Davidge Hall
Work is completed in 1812 on the hall for the College of Medicine of Maryland (after 1959 named for its first dean Dr. John Beale Davidge (1768-1829). It is now the oldest purpose-built medical building medicine in the U.S. still used for that purpose. The Medical College of Maryland is the first public school of medicine.
The domed building, reminiscent of the Roman Parthenon, is designed by early Baltimore architects Robert Cary Long, Sr. and Jr. with help from a well known immigrant, Maximilian Godefroy (1765-ca1838) who also designs the Battle Monument commemorating the Battle of Baltimore. Its main feature is a large theater for the anatomical demonstrations featured in early medicine.
The Shock Trauma Center
In 1958 Dr. R Adams Cowley (1917-1991) creates America’s first trauma center with a $100,000 grant from the U.S. Army to study shock in wounded soldiers. The Center is the nation’s first and only integrated trauma hospital
Surgeon Cowley popularizes the concept of the “Golden Hour,” the 60 minutes after a traumatic injury when immediate care can save a life. His unceasing career-long devotion to critical care, using medevac helicopters to transfer victims quickly to treatment, makes the Center at the University of Maryland a global innovator in critical care.
