, making them invaluable.” [35]

Beauchêne Skull. The Beauchêne skull is also called an exploded skull. Wikimedia Commons.

In the summer of 1859, Dr. Davis made an inventory and determined that the department of anatomy had 111 pictures in 9 waterproof cases; 2 articulated skeletons; 2 separated skulls; 3 remounted (a la Beauchêne) skulls, meaning ones that had been cleaned, disarticulated, and then reassembled with jointed supports so that bones could be studied both individually and in context; papier-mâché models of the brain, ear, eye, larynx, and throat; a series of fetal skeletons; additional separate bones; and numerous specimens, both natural and diseased, of organs of the body and dried, varnished or preserved in antiseptic liquid. His inventory of the department of materia medica included a cabinet with 250 specimens of medicines and a set of 98 engravings of medicinal plants. [36]

 Informal Anatomical Drawings

The medical school purchased anatomical plates and drawings over the years, but either the Dissecting Hall or the Anatomical Theatre was home to a work of art by an unknown illustrator. Writing about his experience in the School of Medicine in 1876-1877 when he was a student, Dr. Paul Barringer described a mural that faded over time.

“In those days a great mural adorned the walls of the dissecting room. Nearly always there were one or more ‘academs’ in anatomy, artists or others after the artistic approach to the human figure, and one of these had drawn in permanent crayon a most surprising scene. The dissecting hall had been built fifty years earlier, and at the back end was a bricklined pit, some thirty or forty feet deep, into which was thrown all anatomical waste—particularly the bodies carved up in ‘surgery on the cadaver,’ along with many other fragments, for only the most stalwart bodies were boiled to make proper material for the work in osteology.

Anatomical Theatre with the Class of 1873. The class is standing in front of the Anatomical Theatre. The cupola, probably added after the 1837 resolution to raise the roof, is barely visible at the top of the building. Prints07390, Special Collections, University of Virginia Library, Charlottesville, Va.

The artist had taken as his subject the mouth of this great, nearly filled pit on Judgment Day, and he was an artist almost beyond compare with a sense of humor that literally lapped over. Great clouds emerged from the pit, and rose, and spread out even over the ceiling. On the ceiling section was Old Gabriel with his horn. Down at the mouth of the pit was mere anatomical debris, but a few feet higher the pieces began to get together with a full complement of human motive. Two thoraces were fighting over a pelvic bone. A little farther along a pair were matching femurs, to see which would suit best, but the real chef-d’oeuvre was in a cloud that ran under and rose up between two windows. Here were two lovers, the lady minus one tibia, seated on a rock while her inamorato ran back and forth from the melee, a tibia in each hand and half a dozen extra ones sticking out from the openings in his ribs where he had placed them for easy carriage. Believe it or not, he undoubtedly had a smile on his prognathic facial bones, and she seemed smugly demure as she sat with her sound leg crossed over a legless femur, patiently holding her detached foot in her hands.” This drawing was sacred, and although carefully preserved, time, tobacco smoke, and fumes from the boiling caldrons in the cellar were rapidly making away with it.” [37]

Previous: “Subjects” for Anatomy Class
Next: The Post-Civil War Anatomical Theatre

The seemingly innocuous word, “subjects,” in the University of Virginia Board of Visitors minutes from 1832 is actually referring to cadavers used for dissection in anatomy classes. In July 1827, when predicting the completion of the space in the Anatomical Theatre to be used for dissections, James Madison had stated, “there is no room for apprehending a want of subjects.” [2] Madison’s assumption was far too optimistic. It would be nearly 60 years before the state legislature passed a law that provided a systematic way for medical schools to obtain bodies for dissection. Until then, most cadavers were obtained by body snatching from graves or requesting in advance the bodies of criminals condemned to death. The responsibility for these acquisitions, if not the actual task, fell to anatomy demonstrators and professors and sometimes their students.

