In 1902, the Omaha Medical College, a private medical school, affiliated with the University of Nebraska to form the University of Nebraska College of Medicine. At first, classes were split between Lincoln and Omaha, but in 1909, the Nebraska Legislature approved a new location for the campus, at 42nd Street and Dewey Avenue, on what was then the western edge of Omaha.
Historical marker
A reception celebrating the dedication of a Nebraska State Historical Marker commemorating the 100th anniversary of Poynter Hall will be held at 3:30 p.m. on Oct. 17 at the walkway between Poynter and Wittson Hall. A short dedication program presented by Robert Wigton, M.D., John Schleicher and other dignitaries will be followed by a reception. The marker was made possible by the Wigton History of Medicine Fund and the McGoogan Library’s Special Collections Department.
A national competition was held for the campus design. During construction, Poynter Hall was in the direct path of the devastating Easter Sunday tornado of March 23, 1913, but survived unscathed. The first building on this campus, it was completed in September 1913, at a cost of $110,000.
When the building was dedicated on Oct. 16, 1913, then-College of Medicine Dean Wilson Bridges (1913-1915) said:
“I regard the dedication of this building as a celebration of the greatest achievement of medical science in the last quarter of a century, for medical science has produced less impression upon the public heart, the public conscience and the public health, than the building of such a place as this for the purposes for which it is intended.”
Former Dean Henry Ward (dean, 1902-1910), speaking on the significance of the building to science, said:
“This, but the first building of a great group, is to be dedicated to the service of the state, with the fullest sense of the responsibilities which that service implies. But other buildings must follow to provide adequately for other lines of teaching, for it is no little work that is inaugurated this year on this new campus and in this first laboratory building.
“This institution is to furnish for the State of Nebraska to every one of its citizens and through them to the whole world by its teaching and investigation, richer possibilities for human existence. It is to establish here in the center of the great prairie, region standards of medical education that will direct the advance in medical training, not only within its borders, but throughout all the surrounding states.”
Initially, the building held all medical school classes, labs, and a small library. After other buildings were added to the campus, it remained the home of the departments of anatomy, embryology, microbiology, and pathology and was known as the North Building.
In 1970 it was renamed in memory of Charles Poynter, the longest serving dean of the college (1929-1946).
The post 1970 history would be of interest as well.