Medical Fund Society (Saint Louis, Mo.)

The Medical Fund Society was founded in March 9, 1872 by the faculty of St. Louis Medical College. The Society's immediate purpose was to accumulate funds for the purchase of college property from the estate of Charles Alexander Pope, the noted early dean who had received it as a gift from his wealthy father-in-law, John O'Fallon. The college, like many medical schools of the time, was an independent proprietary medical school, having separated in 1855 from its parent institution, St. Louis University. For many years thereafter, each member of the faculty loaned his share of proceeds from medical school lectures to the fund. Thus the property of St. Louis Medical College at 7th and Myrtle Streets came to be held in a trust that was separate from the academic administration.

In 1891, St. Louis Medical College became designated the Medical Department of Washington University. A new building was constructed for it in 1892 to replace the old Pope-O'Fallon property, which was sold and demolished. In 1899, a competing institution, Missouri Medical College, merged into this department. The Society continued to function through these changes as a landlord and was the organization that leased the Missouri Medical College properties after the merger. The properties were sold by the Society to the University in 1912. The Society continued as a charitable organization for the benefit of medical education at the University. Note: Historical note taken from the "History of the Medical Fund Society" compiled from the minutes of the Society by J. B. Shapleigh, 1919.