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Samuel Worcester Butler Medical Admission Tickets

Until late in the nineteenth century, American medical students purchased medical admission tickets in order to attend lectures and demonstrations. Tickets for entire sessions of medical school could be purchased in a packet or students could purchase individual tickets directly from professors. The revenue obtained from ticket fees often formed a portion of the income of faculty.

The digital images in this collection are the medical admission tickets used by Dr. Samuel Worcester Butler (1823-1874) who attended the Department of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania from 1848 through 1850. The packet was purchased by the Coy C. Carpenter Library in the late 1980's. ticket024 There are lecture tickets for sessions 1848-49 and 1849-50. The curriculum required students to take each course twice. In addition, there are tickets to attend instruction at other institutions in the region: Wills' Hospital, the Medical Institute of Philadelphia, and the Pennsylvania Hospital. Also included are tickets for matriculation, examinations, office instruction, and lecture schedules. A letter from the Secretary of the Committee on Gratuitous Medical Tickets addressed to Dr. William E. Horner, Dean of the Medical Faculty, indicates the decision of the committee to grant Butler gratuitous tickets.

In practice, Dr. Butler was an alienist (alienist was an early term for psychiatrist). He served as the superintendent physician of the department for the insane of the Philadelphia Almshouse. Dr. Butler also participated in medical literature serving as the editor of the Medical and Surgical Reporter.

On several of the tickets, Dr. Butler is said to be of Cherokee Nation. His father was Dr. Elizur Butler, a physician and missionary to the Cherokees.

For more information on Samuel Worcester Butler, medical admission tickets, and medical education in the nineteenth century, consult the sources used for this webpage available in the Carpenter Library:

Corner, George W. Two centuries of medicine: a history of the School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania. Philadelphia and Montreal: J. B. Lippincott Company; c1965. 363 p.
Norwood, William Frederick. Medical education in the United States before the Civil War. New York: Arno Press & The New York Times; 1971. 487 p.
Huddle, Thomas S. Competition and Reform at the Medical Department of the University of Pennsylvania, 1847-1877. Journal of the History of Medicine and Allied Sciences 1996; 51:251-292.
Kelly, Howard A. and Burrage, Walter L. Dictionary of American Medical Biography. New York: D. Appleton and Company, 1928.

The Packet

Front and Back Images of Ticket Packet
Packet Size: 6 inches high by 4 inches wide

Session 1848-1849

Letter from the Secretary of the Committee on Gratuitous Tickets to Dr. William E. Horner
Date: October 13, 1848

Lectures on Anatomy
Date: October 13, 1848
Instructor(s): William E. Horner, MD

Practical Anatomy and Recapitulatory Lectures
Date: 1848-49
Instructor(s): William E. Horner, MD and John Neill, MD

Sessions on Chemistry
Date: 1848-49
Instructor(s): James B. Rogers, MD

Lectures on the Institutes of Medicine
Date: October 13, 1848
Instructor(s): Samuel Jackson, MD

Lectures on Materia Medica and Pharmacy
Date: October 13, 1848
Instructor(s): George B. Wood, MD

Lectures on Materia Medica and Pharmacy (back of previous ticket)
Date: October 13, 1848
Instructor(s): George B. Wood, MD (Signature)

Lectures on Obstetrics and Diseases of Women & Children
Date: 1848-49
Instructor(s): Hugh L. Hodge, MD

Lectures on the Principles & Practice of Sugery
Date: October 1848
Instructor(s): William Gibson, MD

Lectures on the Theory & Practice of Medicine & Clinical Practice
Date: November 1848-49
Instructor(s): Nathaniel Chapman, MD

University of Pennsylvania, Matriculated in Medical Department
Date: October 13, 1848
Instructor(s): William E. Horner, Dean

University of Pennsylvania Medical Department Session of 1848-49
Date: October 2, 1848
Instructor(s): William E. Horner, Dean

Session 1848-49 Order of Lectures, Daily (back of previous ticket)
Date: October 2, 1848
Instructor(s): William E. Horner, MD

Session 1849-1850

Lectures on Anatomy
Date: September 27, 1849
Instructor(s): William E. Horner, MD

Recapitulatory Lectures on Anatomy
Date: 1849-50
Instructor(s): John Neill, MD

Sessions on Chemistry
Date: 1849-50
Instructor(s): James B. Rogers, MD

Lectures on the Institutes of Medicine
Date: October 3, 1849
Instructor(s): Samuel Jackson, MD

Lectures on Materia Medica and Pharmacy
Date: October 4, 1849
Instructor(s): George B. Wood, MD

Lectures on Materia Medica and Pharmacy (back of previous ticket)
Date: October 4, 1849
Instructor(s): George B. Wood, MD (signature)

Lectures on Obstetrics and Diseases of Women & Children
Date: 1849-50
Instructor(s): Hugh L. Hodge, MD

Lectures on the Principles & Practice of Surgery
Date: October 1, 1849
Instructor(s): William Gibson, MD

Lectures on the Theory & Practice of Medicine & Clinical Practice
Date: November 1849-50
Instructor(s): Nathaniel Chapman, MD

Matriculation in the Medical Department of University of Pennsylvania
Date: September 27, 1849
Instructor(s): William E. Horner, Dean

Medical Institute of Philadelphia Summer Session
Date: April 1849
Instructor(s): J. J. Reese, Secretary

Order of Lectures for Summer Session (back of previous ticket)
Date: April 1849

Related Instruction

Medical Examinations
Date: 1849-50
Instructor(s): John Neill, MD and J. J. Reese, MD

Medical Institute of Philadelphia, General Instruction
Date: 1849
J. J. Reese, Secretary

Office Instruction, Office of Drs. Neill and J. J. Reese
1849-50
Instructor(s): John Neill, MD and J. J. Reese, MD

Pennsylvania Hospital (attending practice and use of library)
Date: April 11, 1849(?)
Sitting Managers: (illegible)

Wills Hospital For Diseases of the Eyes and Limbs, Clinical Instruction
Date: 1849

Wills Hospital For Diseases of the Eye, & c.
Date: none
Instructor(s): Isaac(?) Parrish

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Last Updated: 03-18-2013