Knoxville Medical College

After the closure of the medical department at Knoxville College in 1900, Knoxville Medical College was organized as a replacement facility that opened on December 6, 1900 by the City of Knoxville.[1][5] At the time of its opening, the only other Black medical school in the state was Meharry Medical College in Nashville.[5]

The campus was a single floor in a building, located above an undertaker's business. It was initially located near the corner of College (formerly Clinton Road) and Deaderick streets,[1] now Rogers Memorial Baptist Church. The school did not have a strict admissions requirement and only required a high school diploma.[1] The students had limited clinical training and no campus facilities, and it required visits to the nearby Knoxville New City Hospital.[1][4]

Knoxville Medical College founding president was Henry Morgan Green.[1][6][4] The school dean at the time of opening was E. M. Randall, who had served as dean at Knoxville College the year prior.[5][7] Other faculty members included William Wallace Derrick, a Black physician whom had previously taught at the medical department at Knoxville College;[1][4] A. G. Edwards; W. H. Moore; John Clear; and J. H. Morton.[5]

In January 1909, the school was visited by Abraham Flexner who authored the critical Flexner Report (1910) about the state of medical education.[1]

By 1910, Knoxville Medical College was forced to close, most likely due to the poor educational conditions and its reputation for "mediocrity" in its training.[1][4] The college had graduated 21 students in the 10 years of operations.[2] After the closure of Knoxville Medical College, Lincoln Memorial University bought the college in 1910.[8]