Charles McLaughlin, MD, discussing the origins of the ACS Partnership

Transcript

Charles McLaughlin, MD: Dr. Cutter's collection went to Northwestern University and Dr. Orr had planned to give his collection first to Michigan and then to this school and then in a rage, said he wouldn't give it to either and gave it to the College of Surgeons. It was housed on the first floor of our very attractive headquarters building in Chicago. It’s a beautiful collection but the College ultimately decided that this wasn't the place for it because it wasn't being used; second, its maintenance was not up to what it should be because they weren't equipped to take care of a rare book collection, and so a committee was appointed to handle the dispossession of this.

One of my very good friends in Chicago, a nose and throat doctor, one of the world’s great bronchoscopists in Chicago -- was the chairman of this committee. I was on the (American College of Surgeons) Regents at the time and I knew this collection and I knew where it came from. When the report was brought to the Board of Regents from this committee and that the collection was a superb collection and worth a couple hundred thousand should be given to the Crerar Library and this was submitted to the Regents for a vote. And I said that isn't right and so I got to the floor and made a very impassioned plea that enabled this to be delayed for three months until we could think through where this was going to be sent because the Crerar Library was a great library, known all over the world, and so forth, but this would be buried like sending three pictures to the Metropolitan Museum in New York. They have so much in their vaults down below. Anyway, in that three months I canvassed the Board and I called in about eight "due bills" and I knew I had the votes. I had supported people on everything so it came back up at the next meeting and I made the speech that it had originated here and we had a regional library and a magnificent place and I talked to the people here and that it would be suitably housed in a wing by itself and we would even put up a picture of him if need be. We would give full credit to the College on it. We would always say that we got it from them. I would hope that you would send along the money to maintain it, which I know you have in the some $3,000 a year, and I will promise you that there will be an accounting annually, permanently. And I knew I had the votes and I won and so that is how you got that library – pure and simple. If somebody hadn't been there and I just happened to be sitting there at the time when it went by, our it would have gone to the Crerar Library and you never would have known what happened to it.