Happy Holidays!

 Marcia is taking a quiet few moments in the 
Rare Book Room at the new
MedChi Museum of Maryland Medical History
to wish everyone all of the best of the holiday season!

Fall 2023 Newsletter

Please click on each image to enlarge it.

 If you would like to receive the Center's newsletter, please click here.

Giving Tuesday 2023

As we approach our 225th Anniversary in 2024, we have been thinking back to our earliest days. Did the men (and yes, it was all men) ever think that the organization they founded would still be active 225 years later? Their initial idea of protecting their fellow citizens from "quackery and pretenders to the medical arts" has abided over the centuries.

MedChi, and the Center for a Healthy Maryland (the foundation of MedChi) are busier and more active than we have even been. Our programs and services affect both physicians and the citizens of Maryland and preserve our history for generations to come.

On Giving Tuesday, you can choose to support any of the Center's programs:

The History of Maryland Medicine Committee has been busy adding exhibits to the Museum. We received a donation of 300+ books from the collections of Upton Scott, our first president, John Archer who received the first medical degree in America, and Past President, Sir William Osler, MD. We are making a series of videos and planning several events in preparation for our 225th Anniversary in 2024. Click here to donate.

The Maryland Physician Health Program assists physicians in a confidential, private setting to address issues that may potentially impact their ability to practice medicine, is meeting with client- physicians. MPHP has hosted a series of Zoom lectures in conjunction with their 45th Anniversary on the topic of physicians’ physical and mental health. The Dan H. McDougal, MD Fund provides grants-in-aid to physicians who are unable to afford the costs associated with rehabilitation and treatment services. Click here to donate.

Over the past year, the Domestic Violence Program conducted trainings and technical assistance to health care professional participants, began providing Continuing Education Units and teaching physicians to recognize intimate partner violence. Click here to donate.

Your support of the Center for a Healthy Maryland, and our programs, will help us continue with the work that our staff is carrying out on a daily basis. It will also help us to pursue the new opportunities and projects which benefit our members.

A copy of the current financial statement for the Center for a Healthy Maryland is available by writing to the Center at 1211 Cathedral Street, Baltimore, Maryland 21201, or by calling 410-539-0872. Documents and information submitted under the Maryland Solicitations Act are also available, for the cost of postage and copies, from the Maryland Secretary of State, State House, Annapolis, Maryland 21401, or by calling 410-974-5534.

 

Happy Thanksgiving!

 Happiest Thanksgiving From Every One of Us at MedChi...

Past & Present! 

Happy Anniversary, Marcia!

It was on this day in 1896 that Marcia Crocker Noyes began a career at the Medical & Chirurgical Faculty of the State of Maryland which would span the next 50 years, ending with her death just a few days after her anniversary.   

Dr. William Osler recruited Marcia from her position at the Pratt Library on the advice of his friend, Bernard Steiner, who was head of the Pratt. 

Just two short weeks later, her entire life had changed. She went from living with her sister and working at the Pratt to living alone at the Faculty's offices on Hamilton Terrace (now Eutaw Street) and working for the Faculty.

She found a library collection in complete disarray and began the work of putting it in order, getting rid of books which were in bad condition and outdated. 

Marcia was just 27 years old when she started at the Faculty, and while she had library skills, she didn't know about medicine. But she worked hard to make friends with the physicians, and with Dr. Osler's support of her, she succeeded in bringing the physicians to her side. 

She helped found the Medical Library Association, which has named their highest award after her. She went on to travel extensively, visiting other medical societies around the country, and spending time at her camp in the Adirondacks.

Eventually, Marcia was named as the Executive Secretary of the Faculty, surely one of the first women at that time to head a state medical society. 

She held that position until her death on November 24, 1946, just a few days after her 50th Anniversary with the Faculty. Her influence and presence echoes down through the years, and through the hallways.

Say WHAT?

At the House of Delegates Meeting in late October, we took some time to interview a number of our past presidents. We asked them all of the same six question, so we'd have a benchmark from which to work. 

We got about two or more hours of footage, but needed to read through what had been said so we could develop a theme. We ran the audio through a talk-to-text feature and got 72 pages of text!