Documents from 1834 and 1835 give some sense of the difficulties of obtaining bodies. Minutes from the Journals of the Chairman of the Faculty relate that Dr. Augustus Warner, who taught anatomy and surgery at the University of Virginia for several years in the mid-1830s, was not pleased with subjects sent from Baltimore. On several occasions, having located bodies nearby, he and some of his students asked to use the University’s cart and horse for transportation purposes. This resulted in a heated exchange between two administrators, the Chairman of the Faculty and the Proctor, about the propriety and the practicality of such a use. Permission was eventually granted, but only after the Chairman directed a janitor to “break open the door [to the stable], taking care, whilst so doing to commit the least possible injury to the property.” [3] Warner’s frustration with the difficulty of obtaining subjects in Charlottesville was an impetus for him to relocate in Richmond where he and five colleagues, in conjunction with Hampden-Sydney College opened a medical school which eventually became the Medical College of Virginia. [4]

At least one excursion in 1834 ended violently when a student “was shot in the back by an old fellow while endeavoring to take a dead negro for our anatomical dissections.” The student, A.F.E. Robertson, recovered and graduated from the school of medicine in 1835 while the “old fellow,” Mr. Oldham, was not prosecuted. One of Robertson’s fellow students, Charles Ellis reported in his diary that some lawyers thought it was most unusual for Oldham to not be brought to trial. Ellis believed it resulted from ill will between students and the county people who “imagine us cannibals, or something worse, who can take up the bodies of dead persons, and cut them to pieces.” [5]

John Staige Davis, Professor of Anatomy, Materia Medica, Therapeutics, and Botany by Adam B. Walter, circa 1859. Prints10069, Special Collections, University of Virginia Library, Charlottesville, Va.

Much of what is known about the process of obtaining cadavers for teaching anatomy at the University after the 1830s is due to Dr. John Staige Davis. Dr. Davis earned his medical degree from the University of Virginia in 1841 when he was only 16 years old. He would have paid the “trifling cost of $5″ for the purpose of procuring subjects for the study of practical anatomy. [6] After graduation he received his clinical training in Philadelphia and then set up a medical practice in Jefferson County, Virginia. He returned to the University to become demonstrator of anatomy for the 1847-1848 session, which happened to be the same time frame that the Virginia General Assembly made disinterment of a dead body a felony. [7] He was determined to have his students learn by individual dissection, rather than just by watching a demonstrator, but that required quite a lot of cadavers — more than 25 a session by 1860. [8]

Dr. Davis sought the help of intermediary agents in Richmond, Norfolk, and Alexandria, Virginia, who made arrangements with men called body snatchers or resurrectionists to take cadavers from “the cemeteries of the sizable slave, free black, and poor white populations of Virginia’s leading urban centers,” pack them in bran or sawdust in large whiskey or oil barrels, and then transport the barrels by train from the Richmond-Petersburg area. [9] Davis made copies of his correspondence with his agents, who often had an association with the University of Virginia or the Medical College of Virginia, originally the Medical Department of Hampden-Sydney College, in Richmond. He also saved letters that were written to him, in spite of at least one correspondent pleading with him to do otherwise. Dr. Lewis W. Minor wrote, “After taking such notes from my letters as you may think desirable, I pray you to destroy them for truly they have not even a respectable appearance.” [10] These letters are now housed in the Albert and Shirley Small Special Collections Library at the University of Virginia. They give a fascinating glimpse into the role of an anatomy professor in the middle of the 19th century and the difficulties and complexities of obtaining bodies for dissection. Some of these troubles are illustrated below by Davis’s correspondence, prefaced by questions that might have been asked by an anatomist responsible for teaching medical students in the years prior to a legal and standardized way of procuring cadavers.

