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Our History

Carolina Pharmacy Museum

The Carolina Pharmacy Museum at the University of South Carolina College of Pharmacy preserves the rich history of the pharmacy profession through an extensive collection of historical artifacts. Browse some of our collection and learn more below.

About the Museum

The Carolina Pharmacy Museum is housed on the first floor of the Coker Life Sciences Building on the University of South Carolina - Columbia campus. The museum is designed to resemble a late 1800s community pharmacy, anchored by an antique pharmacy counter donated by Olin B. Davis. Currently, the Carolina Pharmacy Museum houses over 2,000 pharmacy artifacts.

The museum originally opened in 1992, the brainchild of Dean Emeritus Julian Fincher, an avid pharmacy historian who donated many items to the museum from his personal collection. Fincher canvassed the state for artifacts, and many retiring pharmacists entrusted their treasured objects to his care. As more gifts-in-kind flowed to the museum, display space ran short, and pieces of the collection remained in boxes. 

Driven by her love of pharmacy history, museum curator Kathy Quarles Moore, a clinical instructor in the college, recruited a team of students who were passionate about pharmacy history to help catalog and assemble our many pharmacy artifacts. Believing in their vision, Dean Emeritus Randy Rowen set aside necessary funds to renovate the museum prior to his retirement in 2016. After undergoing extensive renovations, the museum was officially dedicated on November 16, 2017, to Fincher and Rowen - along with the many students, faculty, and loyal supporters who made these efforts possible. 

Experience the Museum

Some of our collection is available to view online in our photo gallery above. To schedule an in-person tour of the Carolina Pharmacy Museum, please contact us. Visit the College of Pharmacy YouTube channel for a brief video tour of the museum.


 


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