The Mechanics Academy, once located near the site of today's Seashore Hall, was one of the oldest buildings in the city. Built by the Mechanics' Mutual Aid Association in 1841, it served as Iowa City's first public school (circa 1853), and a men's dormitory.

In 1873, the Academy reopened as a teaching and charity hospital. The Board of Regents offered the Sisters of Mercy, a religious order which provided trained nurses at no expense to taxpayers, the use of the Academy as a hospital. It housed men's and women's wards of six beds each, four private rooms, and a small chapel. The Sisters kept the hospital immaculately clean, and the University paid for heat and light; surgical cases were sometimes used for instructional purposes.

9. Patient in a private room, 1920, courtesy of the University of Iowa Archives

Patient load soon outpaced the growth of space and funding, and the Sisters sometimes slept on the floor to free up their own beds. Meanwhile, the old building was deteriorating. Matters were complicated by ongoing confusion over the University's role in funding and maintaining the hospital. The Regents objected to the popular but unofficial name, "Mercy Hospital," insisting that the hospital was "not under the control of the Catholic Church."

In 1885, the Sisters decided to establish their own hospital. The Mechanics Academy building remained in use as a "women's hospital" or obstetrical clinic until 1897, when it was torn down to make room for the first fully University-operated hospital.

10. Women's ward in University Hospital, 1915, courtesy of the University of Iowa Archives

11. Patient ward, University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics, 1915, courtesy of the University of Iowa Archives