The Difficulties of Body Snatching

 How do you find someone you can trust, but who is willing to commit a felony to disinter bodies?
—“The difficulty is that in applying to persons, and especially to those whose disposition I do not know, they would get into the secret whether they accepted the place or not,” and, “There are men here in any quantity who would engage in such a trade, but they are such characters as cannot be relied upon.” H.L. Thomas [11]

How do you get the bodies out of Richmond when the medical school there is competing for them, too?
—“He [the resurrectionist] says the faculty here have sworn that no subject shall be carried from Richmond this winter.” H.L. Thomas [12]

How do you deal with the vagaries of weather, too hot or too cold?
—“He [the resurrectionist] says the weather having been so warm here that the subjects are all in incipient putrefaction when buried, … I have reconnoitered the grounds myself, and the only colored burial I have noticed, the coffin was already sprung, from the decomposition.” H.L. Thomas [13] —“Had it not been for the extremely cold winter the agent here would have furnished as many subjects as you might have wanted.” T.C. Brown [14]

What if there is a shortage of deaths?
—“Richmond is so distressingly healthy at this time.” H.L. Thomas [15]

Or what if there are too many deaths?
—“The late comers [Davis is referring to bodies] have subjected us to extreme inconvenience – the Dissecting Room being previously crowded – indeed, several of the subjects are still unpacked … stop, until further notice.” John Staige Davis [16]

What happens if a barrel goes astray and is opened as apparently happened in November 1850?
—“The papers this morning state that the barrel (whisky) was addressed to – ‘McIntire Charlottesville’ – Of course all barrels boxes &c large enough to contain your favorite article of trade, and addressed as above, will in future be closely scrutinized.” Lewis W. Minor [17] —An article in The Alumni Bulletin recalls “Miss Betty” who made the “mistake of opening a barrel that was intended for the anatomical hall, instead of the barrel of sweet potatoes she expected from Isle of Wight county.” Charles Christian Wertenbaker [18]

How to get acceptable bodies, not ones that are “fat” or “dropsical” without casting suspicion by questioning about the deceased’s body type?
—“The suggestion made with regard to the ‘physique’ of the bodies you need is good; if it could only be followed. On reflection however, you will find that to make the antecedent enquiries refered [sic] to, would, at any time, be far from easy, or safe.” A.E. Peticolas [19]

What if your resurrectionist is arrested or is no longer interested?
—The anatomy professor at the Medical College of Virginia, who was Dr. Davis’ contact in Richmond, wrote, “to continue my lectures I was forced to play resurrectionist myself; by no means a pleasant profession, when the snow is 8 inches deep and the thermometer near zero.” A.E. Peticolas [20]

James Lawrence Cabell, Professor of Anatomy, Comparative Anatomy, Physiology, and Surgery by Adam B. Walter, circa 1859. Prints16145, Special Collections, University of Virginia Library, Charlottesville, Va.

The Davis correspondence includes a letter from Dr. James L. Cabell who followed Dr. Warner as the anatomy and surgery professor at the University in 1837. Cabell remained the sole instructor in anatomy until Dr. Davis arrived in 1847 to be the anatomy demonstrator. Two sessions later in 1849, Davis was both lecturer and demonstrator in anatomy while Cabell taught comparative anatomy, undoubtedly relieved to give up the business of procuring cadavers. In 1851, while encouraging Davis to enter into a body sharing agreement with the Richmond medical school, he writes, “You, even you, can have but a faint conception of the extreme difficulty I had for a series of years prior to Carter’s appointment as Demonstrator, in processing a very moderate supply for a class of only forty or fifty students at the enormous price of thirty dollars a barrel.” [21] Dr. Cabell is referring to Carter P. Johnson who was the demonstrator of anatomy from 1844 to May 1848 and professor of anatomy from May 1848 to September 1854 at the Medical Department of Hampden-Sydney College in Richmond. Johnson was instrumental in devising a plan to share subjects between the two schools in Charlottesville and Richmond with the greater share staying in Richmond. [22]

Requests for Bodies of Executed Criminals

Several letters in the Davis collection relating to anatomical dissection do not concern the removal of bodies from graves, but to another means of procurement — using the bodies of executed criminals. In 1779, Thomas Jefferson had proposed a bill to the Virginia General Assembly concerning crimes and punishments where he advocated that those convicted of petty treason or the murder of certain family members be hung and their bodies delivered to anatomists for dissection. [23] Not only did Jefferson’s bill fail, but another act that same year prohibited the dissection of executed murderers. [24] However, this did not prevent students or Professor Davis from pursuing this potential source.

