Meharry Medical College
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Former names
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Medical Department of Central Tennessee College |
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| Type | Private, HBCU |
| Established | 1876 |
| Affiliation | United Methodist Church |
| Endowment | $75.2 million |
| Students | 700 |
| Location | Nashville, Tennessee, United States |
| Website | www |
Meharry Medical College, located in Nashville, Tennessee, United States, is a graduate and professional institution affiliated with the United Methodist Church whose mission is to educate healthcare professionals and scientists. Founded in 1876 as the Medical Department of Central Tennessee College, it was the first medical school in the South for African Americans, though not the first medical school for African-Americans in the nation.
Meharry Medical College was chartered separately in 1915. It is currently the largest private historically black institution in the United States solely dedicated to educating healthcare professionals and scientists.
Meharry Medical College includes a medical school, dental school, graduate school, and an allied health school. The degrees that Meharry offers include Doctor of Medicine (M.D.), Doctor of Dental Surgery (D.D.S.), Master of Science in Public Health (M.S.P.H.), Master of Health Science (M.H.S.), and Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) degrees. Meharry is the second largest educator of African-American medical doctors and dentists in the United States. Also, it is the largest producer of African Americans with Masters in Public Health and Ph.D.s in biomedical science.
Journal of Health Care for the Poor and Underserved is a public health journal owned by and edited at Meharry Medical College.
The college was named for a young Scots-Irish immigrant salt trader named Samuel Meharry, who was traveling through the rough terrain of Kentucky when his wagon suddenly slipped off the road and fell into a swamp. Meharry was helped by a family of freedmen, whose names are unknown. This family of freed slaves gave Meharry food and shelter in the night. The next morning they helped him to recover his wagon. Meharry is reported to have told the former slave family, "I have no money, but when I can I shall do something for your race."
In 1875, Samuel Meharry, together with four of his brothers, donated a total of $15,000 to assist with the establishment of a medical department at Central Tennessee College. With the contribution of the Freedman's Aid Society of the Methodist Episcopal Church North, George W. Hubbard and John Braden, an English Methodist cleric, were able to open the Medical Department of Central Tennessee College in 1876. The first class had one graduate. The second class, which had its commencement in 1878, had three graduates. In 1886, the Dental Department was founded, followed by a Pharmacy Department that was founded in 1889.
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