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Overview

Dr. Elias S. Cooper operated this hospital for the treatment of eye, ear and orthopedic patients in San Francisco, CA, by 1855.

Building History

Dr. Elias Samuel Cooper (born 11/05/1820-d. 10/13/1862) was a pioneering physician in San Francisco who initially treated orthopedic and otolayngology patients, setting up a practice advertised in Northern CA newspapers by 1855. According to a note in the "Guide to Cooper Medical College Collection" held at Stanford University: "The Medical Department of the University of the Pacific was the first medical school on the West Coast, founded in San Francisco in 1858 by Dr. Elias Samuel Cooper. Following the death of Dr. Cooper in 1862, the program was suspended. In 1864, Dr. Hugh Huger Toland founded Toland Medical College in San Francisco, which later became the medical department of the University of California. By 1872 the Medical Department of the University of the Pacific was reorganized as the Medical College of the Pacific in affiliation with University (City) College. In 1882 Dr. Levi Cooper Lane generously donated a state of the art building to the medical school and the name of the school was subsequently changed from the Medical College of the Pacific to Cooper Medical College in honor of Dr. Lane's uncle, Dr. Elias Samuel Cooper. In 1908, Dr. Lane granted permission for the equipment and properties of Cooper Medical College to be transferred to Stanford University. Instruction by Stanford University began in 1909 and continued in San Francisco until 1959, at which time the Stanford School of Medicine opened on the Stanford campus." (See Online Archive of California.edu, "Cooper Medical College Collection," accessed 06/25/2022.)

An 1855 classified advertisement in the Sacramento Daily Union said of the insitution: "Cooper's Eye, Ear and Orthopaidic Infirmary--The design of this institution is for the cure of the BLIND, the Deaf, and the LAME, and patients resorting to it are assured that they will find at once a home. For particulars address by letter or call on Dr. E.S. Cooper, 14 Sansome street, opposite Rassette House, San Francisco." (See "Cooper's Eye, Ear and Orthopaidic Infirmary," Sacramento Daily Union, vol. 9, no. 1389, 09/07/1855, p. 3.)

PCAD id: 24435