T.R. Roberts who claimed to be a student at the University of Virginia wrote to Governor Henry A. Wise. Roberts was anticipating the hanging of enslaved persons for killing their owner, George Green, on Christmas Eve, 1856: [25]

January 12^th, 57-

Pardon me, My Dear Sir, for writing to
you on a subject which may be entirely
beyond your jurisdiction but the urgency
of the case demands it.
You know that to study Anatomy without
Subjects for demonstration is as fruit-
less as Geometry without diagrams & this
is our case just now. There has
been an unusual dearth of Medical
Subjects this session both here & in Rich-
mond, but more particularly with us & my
object in writing you is to obtain, if pos-
sible, an order from you for the bodies
of some negroes who will be hung
on the 18^th prox. in Pr. W^m County V^a.
I would be very much indebted to you if
you will let me know whether it
is possible to succeed in this enter-
prise in which I have the hearty co-op-
eration of our whole class & tho’ our
Professors are not aware of it, I’ve
no doubt they too would favour
our request.
If we obtain your permission the
bodies will be brought either by a
committee of Medical Students or
some one whom we can trust.
Pardon me for troubling you with
so extraordinary a matter, but I
hope that your regard for this
institution will ensure your permission

Very truly your obedient
Servant-
T.R. Roberts.
Address T.R.R. University of V^a [26]

T.R. Roberts to Henry A. Wise, January 12, 1857, page 1. Governor Henry A. Wise Executive Papers, 1856-1859, Box 6: Folder 2. Accession #36710, January 14, 1857, The Library of Virginia, Richmond, Virginia.

T.R. Roberts to Henry A. Wise, January 12, 1857, page 2. Governor Henry A. Wise Executive Papers, 1856-1859, Box 6: Folder 2. Accession #36710, January 14, 1857, The Library of Virginia, Richmond, Virginia.

Whether Mr. Roberts was successful or not in his attempt to obtain the bodies of the enslaved prisoners after their hanging is unknown, but nearly three years later, Professor Davis himself asked for the bodies of “Convicts awaiting execution.” These convicts were in Charles Town which is in Jefferson County, where Davis had a medical practice during the 1840s. Not referring to common criminals, Davis was requesting the bodies of the men scheduled for hanging as a result of their participation in the raid by abolitionist John Brown at the federal arsenal at Harpers Ferry, seven miles east of Charles Town. No answer regarding this request is in the Davis letters, but it is clear that multiple bodies ended up at Winchester Medical College, 20 miles from the site of execution. Davis probably felt this was a loss for the University of Virginia, but it may have worked to the University’s benefit as the Winchester medical school was burned in 1862 by Union troops, purportedly because the body of John Brown’s son was used for dissection and his skeleton placed in the College’s anatomical museum. [27]

University. Dec: 8th 1859
C.C. Wertenbaker Esq

Dear Sir,
Dr. Cabell has
handed me a letter just received from you, in relation, to
the Convicts awaiting execution, & to the chance of procuring one
or more of their bodies for dissection in my department -
Apart from the expense of sending two or three members
of my class to Charlestown, such a step would expose me to
the animadversion of their parents – If however, you can
contrive to get them, the box in which they are packed
might come on the cars when you return, & I will
very thankfully reimburse the charges you incur-

Respectfully yours,
J.S. Davis. [28]

