DENTAL SCHOOL 50 YEARS OLD

The fiftieth anniversary of the founding of the Dental School occurs next November. Extensive plans for a fitting celebration have been tentatively completed and recently announced. A committee consisting of Dean Eugene H. Smith, Dn. '74, the administrative board of the School, 20 members of the Harvard Dental Alumni Association, five from the Harvard Odontological Society and three at large, has been organized.

Final plans have not been made yet for the anniversary celebration but an outline of the events arranged has been completed. Friday, November 9, will mark the opening of the anniversary activities. An address dealing with the extensive and varied history of the school will be given in an amphitheater of the Medical School, which will be followed by a tea and reception at the Dental School, where the orthodontia clinic showing one of the most interesting features of the work of the school, and an historical exhibit will be on view, to which the friends and patients of the alumni will be invited. It is planned to devote the morning of Saturday, November 10, to clinics given by men of national reputation, where the alumni may witness the very latest exploitations in the field of dentistry. Saturday afternoon will be given over to the entertaining of the visitors and guests, and Saturday evening at banquet will be held for the alumni, ladies, visiting clinicians and the guests. Sunday, November 11, will mark the closing of the exercises when public lectures will be given by men renowned in the field of dentistry on the broader dental subjects of interest to the general public.

First Session November, 1867.

The need of a Dental School in connection with the University was first suggested by Dr. Nathan Cooley Keene, M.D. '27, in his annual address before the Massachusetts Dental Society, of which he was then president, and the movement resulting in the institution of the Harvard Dental School by vote of the President and Fellows of the College, July 17, 1867, thus took its beginning. The school held its first session on the first Wednesday in November 1867, and continued until the following March, the first examination of candidates for degrees being held March 1869, when six men were graduated.

The growth of the school has been continuous from the time of its organization, more than 200 students attending the classes given at its present quarters on Longwood avenue, and over graduating yearly from the institution. Instruction is given throughout the academic year by lectures, recitation clinical teaching and practical work, the program of instruction occupying three years.

A complete course of instruction in the theory and practice of dentistry is offered and for this purpose a well-appointed laboratory and infirmary are provided, and free treatment has insured an ample supply of patients.

In September, 1909, the school moved to its new quarters on Longwood avenue which has the latest hospital equipment and is used solely for hospital purposes being connected by a subway with the Medical School buildings, where all lectures are given. Clinical instruction is given by the professors, and under the direction of a demonstrator, patients are assigned to the students, giving all the opportunity for actual practice.

A complete course of instruction in the theory and practice of dentistry is offered and for this purpose a well-appointed laboratory and infirmary are provided, and free treatment has insured an ample supply of patients.

In September, 1909, the school moved to its new quarters on Longwood avenue which has the latest hospital equipment and is used solely for hospital purposes being connected by a subway with the Medical School buildings, where all lectures are given. Clinical instruction is given by the professors, and under the direction of a demonstrator, patients are assigned to the students, giving all the opportunity for actual practice.