by Donna Bailey, Public Relations

Waring Library as it looks today-preserving yesterday and looking forward to tomorrow.

It could be the round battlement design and the leaded glass windows that make Waring Library look more like a part of history than a part of the MUSC campus.

Before the Civil War, the land on which it stands was part of an arsenal. During the war it was a confederate armory. After the war it took a whole different purpose. A school was created by Rev. Anthony Toomer Porter for the education of boys whose families were financially and mortally depleted.

The land was granted to Porter by the U.S. Congress at the suggestion of Union General William T. Sherman, who was grateful to Porter for aiding a member of his staff with a letter of clearance when crossing back through enemy lines. The school was built in 1886 and named Porter Military Academy. In 1893, a library was added at a cost $7,500 from a donation by a northern friend of Porter’s, Rev. Frederick Hoffman of New York.

Acquired and restored in 1966 by MUSC, the Waring Library now houses medical artifacts dating from the 18th century.

Since 1982, Curtis Worthington, M.D., has carefully watched the collection grow. Fourteen thousand books and artifacts including instruments, microscopes, and remedies of past times occupy shelves and display cases, as well as antique clinic furniture and plantation doctor cases used when traveling from farm to farm.

In the archives are student theses dating from 1825 to 1860 from South Carolinians. Some of the students had studied in Edinburgh, Scotland, which at the time held one of the most esteemed medical universities in Europe. Many treasures are donated from retired doctors and estates.

“We are the Smithsonian Institution of South Carolina Medicine,” Worthington said. “If it is too good to throw away, and they don’t want to keep it, they send it to us.”

The largest contributor to the library’s collection was Dr. Joseph Ioor Waring 1897-1977. It was through his foresight and integrity that the Waring Library obtained custody of the books and journals of the Medical Society of South Carolina.

Most of the collection dates back to the 19th century. Some pieces are from England and France, including a small collection of documents dating back to the 16th century. Waring himself contributed his personal collection of books and historical documents as well as his own research files.

Most interesting was a book that was recovered four years ago. Inside was the inscription, “captured in the Anatomical Museum, Charleston, S.C. the day of the raising of the flag of Fort Sumter by Major Anderson, April 14th, 1865.”

According to Kay Carter, associate curator, there are many inquires for ancestral search. One gentleman in particular insisted that his great-grandfather was an alumnus of the Medical College.

“We were able to reach back and find his relation in 1885,” said Carter. There are photo collections from the 18th and 19th century depicting graduating classes and the practice of medicine, and many of the individuals have been identified.

The staff of Waring Library is readily available for assistance and conducts guided tours by appointment. The hours are 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. M-F or call 792-2288.