The Virginia Anatomical Act

It was not until 1884 that the Virginia Anatomical Act, having the dual purpose of promoting medical science and protecting graves and cemeteries from desecration, was passed to regulate the disposal of unclaimed bodies to be buried at public expense. This opened the way for many bodies to be used legally for the purpose of anatomical study. [29] Dr. Davis must have been relieved with the passing of this Act as a year earlier, more than 40 years after he started teaching anatomy, he was still trying to obtain cadavers for teaching. In response to another physician who was asking for a set of bones, he made his own request, “We were never so much in need of subjects as now. Is any body to be hung in Henry, whose corpse I might procure -” [30]

Dissecting Club, 1906-1907. First and second year students studied anatomy in 1907, a year which saw 74 students in those two classes combined. Theodore Hough in the front row, center, was the Professor of Physiology. Prints21241, Special Collections, University of Virginia Library, Charlottesville, Va.

The 1896-1897 Catalogue states that practical anatomy, taught in the Dissecting Hall, used “dissecting material, obtained under the permissive law of the State … abundantly supplied without cost to the student.” It also mentions dissecting clubs of eight men each with no more than five clubs admitted to the Hall at one time. [31] The image to the left is titled “Dissecting Club” and was taken by Holsinger’s Studio, the leading photography studio in Charlottesville. Perhaps it is a formal portrait of two clubs combined. Other photos from 1893 to 1909 are in the University of Virginia Visual History Collection and capture University of Virginia students (and faculty) in macabre poses with their cadavers.

Previous: Building the Anatomical Theatre
Next: The Pre-Civil War Anatomical Theatre

Anatomical Theatre Construction Begins

In May 1825, the construction of the Anatomical Theatre at the University of Virginia was finally underway. Thomas Jefferson’s choice of location was the side of a deep ravine west of one of the service hotels and Pavilion I. It was set along historic West Street, roughly where McCormick Road is now. Lumber purchases for the building were noted in May and August of 1825. [2] The laying of bricks, and lots of them, was started by the end of 1825. [3] Jefferson estimated on his architectural drawing that the Theatre would take “4,000 bricks for every foot of it’s [sic] height from the foundation to the roof.”

In his last year of life and in poor health, Jefferson remained a driving force behind the completion of the Theatre. As Rector of the University, he was responsible for reporting back to the state’s Literary Fund which had been established in 1810 by the Virginia state legislature to support public education. [4] His charge was to give “a full account of the disbursements, the funds still on hand, and a general statement of the condition of the said University.” [5] His October 1825 report declared, “an additional building too for Anatomical dissections and other kindred uses, was become necessary, we are endeavoring to put these into a bare state for use, altho’ with some jeopardy as to the competence of the funds.” [6] In February 1826 Jefferson expressed his frustration to his fellow Board of Visitors member, James C. Cabell, that progress was so slow on both the Rotunda and the Anatomical Theatre. He wrote, “Till the latter is in a condition for use, there can never be a dissection of a single subject.” [7]

Two months later in April 1826, Jefferson apologized that he had to be the “official organ” of criticism directed to Arthur S. Brockenbrough, the University proctor, when he wrote, “We are not satisfied with the slowness with which the buildings have been conducted the last year, and particularly with respect to the library, and the anatomical theatre. These ought to have been done before this … a greater force of workmen ought to have been employed, and it is now requested that all which can be employed be immediately put into action first for the completion of the library room & shelves, and next the anatomical building.” [8] Sadly, the lengthy time frame for construction meant that Jefferson would not live to see the completion of the Theatre building before he died July 4, 1826.

Drawings of a Building Designed by Thomas Jefferson

Front Elevation.

Side Section.

First Floor with Museum.

Second Floor Amphitheatre.

