112 Years Young!

In the 1890's, the Faculty, as it was then known, bought a building on Hamilton Terrace, a small block off of Eutaw Street. After bouncing from place to place for the past 100 years, the Faculty finally thought they had their forever home. 

But they didn't count on the combined forces of Marcia Noyes and Dr. William Osler. Marcia was a former librarian at Baltimore's Enoch Pratt Free Library, and Dr. Osler was a bibliophile of the highest order. Together, they built one of the leading medical libraries of its time. 

When the Faculty moved into Hamilton Terrace, the books had been randomly boxed up for the move, so they were completely disordered when they were unboxed. Marcia quickly put them into order, and Osler began acquiring additional and up-to-date medical volumes. 

Within a year or so, they realized that they were running out of room for a permanent library at Hamilton Terrace, and began searching for a property to build their permanent permanent home!

In 1905, Osler left Baltimore for the position of Regius Professor of Medicine at Oxford, but he continued to advocate for a new building. Finally, a property was located just a few blocks away, the architects Ellicott & Emmart were engaged and in 1908, construction began. 

Architecturally, the building is very similar to the Medical Society of the County of Kings' building in New York. Marcia, in her role as a founder of the Medical Library Association, had traveled around the country visiting other medical societies, hospitals and universities, and had the opportunity to see what worked in a building with a library, and what didn't.

When the building was constructed, the stacks were added to the original plans. Four floors on interconnected cast iron formed the skeleton of that section of the building. 

The dedication of the building was coordinated with Dr. Osler's scheduled visit to the US and indeed, to Baltimore. Although he was living in Oxford, he continued to fundraise for the building, and after it was finished, he helped erase the debt, both by fundraising and donating. The great and the good assembled to help with the dedication, and Dr. Osler made one of his seminal speeches, "The Old and New." 

From Dr. Harvey Cushing's Pulitzer Prize-winning book, "The Life of Sir William Osler" comes this first-hand account of the event:

With COVID-19 protocols still in place, we haven't really used the building for the past 14+ months. No committee meetings, no lectures, no busy staff getting things done, no tours, nothing. Six of us rattle around here, along with Marcia, the resident ghost. Things will change again, and we'll still have our building.

Happy 280th Birthday to John Archer

I am working on a huge project writing the biographies of all 101 of our founders, and as I was beginning to write the one for John Archer, I realized that today's the 280th anniversary of his birth. Dr. Archer is notable in that he was the first person in the United States to receive a medical diploma. 

John Archer was born in Churchville on May 5, 1741, and was the only one of five siblings who survived childhood. He was educated at Nottingham Academy and Princeton College. After graduation, he briefly considered opening a grammar school in Baltimore, but instead attended Princeton’s School of Theology, after which he became a Presbyterian minister. Although he mastered the prayers and the order of service, he did not find theology satisfying, and his first sermon was a serious bomb, so he began medical school.

Archer, one in a class of ten students, studied medicine with Professor John Morgan at the College of Medicine in Philadelphia, which later became the University of Pennsylvania. Archer graduated in 1768, the first person in the New World to receive a medical degree. There was some contention as to who would be the first, but by virtue of his last name, Archer was it. 

There was a dispute as to whether Archer actually received a medical degree, as there was really no such thing at the time. During the first years of the College of Medicine, there were two degrees awarded. First was a MB or Medical Bachelor, and three years later an MD was awarded. However, Archer never applied for the second degree, and officially, only a very few actually received the MD degree. The rule was discontinued in 1792.   

In those days, physicians still relied on what we now call “folk medicine.” Among Archer’s papers are notations prescribing juice of several millipedes, and other physicians at that time were suggesting a goat’s blood julep, powdered bees and viper’s flesh, all washed down with frog-spawn water. I guess that proved that what didn’t kill you, would cure you.

In 1769, Archer returned to Harford County to begin his medical practice, which continued for 40 years, with only two interruptions: The American Revolution and his service in the US Congress.

When the Revolutionary War broke out, Archer was already a seasoned physician, and he and former classmates created the “Medical Corps of the American Revolution.” He attained the rank of Major and was commended by General Washington upon leaving military service.

Between 1779 and 1800, he trained more than 50 students at “Medical Hall”, a substantial stone building on 450 acres which Archer had built.   There were between six and twelve students at a time, and while it was not a formal medical school, students were trained through a preceptorship. 

Medically, a preceptor is a practicing physician who gives personal instruction, training, and supervision to a medical student or young physician. This was the way most medical students learned their craft until the mid-1800’s when medical schools became more common.  

A story has it, that when a stranger asked Mrs. Archer if the doctor lived at Medical Hall, she responded, “He has his laundry done here.” So it is rather incredible that over the years, Archer and his wife had nine or ten children, six of whom, all boys, survived. Of the six, five chose to enter the field of medicine, the other became a lawyer.

In addition to Dr. Archer’s lectures, friends from his Philadelphia days coming through the area, stopped to lecture the students. These included notables including Dr. John Morgan, who was Dr. Archer’s mentor; Dr. Benjamin Rush, who was a classmate at Princeton; and Benjamin Franklin who talked about his recollections of the French medical system.

In 1808, Archer had a stroke, and was also suffering from rheumatism. In preparation for his death, he granted freedom to his slaves and left a prophecy that abolition of slavery would be coming, despite his understanding that the economy of the South was dependent on it.

Archer had a second stroke in 1810, which lead to his death a few weeks later. At 69 years old, he’d lived a long and full life, and left a lasting legacy.

Happy 275th Birthday to John Crawford!

