North Pacific College was a private, post-secondary educational institution located in

Portland Portland most commonly refers to: * Portland, Oregon, the largest city in the state of Oregon, in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States * Portland, Maine, the largest city in the state of Maine, in the New England region of the northeas ...

in the U.S. state of

Oregon Oregon () is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of it ...

. A

professional school Professional development is learning to earn or maintain professional credentials such as academic degrees to formal coursework, attending conferences, and informal learning opportunities situated in practice. It has been described as intensive ...

, North Pacific had pharmacy, dental, and optometry programs. The dental program was purchased by the state of Oregon and merged into the University of Oregon School of Medicine and now exists as the

Oregon Health & Science University School of Dentistry The Oregon Health & Science University School of Dentistry is the dental school of Oregon Health & Science University. It is located in the city of Portland, Oregon, United States. It is the only dental school in Oregon. History Oregon Health ...

. The optometry school was merged into

Pacific University Pacific University is a private university in Forest Grove, Oregon. Founded in 1849 as the Tualatin Academy, the original Forest Grove campus is west of Portland. The university maintains three other campuses in Eugene, Hillsboro, and Wood ...

and still exists as the Pacific University College of Optometry.

History

The foundations of the school started in the 1890s in

Tacoma, Washington Tacoma ( ) is the county seat of Pierce County, Washington, United States. A port city, it is situated along Washington's Puget Sound, southwest of Seattle, northeast of the state capital, Olympia, Washington, Olympia, and northwest of Mount ...

, when physicians in that city sought to compete with

Seattle Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest regio ...

by opening a dental school before the

University of Washington The University of Washington (UW, simply Washington, or informally U-Dub) is a public research university in Seattle, Washington. Founded in 1861, Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast; it was established in Seattle a ...

could establish their own school. Meanwhile, in Portland, Dr. Herbert C. Miller had been asked by the

University of Oregon The University of Oregon (UO, U of O or Oregon) is a public research university in Eugene, Oregon. Founded in 1876, the institution is well known for its strong ties to the sports apparel and marketing firm Nike, Inc, and its co-founder, billion ...

to lead a group to investigate adding a dental school to the School of Medicine in Portland. While Miller's group decided it was premature to start a school in Portland, the Tacoma group founded the Tacoma College of Dental Surgery in 1893. Soon after, the Tacoma school moved to Portland, while Dr. Miller and a group of Portland dentists founded the Oregon College of Dentistry in 1898. After competing for a short time, the two dental schools merged in 1900 to create the North Pacific College of Dentistry. First located at northwest Fifteenth Avenue at Couch Street, the first class graduated in 1900 with five graduates. The school added the North Pacific College of Pharmacy in 1908, and moved into a new building in 1910 at the corner of northeast Sixth Avenue and Oregon Street. Also in 1908, the school changed its name to North Pacific College. The pharmacy school added a chapter of

Kappa Psi Kappa Psi Pharmaceutical Fraternity, Incorporated, () is the largest professional pharmaceutical fraternity in the world with more than 6,000 student members and more than 87,000 alumni members. It was founded in 1879 at Russell Military Academ ...

(Beta Iota) in 1913. The school's building was expanded in 1921. That year, the North Pacific College of Optometry was added to the college. In 1940, alumnus Dr. Newton Uyesugi and Dr. Roy Clunas purchased the College of Optometry from Dr. Harry Lee Fording. After America's entry into

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

in 1941, the optometry school was closed in 1942 as Dr. Uyesugi was of Japanese ancestry and he was forced to relocate due to the Japanese exclusion orders. During World War II, the dental school was part of the

V-12 Navy College Training Program The V-12 Navy College Training Program was designed to supplement the force of commissioned officers in the United States Navy during World War II. Between July 1, 1943, and June 30, 1946, more than 125,000 participants were enrolled in 131 colleg ...