The Historic American Buildings Survey (HABS), under the U.S. Department of the Interior National Park Service, was established in 1933 as the first federal preservation program. These measured drawings of the Anatomical Theatre are based on Jefferson’s plans. Jefferson drew the front elevation, a cross section, the first floor with a museum, and the second floor amphitheatre, as shown above. The Survey added three more elevations extrapolated from Jefferson’s originals: the left side, right side and back, as shown below. Done between 1951 and 1961, they were made more than a decade after the actual Theatre had been demolished. The HABS generally documents existing buildings which indicates the significance the Survey assigned to Jefferson’s Anatomical Theatre.

Extrapolated Right Side Elevation.

Extrapolated Left Side Elevation.

Extrapolated Back Elevation. All images from Measured Drawings of Building Designed by Thomas Jefferson, 1951-61. Accession #5946, 5946-a, 5946-b, Special Collections Library, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Va.

Construction of the Anatomical Theatre Continues after Thomas Jefferson’s Death

After Jefferson’s death, workmen continued to toil both inside and outside the Theatre, but not always where Professor Robley Dunglison wanted them. Exasperated, he, too, wrote proctor Brockenbrough, “I sometime ago stated to Mr Nelson [Nielson], my wish that the upper Room of the Anatomical Theatre which is appropriated for a Lecture Room might as a matter of favor be first completed – he has not chosen to do so as a favor and I therefore wish that you would be kind enough to require it of him as a right.” [9] Nielson was working at the Theatre but on a “lower floor which may not be wanted for a considerable period.” [10]

By October 1826, construction on what was termed the Anatomical Hall was estimated to be three-fourths complete. [11] James Madison, who had assumed the duties of Rector of the University after the death of Jefferson, informed the state, “The work in the Anatomical hall is so far advanced that it may be used early in the next session.” [12] Madison was referring to the third session which would commence at the start of February 1827. Payments were made for laths, brickwork, and lumber in February and April of 1827. [13] Later payments in 1827 include disbursements for nails, freight for boxes of glass, stonework, plastering, additional lumber and laths, and whiskey for the stonemason. [14] Seemingly, the last Theatre construction payment was made for stone work in January 1828. [15]

The interior of the Theatre as actually built was apparently never documented so it is difficult to know how closely the building followed Jefferson’s original plan. Clearly, some alterations were made to the overall building which would have affected the inside space. Jefferson’s drawing shows two complete floors with the charnel area as the only finished section on the lowest level below the first floor. However, early minutes from the Board of Visitors mention rooms in a basement, and in his 1952 work, the former histology professor and medical school dean, Dr. Harvey Jordan, refers to three floors plus a sub-basement. [16]

Anatomical Theatre, by Charles C. Haskell and Co., undated. This sketch shows the Anatomical Theatre after the addition of the cupola which was probably added when a new roof was installed following an 1837 resolution. Prints07397, Special Collections, University of Virginia Library, Charlottesville, Va.

The sketch to the left is from a series illustrating the development of medicine in the South by Chas. C. Haskell and Co. of Richmond, Virginia. Jefferson’s drawings show the charnel, a place for cadavers or body parts, as the only room on the lowest level. However, this sketch of the 19^th century Theatre shows one row of windows level with the top of the charnel door on the rear wall as well as an additional set of windows below, indicating there were probably at least three or four full floors in the building, not just the two that Jefferson drew. In terms of the exterior, Jefferson drew eight lunette or half-moon windows for the back of the Theatre and another eight for the front. Earliest images of the building show nine half-moon windows in the front and a total of 14 windows in the back, comprised of six half-moon windows and eight variously sized rectangular windows, two with lunettes.

Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello. Chinese Chippendale railings on Monticello’s uppermost roof, railings on its flat roofed terraces, and lunette windows are similar to those at the Anatomical Theatre. These design features are also found at his Poplar Forest retreat. By Martin Falbisoner via Wikimedia Commons.

