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Creation Date
2014
Description
The annual observance of Founders’ Day honors the founders of Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine: Oscar John Snyder, DO, and Mason Wiley Pressly, DO.
Dr. Snyder, who “put the cause of osteopathic medicine above personal considerations,” was the College’s first president. He remained with PCOM for 42 years as an adviser and member of the Board of Trustees. Dr. Snyder was instrumental in obtaining the Commonwealth’s legal recognition of the College and the osteopathic profession through establishing the high standards of osteopathic medical education.
Dr. Pressly, a Presbyterian minister and well-known orator, was PCOM’s first teacher. He remained on the faculty until 1904, teaching physiology, the philosophy and principles of osteopathy, hygiene and dietetics. He was PCOM’s first secretary and treasurer, and the de facto dean until 1902. Dr. Pressly founded The Philadelphia Journal of Osteopathy to promote osteopathic medicine in Philadelphia and wrote the American Osteopathic Association’s first constitution.
Keywords
Founders Day, 2014, program