Alpha Omega Alpha Fraternity Records
 |
| Alpha Omega Alpha Fraternity Records |
|---|
| Volume: 2.5 linear feet Inclusive dates: 1905-1957 Collection code: PC050 |
| Container List |
| PDF Version |
Historical Note
Alpha Omega Alpha (AOA) is a national medical honor society that recognizes scholarship and leadership in medicine and related fields. It is composed of medical men and women, in medical schools in North America who show promise for attaining professional leadership, notable physicians in practice, and others who have gained unusual recognition in fields related to medicine. The original chapter was founded in 1902 by William W. Root, then a junior in the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Chicago, medical department of the University of Illinois.
Root founded the organization as a protest against “a condition which associated the name medical student with rowdyism, boorishness, immorality, and low educational ideals.” Root and his fellow medical students formed a society that would foster honesty and formulate higher ideals of scholastic achievement.
The Washington University Chapter, called the Alpha of Missouri, founded in 1905, was the seventh chapter. The founding members of AOA at the medical school saw the need for a higher educational standard before the 1910 Flexner report changed the department and American medical education as a whole. The Washington University Medical Department raised its standards for entrance to the medical school, hired full time faculty, reformed the curriculum, and built a new medical campus with numerous hospitals on site as partners in medical education.
As the negative image of the medical student changed, the society continued to foster and honor student scholastic achievement at Washington University. The activities for members changed over the years but included initiation with an AOA membership key and certificate, annual banquets and lectures, and an AOA Book Prize still given each year at commencement for outstanding scholarship (News from the Medical School, Washington University, press release, March 10, 1954; Washington University School of Medicine Bulletin online, accessed 3/17/2006; Online Finding Aid to the Alpha Omega Alpha Archives, 1894-1968, at the National Library of Medicine, accessed 8/11/2006).
Provenance
Two volumes of typed and manuscript minutes and other records were the gift of George L. Wulff, Jr., MD, Class of 1933, in October 1972 (Accession 72-10). At an undetermined date, the third volume, a ledger, came into the possession of the St. Louis Metropolitan Medical Society, which kept it until 2006, when it was transmitted to Morton E. Smith, MD, as current chapter councilor of AOA, who transferred it to the Library (Accession 2006-038).
Access and Use
The collection is open and accessible for research. Certain categories of documentation, however, may carry restrictions on access. For detailed information, contact the Archives and Rare Book Section (arb@wusm.wustl.edu).
Scope and Content
The record group concerns the selection of medical students for the society and the development of the local chapter. The records list many members who became prominent in their fields. The Alpha Omega Alpha fraternity records consist of three volumes, 1905-1957, that include the initial charter and constitution and by-laws, minutes of chapter meetings, treasury records, chapter membership lists, other by-laws, correspondence, and publications. See also the The Hatchet (1923-1931) and the Archives vertical file (1938-1992) for more information on this student organization.
Preferred Citation
Cite as: Alpha Omega Alpha records, Washington University School of Medicine.
Related Material Elsewhere
Alpha Omega Alpha Archives, 1894-1968 (national) at National Library of Medicine (http://www.nlm.nih.gov/hmd/manuscripts/ead/aoa.html).
Language of Material
English
Controlled Access Headings
Library of Congress Name Authority Heading
Alpha Omega Alpha Fraternity – History.
Alpha Omega Alpha Fraternity. Washington University Chapter.
Washington University (Saint Louis, Mo.). School of Medicine.
Medical Subject Headings
Societies, Medical – history – Saint Louis
Students, Medical – history – Saint Louis
Art and Architecture Thesaurus
Membership records, 1922-1924
Minutes, 1922-1924
Container List
Box 1
- Minute book, 1906-1919.
- A handwritten account book.
- Minutes, treasury and membership book, 1906-1957.
- Chapter records are in a loose-leaf binder divided into sections:
- Typed chapter minutes, 1906-1957.
Bylaws, 1933.
Membership lists, 1905-1935.
Treasurer’s reports, 1919-1943.
Publications, 1916.
Box 2
- Ledger, 1905-1907.
- One ledger with entries and loose documents inserted, all dated or otherwise presumably from the period May 16, 1905 to October 28, 1907. Included are:
- Texts of the society charter and constitution, May 16, 1905, 2:1-13.
- Member signatures and chapter roll, 1905-1907, 2: 15, 49.
- Manuscript and typed minutes, 1905-1907, 2:53-57, 61-67 and Correspondence of the chapter, 1905-1906.
- Terry, R. J., 2:47.
Hart, W. Lee, University of Maryland, 2:47.
Fischel, W. E., 2:50.
Baumgarten, W., 2:50.
- Terry, R. J., 2:47.
Back to Top
