Dr. Soutter and Medical Libraries
![]() Timeline ![]() Exhibit Home |
![]() ![]() Source: WDMS Seals, Worcester District Medical
Society
Left: circa 1820, Right: present day ![]() Source: File photo, Lamar Soutter Library
![]() Source: File photo, Lamar Soutter Library
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Dr. Soutter took an active interest in libraries and the role they have played in the education of
physicians throughout the ages. As a trustee of the Boston Medical Library in the 1960s, he was
instrumental in orchestrating a merger of the Harvard Medical School's library collection with that of
the Boston Medical Library in 1965. A large medical library, the Francis A. Countway Library, was being
built expressly for the purpose of the merger. Harvard's library collection was established in 1782,
the date of the founding of the medical school there, and the Boston Medical Library's collection was
established in 1875.
When Dr. Soutter came to Worcester in the late 1960s, he was the catalyst for the merger of the library collection of the Worcester District Medical Society (WDMS--see the Society's seals above) with that of the newly founded University of Massachusetts Medical School. The plans for the new school's library included a Rare Book Room (middle photo) specifically intended to house the collection of the Worcester Medical Library, which was established in 1798. The merger finally became a reality when the Medical School Library opened its doors in 1973. Mr. Charles C. Colby III, Librarian at the Boston Medical Library, was the library consultant on the project. The Medical School Library was renamed The Lamar Soutter Library in 1981 in Dr. Soutter's honor (bottom photo). |
Web Resources for Further Information:
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Sources used for this page:
- 1982-1983 Medical School Catalog, University of Massachusetts at Worcester
- WDMS seals reprinted with permission from the Worcester District Medical Society.