The Columbia University College of Dental Medicine opened a century ago this fall with two students sharing cramped quarters with the medical school.  It was only the fourth university-affiliated dental school in the country.

From these somewhat unpromising beginnings grew a school renowned for teaching, research, and service.  Merger with the older College of Dental and Oral Surgery of New York in 1923 brought it additional students and faculty and five years later it joined Columbia’s other health science schools on the new campus of what was then called the Columbia-Presbyterian Medical Center.  Its motto, “Primus Inter Pares” or “First Among Equals” announced its intention to be second to none among American dental schools.

Archives & Special Collections of the Augustus C. Long Health Sciences Library is pleased to announce the opening of a new exhibit on the history of the College of Dental Medicine.  Included are the original proposal for the school, A Dental School on University Lines (1916); the bell used to signal the change of classes; original newspaper clippings; vintage photographs; the first school catalog; yearbooks; and other original documents that tell the story of a century of dental education at Columbia University.

The exhibit runs from September 16, 2016 to January 6, 2017 and is located on Lower Level 2 of the Hammer Health Sciences Center.  As part of the Teaching and Learning Center, the exhibit area is open 24 hours.  A valid Columbia University or New York-Presbyterian Hospital ID is needed to access Hammer, but arrangements can be made for viewing the exhibit by those unaffiliated with the Medical Center.

The exhibit was curated by Stephen Novak, Head, Archives & Special Collections. For more information contact [email protected]

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