DUANE
Duane's take
Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'll do my best to do it justice. Now, every great institution starts with somebody willing to go where they're not entirely wanted. That's the story here.
Two dentists out of St. Louis — Dr. David E.
Morrow and Dr. Thomas G. Bradford — started looking at Texas in the early nineteen hundreds.
They were hunting for a home for a dental college, and Dallas caught their eye. Dallas was growin', commercial, full of possibility. There was just one small wrinkle: most Dallas dentists flat-out opposed having a local dental school.
You'd think the practitioners already in town might welcome trained colleagues. Apparently, they did not. But some folks did see the potential.
And so, despite the opposition, a school called State Dental College was chartered in February of 1905. By October third of that same year, classes had begun. They were off and runnin'.
Those first years were no gentle ride. The school was young, resources were thin, and then the national economy turned on them in 1907. A downturn can shake the roots right out of a young institution.
But State Dental College held on. The real turning point came in 1915. Members of the Dallas County Dental Society — some of those very same local dentists who'd been cool on the idea — came around.
They agreed to serve on an advisory board that oversaw operations and instruction. Funny how a decade changes things. Three years later, in 1918, the school affiliated with Baylor University.
Renamed Baylor University College of Dentistry, it shared resources with Baylor University College of Medicine, which was also located right there in Dallas. A strengthened basic sciences program followed, and with it came something the founders had always been reaching for: national recognition, and Class A accreditation. Then came the nineteen forties, and the whole country shifted into wartime.
The college accelerated its program to push more dentists out the door and into service — because U.S. troops needed dental care just like they needed everything else. The school answered that call. But 1943 brought a hard blow.
The medical school relocated to Houston, and it took a good many faculty members right along with it. The dental college made the decision to stay in Dallas. That decision came with a cost.
The school struggled to maintain its academic footing — a real, honest struggle, the kind that doesn't resolve itself overnight. It didn't fold, though. It expanded its clinical services.
It built out a school of dental hygiene. It developed specialized graduate-level curricula. Piece by piece, it rebuilt itself into something stronger than what the medical school's departure had left behind.
In 1971, the college separated from Baylor University entirely and took the name it would carry forward: Baylor College of Dentistry. Then in the nineteen nineties, it joined the Texas A&M University System as a charter member of its Health Science Center. From two St.
Louis dentists knocking on a door most of Dallas didn't want opened, to a nationally recognized institution for oral health education, research, specialized patient care, and continuing education — that is one long, hard-won road. And they stayed in Dallas the whole time. Some doors, once you push them open, just don't close again.
What the marker says
Two St. Louis dentists, Dr. David E. Morrow and Dr. Thomas G. Bradford, began seeking a site in Texas for a dental college in the early 1900s. Although most Dallas dentists opposed a local dental school, others viewed the growing commercial center as an ideal location for what was called State Dental College, chartered in February 1905. Classes began on October 3 of that year. In its first years, the school faced many challenges, including a national economic downturn in 1907. In 1915, however, members of the Dallas County Dental Society became involved with the college, agreeing to serve on an advisory board that oversaw operations and instruction. The school affiliated with Baylor University in 1918. Renamed Baylor University College of Dentistry, it shared resources with Baylor University College of Medicine, also located in Dallas. With a strengthened basic sciences program, the school gained national recognition and "Class A" accreditation. In the 1940s, the college accelerated its program to graduate more dentists to aid U.S. troops in World War II. In 1943, the medical school relocated to Houston, taking with it many faculty members. The dental college chose to remain but struggled to maintain its academic footing. It eventually expanded its clinical services and established a school of dental hygiene and specialized graduate-level curricula. The college separated from Baylor University in 1971 and became Baylor College of Dentistry. In the 1990s, it joined the Texas A&M University System as a charter member of its Health Science Center. Today, it is nationally recognized for oral health education, research, specialized patient care and continuing education. (2005)