Meharry Medical College, which is located in Nashville, Tennessee, is a graduate and professional institution affiliated with the United Methodist Church whose mission is to educate healthcare professionals and scientists. It was founded in 1876 as the Medical Department of Central Tennessee College and is currently the largest private historically black institution in the United States solely dedicated to educating healthcare professionals and scientists.

A young man named Samuel Meharry, who was a salt trader, was traveling through the rough terrain of Tennessee when his wagon suddenly slipped off of the road and fell into a swamp. Meharry sought, and found, the help of a family of freed slaves, whose names are unknown. This family of freed slaves gave Meharry food and shelter in the night and helped him to recover his wagon the next morning. That morning, Meharry told the former slave family, "I have no money, but when I can I shall do something for your race."

In 1875, Samuel Meharry along with four of his brothers donated $15,000 to assist with the establishment of a medical department at Central Tennessee College. Meharry Medical Department was established as a Department of Walden University, which was initially established as Central Tennessee College, by the Methodist Episcopal Church, North. With the contribution of the Freedman's Aid Society of the Methodist Episcopal Church North, George W. Hubbard and John Braden, an English Methodist cleric, were able to open the Medical Department of Central Tennessee College in 1876. The first class had one graduate. The second class, which had its Commencement in 1878, had three graduates with the diplomas written in Latin; among those graduates was Lorenzo Dow Key, the son of Hillery Wattsworth Key, one of the founding members with Braden of the Tennessee Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church, North, which split from the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, on the issue of slavery and was not reunited until 1939. In 1886, the Dental Department was founded, followed by a Pharmacy Department that was founded in 1889.

In 1900, Central Tennessee College changed its name to Walden University after a bishop of the Methodist Church. In 1915, the medical department faculty of Walden University received a separate charter as Meharry Medical College. Hubbard served as Meharry Medical College's first president until his death in 1921.

After Hubbard's death, Meharry Medical College presidents have included John J. Mullowney (1921-1938), Edward Lewis Turner (1938-1944), M. Don Clawson (1945-1950), Harold D. West (1952-1966), Lloyd C. Elam (1968-1981), David Satcher (1982-1993), John E. Maupin (1994-2006), and Wayne J. Riley(2006-present).

Today, Meharry Medical College includes a medical school, dental school, graduate school, and an allied health school. The degrees that Meharry offers include Doctor of Medicine (M.D.), Doctor of Dental Surgery (D.D.S.), Master of Science in Public Health (M.S.P.H.), Master of Science (M.S.), and Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) degrees. Meharry is the second largest educator of African American medical doctors and dentists in the United States. Also, it is the largest producer of African American Masters in Public Health graduates and Ph.D.s in biomedical science graduates.

Summary content courtesy of wikipedia.org

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