MedChi’s 1205 Cathedral Street and 1204 Maryland Avenue buildings
were designed in 1898 by Joseph Evans Sperry, who also designed the
Bromo-Seltzer Tower. The exterior façades of the buildings are brick,
brownstone and terracotta done in a Romanesque design. The original design and
detail on the exterior remains intact.
The buildings
were the home of Col. William Marston’s University School for Boys, later the
University School. The building on Cathedral Street served as the school, while
the Maryland Avenue building was the gymnasium.
In 1908, the school moved to
Charles Street and North Avenue, and then to Riderwood. It closed in the late
1930’s, after Marston’s death.
In
1909, Baltimore City purchased the building for $50,000 to use as a public
school. The school was named for Robert E. Lee, “Engineer, Soldier and Teacher”
as it said on the bronze plaque. By 1910, the school had almost 400 students
and twelve teachers, and only one was male. School 49 was for accelerated
students who completed three years of schooling in two years.
After WWII, the University
of Baltimore used the school in the evenings to accommodate the influx of
students returning from the war and attending college on the GI Bill.
In
1954, School 49 was integrated. According to students at the time, it was a
seamless process, unlike at other schools. In 1969, the school closed. But in
1970, it re-opened as a school for teenage mothers so they could complete their
high school education.
The
school closed in 1977 and in 1978, MedChi bought the building from Baltimore
City for $1.00. Construction began in 1984 and the two buildings were finally
linked. The transformation to offices was completed the following year. MedChi
uses the building for offices for itself and several regional and
component societies of the organization.
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