Thanks to our friends at the University of Maryland's Health Sciences & Human Services Library for letting us know that today is the birthday of our mutual friend, John Crawford.
John Crawford was born in the north of Ireland on May 3, 1746. He was educated at the College of Dublin and received his MD from the University of Leyden. He became a Surgeon with the Dutch East India Company and was a Physician to a hospital in Barbados. Dr. Crawford was also the Physician to Dutch Colony in Demerara, which is now part of Guyana.
In 1790, while residing in Dutch Guiana, he conceived the germ theory of infectious diseases, and in 1807, he wrote a series of striking articles on its advocacy, being probably the first in English-speaking countries to do so .He also carried his theory into practice.
He returned to England 1794 and then emigrated to America in 1796. Although - and it seems strange – Dr. Crawford did not enjoy the honor of being an incorporator or founder of the Medical and Chirurgical Faculty of Maryland, he held high rank in its early councils, being censor, examiner, orator, and member of the committee appointed to publish its Transactions. He was also Chairman of the Medical Faculty of Baltimore and as such, made a report on the health of the city to the City Council February 10, 1800.
Dr. Crawford was one of the Founders and Manager of the Baltimore General Dispensary. In 1801, Dr. Crawford founded the Bible Society of Baltimore and was the Penitentiary Lecturer on Natural History at the College of Medicine of Maryland. He was one of the founders, and most active members of the Society for Promoting Useful Knowledge.
Dr. Crawford was one of the most enlightened physicians and noblest characters that has ever adorned the profession of this State.
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