audiobook Mariana Griswold Van Rensselaer: A Landscape Critic in the Gilded Age by Judith K. Major in Arts-Photography

Description

Tucked away in a corner of the University of Texas Medical Branch campus stands a majestic relic of an era long past. Constructed of red pressed brick; sandstone; and ruddy Texas granite; the Ashbel Smith Building; fondly known as Old Red; represents a fascinating page in Galveston and Texas history. It has been more than a century since Old Red welcomed the first group of visionary faculty and students inside its halls. For decades; the medical school building existed at the heart of UTMB campus life; even through periods of dramatic growth and change. In time; however; the building lost much of its original function to larger; more contemporary facilities. Today; as the oldest medical school building west of the Mississippi River; the intricately ornate Old Red sits in sharp contrast to its sleeker neighbors. Old Red: Pioneering Medical Education in Texas examines the life and legacy of the Ashbel Smith Building from its beginnings through modern-day efforts to preserve it. Chapters explore the nascence of medical education in Texas; the supreme talent and genius of Old Red architect; Nicholas J. Clayton; and the lives of faculty and students as they labored and learned in the midst of budget crises; classroom and fraternity antics; death-rendering storms; and threats of closure. The education of the state’s first professional female and minority physicians and the nationally acclaimed work of physician-scientists and researchers are also highlighted. Most of all; the reader is invited to step inside Old Red and mingle with ghosts of the past—to ascend the magnificent cedar staircase; wander the long; paneled hallways; and take a seat in the tiered amphitheater as pigeons fly in and out of windows overhead.