You may have read or heard other professional associations claim they are the oldest in the state, but the North Carolina Medical Society (NCMS) recently confirmed we are indeed the oldest professional society in North Carolina. The North Carolina Secretary of State’s office keeps records on all incorporated nonprofits back to the early 1800s. After researching the question, the Supervisor of Document Compliance, Corporations Division of the NC Department of the Secretary of State, Daniel Crabbe, wrote: “…you will be happy to hear that the North Carolina Medical Society is the oldest professional society in North Carolina. The oldest private nonprofit corporation is Wake Forest University, which was incorporated on 1/13/1834.”
Our official date of incorporation, according to state records, is 2/17/1859, although our informal founding date was in 1849, when Edmund Strudwick, MD, was elected the first president of the Medical Society. The hallmark of Dr. Strudwick’s presidency was his call for “stiff requirements in general education and moral character for those seeking entrance in to medical schools.” The NCMS has been protecting the profession and the patients of North Carolina ever since.
To read more about the NCMS’ history, read “150 Years of Leadership: The History of the North Carolina Medical Society’s Pioneering Physician Leaders.”