As I began to edit the document, I noticed some strange phrases kept popping up. All of a sudden, it dawned on me - the talk-to-text app didn't understand what MedChi was or what it meant.

So without further delay, I present to you some of the alternatives to MedChi that I just cut and pasted directly from the document!

Magpie

Mankind

med Kai

that Chi

okay

MED

Mankiw

my case

Medica

Medicare

MetLife

Medco

my guy

Mad cow

the case

Mecca

Mai Tai

Bettye

Medicaid

Med K.

met God

med Guy

McHigh

Meg Chi

that guide

that day

Makai

that time

for Tai

med chis

med case

bedtime

America

my faith

make that

Which is your favorite? Mine is Mad Cow!

Ghost Tours Were a HUGE Success!

MedChi and the Center for a Healthy Maryland hosted the inaugural Ghost Tours on Monday, October 30 and Tuesday, October 31 at MedChi's 1909 Building.

The tour started in our History Hallway with an explanation of who we are and what we do. Then we went up to the Krause Room, which was the old reading room and talked about Marcia and her history before and after she began working at the Faculty.

After that, we headed over to the stacks, which interested everyone. 

Sadly, we didn't see Marcia, but we told the groups plenty of stories about her. Then it was downstairs to the see the newly opened MedChi Museum of Maryland Medical History, and those collections of books. 

Finally, it was on to Osler Hall, where we told stories of Marcia's life at the Faculty, her friendship with Sir William Osler and sightings of Marcia in the Hall.

Since the second night of the Ghost Tours was Halloween, we told people they were welcome to dress up, so some of them did!

I hope you had a Happy Halloween and that it wasn't toooo spooooky!

Happy Halloween!

We are going all out for Halloween this year. We are having Ghost Tours of the building for two nights, and both sold out almost immediately! We decorated a bit, draping the busts in black tulle (with sparkles!) and offered our guests Halloween candy. 

As we walked around the building, I told stories about the building, its history, MedChi's history, of course, Marcia and all of the people who had sighted her over the years. We walked through the museum, and discussed some of the important features.

Our friends at the Baltimore Banner have posted a great video that's perfect for Halloween! Click here.

From all of us at MedChi, especially Marcia, HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

Phase II Museum Opening

On Tuesday, October 17, in conjunction with the annual Hunt History of Medicine Lecture, we opened Phase II of the MedChi Museum of Maryland Medical History.

Among the new displays are:

35 years of photographs of our past presidents.

A handicap ramp between our two buildings.

Upton Scott's and John Archer's collections of medical books, which date from the 1600s and 1700s, with a portrait of their contemporary, Tristram Thomas above.

A bust of Dr. John Whitridge, sculpted by William Rinehart in Rome in 1874.

Videos of MedChi's history over the past 225 years, surrounded by a series of 1844 anatomical prints.

The Napoleon Chest

Additional portraits

Seating and a display of the Sappington Ledger

Renovated historic vestibule, uncovering the original tesserae marble floor.

If you are interested in visiting the Museum, please contact Meg Fielding. For now, visits are limited to business hours. 

Ghost Tour

Please join us for the First Annual Ghost Tour!

Marcia Crocker Noyes began working as our Librarian at MedChi in 1896, and worked for us until her death in 1946. She not only worked for us, she had an apartment in our building, so that she could be available at any time of day or night to assist physicians who needed a book. She was our own personal Google!

When Marcia died in 1946, her funeral was held in our historic Osler Hall and she was buried in the historic Greenmount Cemetery.

But she never really left MedChi and the building and library she loved so much. 

For decades, there have been stories of staff members and others hearing footsteps echo in the hallways or on the stairs, finding items which appear with no explanation, or catching a glimpse of a figure our of a corner of an eye...

On Monday, October 30 and Tuesday, October 31, from 6:30 to 7:30, MedChi will be hosting a Ghost Tour of MedChi's Historic Headquarters Building in Mount Vernon, which is reputed to be one of the five most haunted buildings in Baltimore. 

While we can't guarantee that you will see Marcia, we will tell you stories of her haunting of the building, show you our extensive stacks library, our timeless art collection and the historic medical equipment our physicians have used for the past 225 years. 

