Bellevue Medical College of Massachusetts
From Kook Science
| Bellevue Medical College of Massachusetts | |
|---|---|
| Motto | Non est vivere, sed valare, vita ("Life is not only living, but living in health.") |
| Formation | 25 May 1880 |
| Dissolution | c. 1883 |
| Purpose/focus | Mail-order medical degrees |
| Headquarters | Boston, Massachusetts |
| Key people | Alfred Booth, Charles J. Eastman, May R. Eastman, Rufus King Noyes |
Bellevue Medical College of Massachusetts (Latin: "Collegium Medicum Bellevue in Civitate Massachutense") was a Boston, Massachusetts-based scholastic enterprise (diploma mill), initially organised by Alfred Booth and Charles J. Eastman and chartered on 25 May 1880, with Rufus King Noyes taking Booth's place as president a year later and May R. Eastman becoming secretary. The college was in operations, legally, until 30 June 1883 when the Massachusetts legislature passed laws forbidding the conferring of medical degrees by corporations unless authorised by the state.
Despite the shuttering of the operation, at least one member of the faculty, Samuel G. Ginner, continued to offer blank diplomas from the concern well into October 1884, giving a price of $75 for the M.D., with further opportunities for the purchaser to earn a $25 commission as a local agent selling the same diplomas.
Press Coverage
- "MEDICOS MADE TO ORDER. How the Work Is Done by a Massachusetts College — The Interesting Correspondence Which Called Forth a Diploma.", Chicago Tribune (Chicago, IL): 6, 26 Nov. 1882, https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/349259596/
- "IS IT BOGUS? A Strange Story from Illinois. A Medical Diploma Sent to an Unknown Applicant. A Globe Reporter Aspired to be an M.D. in a Month. He Visits Dr. Eastman, Dean of Bellevue College, And Has a Talk with President Dr. Noyes of Lynns.", Boston Globe (Boston, MA): 1, 26 Nov. 1882, https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/428498638/
- "A STARTLING AFFIDAVIT. Ex-President Booth of Bellevue Makes Oath Concerning the Methods of Procedure Followed In Procuring the Charter of the Medical College.", Boston Globe (Boston, MA): 2, 6 Dec. 1882, https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/428499553/
- "A BUBBLE BURST. The Dean and President of the Belleville Medical College Arrested and Jailed.", Chicago Tribune (Chicago, IL): 3, 7 Dec. 1882, https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/349261283/
- "BELLEVUE MEDICAL COLLEGE OF MASSACHUSETTS", Sixth Annual Report of the State Board of Health of Illinois (Springfield, Il.: H. W. Rokker, State Printer and Binder) 6: 46, 1884, https://www.google.com/books/edition/Annual_Report_of_the_Illinois_State_Boar/Vj9NAAAAMAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=%22S.+G.+Ginner%22&pg=RA2-PA46
- "Appendix: F3. FOURTH YEAR'S ANNOUNCEMENT. BELLEVUE MEDICAL COLLEGE, BOSTON, MASS. ('Non est vivere, sed valare, vita')", Journal of the Legislative Council of New South Wales. Session 1887-8., 43, Sydney, 1888, p. 115-117, https://www.google.com/books/edition/Journal_of_the_Legislative_Council/kF5Z5gsBvosC?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=%22S.+G.+Ginner%22&pg=RA12-PA115