Jefferson’s drawing of the Theatre’s roofline shows Chinese Chippendale railings, similar to those used at his home, Monticello, and his Poplar Forest retreat. His plan for the railings was followed, but not without dissent from proctor Brockenbrough, who wanted a simpler design to curtail expenses. He wrote, “I do not recollect how the roof is finished agreeable to Mr Js: design, but I find D & Neilson is geting [sic] lumber for an expenceve Chinese raling [expensive Chinese railing] around the top, this, if left me whether the original design or not, I think I should stop, a plain plinth like Pavilion no 8 over the Cornice is quite sufficient.” [17]

The Theatre Fosters Anatomical Study and Training

Rector James Madison had predicted that the Theatre would be usable by early 1827, and presumably Dr. Dunglison’s effort to have the workmen finish his lecture room prior to other spaces in the Theatre was successful. This is supported by Madison’s report to the state, dated July 19, 1827. He wrote that the dissection area was still unfinished, but did not mention any difficulties with the lecture room. He discussed the new position of demonstrator of anatomy and surgery with duties consisting of “delivering lectures on Anatomy and Surgery, and in conducting dissections and demonstrations.” The designated room in the Theatre for these purposes “will be completed early in the next session, commencing on the first of September.” [18] Dr. Thomas Johnson was hired as demonstrator of anatomy and surgery for the third session of classes which ran from February 1 to July 20, 1827, but it was not until the fourth session, which began in September 1827 and went into 1828, that it was possible for a student to enroll in an anatomy course separate from the medicine course. [19]

According to Dunglison, it became apparent that the opening of the Anatomical Theatre as well as the addition of more professors to teach classes in practical anatomy, surgery, and medicine (in addition to hiring Dr. Johnson, the University added materia medica to Professor John P. Emmet’s offerings for the third session) provided the necessary training to educate physicians. [20] In 1828, at the end of the fourth session, three students received the first M.D. degrees from the University of Virginia. [21] Over the next 20 years, there were more students registered for anatomy than surgery, a total of 901 to 852. [22] In those 20 years, there were 186 graduates from the School of Medicine.

The Anatomical Theatre Used As a Dispensary

Anatomical Theatre with inset of Dr. Robley Dunglison, undated. Dr. Dunglison, the first medical school professor, and the other figures are in 19th century attire, but the building is as it looked after 1920. It is lacking Jefferson’s railing, and there is no cupola which dates it after the 1886 fire. The columned portico was added to the rebuilt Theatre in 1920. Edwin M. Betts Memorial Collection of University of Virginia Prints, Photographs and Illustrations, 1817-1930, Accession #7073, 7073-a, Special Collections, University of Virginia Library, Charlottesville, Va.

Another potential use for the Anatomical Theatre was suggested in the spring of 1826 when the building was only partially finished. The Board of Visitors recommended it as a possible location for Professor Dunglison to have a dispensary for half an hour three days a week, “for the purpose of dispensing medical advice, vaccination, and aid in Surgical cases of ordinary occurrence.” [23] Finances of the patients would determine whether they were treated for free or had to pay half a dollar though all would be encouraged to receive the smallpox vaccine free of charge. Students were permitted to attend with the professor and to help prepare medicines. [24]

An Unusual Proposal for the Theatre

An additional, more unusual, use was suggested for the Theatre in the summer of 1828 when an instructor named Mr. Farron needed a place to teach fencing. Dr. Dunglison “moved that there be assigned to Mr. Farron a room in the Hotel occupied during the past session by Major Spotswood.” Dr. George Blaettermann, a professor of modern languages who managed to alienate colleagues over his years at the University, then “proposed as an amendment to the said motion – that the words ‘a room in the Hotel occupied during the past session by Major Spotswood’ be stricken out & in lieu thereof inserted the words ‘the Lower room of the Anatomical Hall.’ ” Faculty minutes do not record any ensuing discussion, but the original motion of Dr. Dunglison passed without Blaettermann’s amendment. [25]

Previous: The Need for an Anatomical Theatre
Next: “Subjects” for Anatomy Class