To reserve a spot, please click on the QR code below, or open it with your phone. Tickets are $10 per person and will support the preservation of our archives. Reservations are required. And don't forget to select which date you'd like to attend!

We will  look forward to seeing you then!

Dr. Beanes and the Star-Spangled Banner

Most people don't know that September 13-14 is a special time in American History: This is when the British bombed Baltimore for 25 hours. The city stood, and so did the nation. It was also when our country’s National Anthem was written.

Most people also don't know that one of the Medical & Chirurgical Faculty’s founding members had an essential role in it. William Beanes, M.D. is a name that should be more well-known than it is, but we are working to correct that and give him the recognition that he deserves.

Here is the story. 

The Medical & Chirurgical Faculty of Maryland was founded in 1799, just years after our country was born. Many of MedChi’s early members had fought in the American Revolution, and were prepared to fight again in the War of 1812, and in the Battles of North Point and Baltimore, which took place in September of 1814.

Fort McHenry, which was defended during the Battle of Baltimore, was named after another of MedChi’s earliest members, James McHenry. However, it is one of our founding members, William Beanes, M.D. of Prince George’s County, Maryland, who played a pivotal, yet largely unknown, role in the history of our National Anthem, The Star-Spangled Banner.

If not for Dr. Beanes, Francis Scott Key would not have been on a ship in Baltimore’s Harbor, and he would never have written the poem which became our National Anthem.

William Beanes was born at Brooke Ridge, a thousand-acre farm near Croome in Prince George's County, on January 24, 1749.

There were no medical schools when Dr. Beanes studied medicine, so he most likely apprenticed with a local physician. Professionally, his reputation spread beyond the county, and in 1799, when the Medical and Chirurgical Faculty of Maryland was established, he was one of its founders and a member of its first examining board.

As the War of 1812 raged, in August of 1814, the British Army sailed up the Potomac River, planning to burn the young nation’s capital, Washington, to the ground.

Some of the army marched up the banks of the Patuxent and Potomac Rivers, and through Upper Marlborough, where Dr. Beanes lived.

British General Robert Ross selected Dr. Beanes’ home as his headquarters, and Dr. Beanes agreed not to object to his presence or cause the troops harm.

Because Beanes chose not to fight against the occupation of his home, he was believed to be sympathetic to the British cause.

Unbeknownst to the British, however, because it was feared that the British would burn the capital city of Annapolis, Dr. Beanes had secretly hidden Maryland state records on his property for safekeeping.

However, when the British Army returned to Upper Marlborough after burning Washington, they were jubilant, drunk and marauding. 

Dr. Beanes and some of his neighbors were forced to arrest some of the most badly behaved of the group. One prisoner escaped and reported to General Ross that Dr. Beanes had taken some prisoners.

General Ross returned to Upper Marlborough and arrested Dr. Beanes in the middle of the night. There was great outrage at Dr. Beanes’ arrest, and for the “great rudeness and indignity heaped upon a respectable and aged old man.” Dr. Beanes travelled with the British Army down the Potomac River and up the Chesapeake Bay, as the British prepared to burn Baltimore, “a nest of pirates”, as they had done to Washington.

At the same time, a young lawyer named Francis Scott Key, a nephew of MedChi’s first President, Upton Scott, was engaged to free Dr. Beanes from the British Army. 

Key travelled to Baltimore with letters of support from President James Madison, as well as letters from British prisoners whose injuries Dr. Beanes had treated only weeks earlier in Upper Marlborough.

Dr. Beanes was being held on the Tonnant, a truce ship in the waters just south of Baltimore, and Key sailed out to negotiate for his release. While Key was negotiating with the British, the Battle of Baltimore was beginning. 

However, before the sea battle even started, General Ross was killed by an American sharpshooter as he led his troops over land to Baltimore. 

For more than 25 hours the battle raged, and bombs rained down on Fort McHenry from the British ships moored in the Patapsco River.

