University of Michigan. Dept. of Anatomy and Cell Biology.

When the Department of Medicine and Surgery was organized in 1849, one of the five professorships was devoted to anatomy. Moses Gunn first held this position. (See following page for listing of all department chairs.) Gunn's main interest was surgery, however, and in 1854 he convinced his friend Corydon L. Ford to come to Michigan to teach anatomy. Ford held the position until his death forty years later. Ford husbanded the department through a period of large growth. The department's facilities grew several times during his tenure. James P. McMurrich became chair in 1894 and broadened the curriculum beyond the teaching of gross anatomy to medical students. New courses were offered and some sections were opened to graduate students.

The correspondence of the next three chairs--George L. Streeter, G. Carl Huber and Bradley Patten are included in this record group. Dr. Streeter expanded the teaching staff and broadened the influence of the department. Dr. Huber similarly expanded the research of the department. Under Dr. Patten the department was separated into 3 divisions: embryology and histology, the laboratory of comparative neurology, and gross anatomy. The restructuring was put into effect to accommodate the growing number of students in various anatomy classes.

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