Lamar Soutter Exhibit - His Post-War Years

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

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:

Boston Medical Library

Countway Medical Library, Harvard University

Worcester District Medical Society

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.