, and in 1941 the pharmacy school closed. Another reason the optometry school was suspended in 1942 was that the head of the school joined the Navy. Herbert C Miller

Dr. Miller, who headed the school from the beginning, had approached the state about the dental school becoming affiliated with the University of Oregon School of Medicine on many occasions. Then the

American Dental Association The American Dental Association (ADA) is an American professional association established in 1859 which has more than 161,000 members. Based in the American Dental Association Building in the Near North Side of Chicago, the ADA is the world's ...

, in an effort to raise standards for dental schools, denied continued accreditation for the dental school in 1944. Part of the reasoning was the lack of affiliation with a full-university, an issue Dr. Miller had long advocated for a solution by joining the University of Oregon. During the 1945 session of the

Oregon Legislature The Oregon Legislative Assembly is the state legislature for the U.S. state of Oregon. The Legislative Assembly is bicameral, consisting of an upper and lower house: the Senate, whose 30 members are elected to serve four-year terms; and the Ho ...

, the assembly passed a law to allow for the school to join the University of Oregon. The school was then sold to the state for no cost, with the main provision being that the dental school remain in northeast Portland for at least five years. On July 1, 1945, North Pacific Dental College joined the University of Oregon. On August 1 of that same year the optometry program joined Forest Grove's Pacific University. The School of Optometry was located at northeast 41st Avenue and Sandy Boulevard.

Legacy

During its operation, the dental school graduated more than 3,300 dentists. The dental school still exists as the

. The optometry school still exists as the Pacific University College of Optometry. After the merger of the dental school into the University of Oregon’s medical school, a controversy arose over the relationship between the dental school and the university. Eventually members of the Oregon State Dental Association sued the

Oregon State Board of Higher Education The Oregon State Board of Higher Education was the statutory governing board for the Oregon University System from 1909 to 2015. The board was composed of eleven members appointed by the Governor of Oregon and confirmed by the Oregon State Senate. ...

for a

declaratory judgment A declaratory judgment, also called a declaration, is the legal determination of a court that resolves legal uncertainty for the litigants. It is a form of legally binding preventive by which a party involved in an actual or possible legal mat ...

on the interpretation of Chapter 160 of Oregon Laws 1945.''State ex rel. Oregon State Dental Ass’n et al. v. Smith et al.'' (1954), 201 Or. 288; 270 P.2d 142. That law had merged the North Pacific College of Oregon’s dental program into the state’s medical school, and with it, established an advisory board made up of members of the Oregon State Dental Association to advise the state board on operating the school. The issue was whether the dental school was a subdivision of (the former)

Oregon University System The Oregon University System (OUS) was administered by the Oregon State Board of Higher Education (the "Board") and the Chancellor of the OUS, who was appointed by the Board. It was disbanded in June 2015. OUS was responsible for governing the s ...

, or was it a subdivision of the University of Oregon. In 1954, the

Oregon Supreme Court The Oregon Supreme Court (OSC) is the highest state court in the U.S. state of Oregon. The only court that may reverse or modify a decision of the Oregon Supreme Court is the Supreme Court of the United States.

Notable alumni

Edgar Buchanan William Edgar Buchanan II (March 20, 1903 – April 4, 1979) was an American actor with a long career in both film and television. He is most familiar today as Uncle Joe Carson from the ''Petticoat Junction'', ''Green Acres'', and ''The ...

, dentist and later actor with a long career in both film and television * Newton K. Wesley, optometrist and early pioneer of contact lens *

Oscar Willing Oscar Frederick "Doc" Willing (October 16, 1889 – March 2, 1962) was an American amateur golfer. He played in three Walker Cup matches. Early life Willing was born in Sellwood, Oregon (now a part of Portland), and caddied and learned to play go ...

, dentist and amateur golfer

References

External links

OHSU History of Medicine
{{authority control Educational institutions established in 1899 Defunct private universities and colleges in Oregon Universities and colleges in Portland, Oregon 1945 disestablishments in Oregon 1899 establishments in Oregon Educational institutions disestablished in 1945