Dr. Beanes and Francis Scott Key watched and waited all through the night. As long as bombs were being shot back from the Fort, the men knew that all was not lost and the Fort still stood. Towards the morning, the cannon fire slowed and then stopped, followed by an ominous silence from across the water. Both men were gripped by hope and fear. Was the Fort lost to the British and would Baltimore suffer as Washington had, just weeks earlier?

As the dawn broke, Francis Scott Key and Dr. Beanes were able to see that the flag was still there, flying above Fort McHenry. They knew that the British had not been able to capture Baltimore.

As the men sailed back to Baltimore, Francis Scott Key penned the now famous poem on the back of an envelope. It was printed in a local paper and then set to the tune of an old drinking song, To Anacreon In Heaven.

Dr. Beanes returned to his home, Academy Hill in Upper Marlborough, and continued to practice medicine. He died at age 80 in October of 1828. Dr. Beanes is buried in a small graveyard in Upper Marlborough,

and is remembered throughout Prince George’s county where several roads, schools and parks bear his name, and continue to tell his story.

In 1914, MedChi placed a bronze plaque at the gates to the graveyard. 

In October 2013, MedChi President, Russell Wright, MD, participated in a ceremony at the gravesite where the Daughters of the War of 1812 placed a new plaque detailing Dr. Beanes’ role in the Star-Spangled Banner.

Save the Dates!

This fall is shaping up to be a busy time for us here at MedChi. We're gearing up for our 225th Anniversary in 2024 and working on additional sections of the Museum. But before all of that, we have a few events that we wanted to share with you.

This year’s Hunt Lecture will be held on Tuesday, October 17th and features Sarah Hoover, the Associate Dean for Innovation in the Arts and Health at the Peabody Institute of the Johns Hopkins University. 

The lecture is titled “Music, Medicine, and MedChi” and will explore MedChi’s contributions to the development of performing arts medicine in Baltimore, with a particular focus on the clinical care, health promotion, and the health education of musicians. 

.. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. ..

On October 30 and 31 from 6:30 to 7:30, we will be hosting a Ghost Tour of MedChi's Historic Headquarters Building in Mt. Vernon, which is reputed to be one of the five most haunted buildings in Baltimore. 

While we can't guarantee that you will see Marcia C. Noyes, our ghost, we will tell you stories of her haunting the building, show you our extensive stacks library, our historic art collection, and the historic medical equipment our physicians have used for more than 225 years. 

Tickets, which are $10/person, are limited to the first 20 reservations each night. Funds will be used to help preserve our archives. To RSVP, please email here. To purchase tickets, please scan the QR code below or click here.

Hope to see you at the Lecture or the Tour!

Ethics Lecture: Maryland as a Sanctuary State

REMINDER

The Center for a Healthy Maryland and
MedChi's Committee on Ethics and Judicial Affairs presents the

Annual Thomas E. Allen, MD Ethics Lecture

ABORTION: ETHICAL AND LEGAL RAMIFICATIONS OF

MARYLAND BEING A SANCTUARY STATE

Wednesday, September 20, 2023

6:00 to 8:30 p.m.

Virtual Event - Zoom Webinar 

This CME Event will cover the following points:

Ethical principles underpinning the provision of safe abortion care.

Ethical dilemmas faced by practitioners caring for patients traveling from other states or jurisdictions to receive abortion care.

Legal ramifications in other states when providing reproductive services to out of state residents.

The background in the erosion of access to legal abortion services in states with restrictions.

The potential liability associated with other state’s laws to providers practicing and caring for patients in Maryland.

Ethical tenets violated by restrictions on safe, legal abortion will be reviewed.

State laws that impact the provision of abortion and other reproductive health care services.

Understanding legal and professional implications of providing reproductive health care services in states that prohibit and protect access to abortion services.

To register, please click here.

Questions? Please click here.

Accreditation: “This activity has been planned and implemented in accordance with the Essential Areas and policies of the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME) through the joint providership of MedChi, The Maryland State Medical Society and The Center for a Healthy Maryland. MedChi is accredited by the ACCME to provide continuing medical education for physicians. 

Designation: MedChi designates this live online educational activity for a maximum of 2 AMAPRA Category 1 Credits^TM. Physicians should claim only the credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in the activity.”