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. Dr. Crawford died at his residence corner of Hanover and German (now Redwood) Streets on the morning of the ninth of May 1813. Of the nature of his illness we are not informed, but it was brief and violent in character.  

Source: Medical Annals of Maryland (1899)

433rd House of Delegates Meeting

 Please join MedChi for the 

433rd House of Delegates Meeting

Sunday, April 25th

9:00 p.m. 

Via ZOOM

2021 Hunt History of Maryland Medicine Lecture

Please join the History of Maryland Medicine Committee for the Thomas E. Hunt, Jr., M.D. History of Medicine in Maryland Lecture  

"The 1918 Flu Pandemic and Lessons Learned"
Tuesday, May 18, 2021 at 6:30 p.m. via Zoom.

Philip Mackowiak, MD will present a lecture on the 1918 Spanish Flu Pandemic and the lessons learned from it. He will discuss the origin of the pandemic, its peculiar time-line and clinical characteristics, and the critical elements that gave rise to what became a “perfect storm” of misery and death.

Dr. Mackowiak is the Emeritus Professor of Medicine and the Carolyn Frenkil and Selvin Passen History of Medicine Scholar-in-Residence at the University of Maryland School of Medicine, and a Senior Lecturer in the Department of History at the University of Maryland, College Park.

For more than two decades, Dr. Mackowiak has hosted an acclaimed series of Historical Clinicopathological Conferences in Baltimore, as well as written two books, one titled Post Mortem. Solving History’s Great Medical Mysteries, and the other, Diagnosing Giants. Solving the Medical Mysteries of Thirteen Patients Who Changed the World. These works have established Dr. Mackowiak as one of today’s foremost medical historians.

The Hunt History of Maryland Medicine Lecture is named for the late Baltimore orthopedic surgeon Dr. Thomas E. Hunt, Jr., who had been an active member of MedChi and the Baltimore City Medical Society for many years. Dr. Hunt’s interest in the history of medicine in Baltimore and Maryland  led to the establishment of this annual lecture series in his honor.

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For a transcript of the most recent Hunt Lecture, please click here.

You will be taken to a Google document with the transcript and images from the lecture. 

 

Colonial Hospital

I was looking at a Baltimore History Facebook group recently, and someone mentioned they’d found a photograph of a group of people in front of a place called Colonial Hospital in Baltimore. It was dated May 24, 1924 and mentioned the “pioneer class.”

I’d never come across Colonial Hospital in my searches, so was intrigued, especially as some of the founders were members of the Faculty. Drs. Emil Novak and Dr. J.M.H. Rowland were two of the leaders in this effort.

The hospital would be located at 1100 N. Mount Street, the site of the former homeopathic hospital, and the Morrow Hospital, a government hospital for the treatment of ex-servicemen.

The current hospital buildings would be converted to serve 100 beds and was planned to open June 1, 1923. Dr. Rowland said that there was a shortage of hospitals in the area, and Colonial Hospital would “aid materially in reducing congestion in local hospitals.” He also mentioned that there were waiting lists at all of the local hospitals.

An article in the Baltimore Sun mentioned that all of the hospital beds at Colonial Hospital would be moderately priced, or even free and that it would be a general hospital, and specialists would act as advisors. 

Founder Dr. H.G. Rytina (or A.G. Rytina, depending on the source) said that many hospitals only wanted to serve their small group of specialist physicians, while patients wanted to have their family physician care for them, even when they were in the hospital. They were having difficulty in getting their patients into hospitals unless they “turned them over” to a member of the hospital staff.

He argues that most general practitioners don't want to go beyond their depth. They don't want to do major surgery or handle complicated maternity cases. But there was no desire on the hospitals' part to open to all physicians with no regulation. Hospitals at that time, were either "closed" or "open" to outside physicians. 

Dr. Rytina argued that it was often the young and progressive physicians who were losing out because they were not being given the benefits of hospital practice, particularly for their own patients. Visiting physicians were usually caring for the hospitals' charity patients.

The hospital's name came from one of the larger buildings, which was in an imposing Colonial style of architecture. It was one of the three buildings on the campus.

In May of 1928, Dr. Rytina announced that he would be closing the hospital because “he was going out of the hospital business and intended to take up private practice.” He added that his decision was influenced by a tentative trip to Europe that he’d been planning.

The three hospital buildings would be closed and they and their equipment would be sold. Admissions had been stopped and those who were still at the hospital would be transferred to other local hospitals.

Friedenwald's Medicinal Liquor Establishment: The Ladies' Wine & Liquor Store

There is just so much to unpack with this advertisement from the Baltimore Sun, circa 1904. 

The Friedenwald family arrived in Baltimore in the 1860's and many of them were physicians. At one point, there were five brothers/cousins who were physicians. They were all very involved with MedChi, including Aaron, Edgar and Harry, whose portraits we own, and again Harry, who was President. 

There were also pharmacists in the family, and they owned a pharmacy on Park Avenue in Bolton Hill. Some members of the family lived on Eutaw Place, just a few blocks away.

Back to the liquor ad! It is interesting that there's a liquor store just for the ladies. In some of their other ads, they mention that they have "lady clerks" at their stores to help their "lady patrons."  And their gin is for all of your female complaints! It is also funny that their out of town packages are packed in plain cases. I guess that is the brown paper paper packages, tied up with string.

I also stumbled across a half-page ad from the Baltimore Sun, just before Christmas of 1909. 

There is a whole lot going on in this ad, which is really about 20+ ads in one! Here are some of the details from this, and another ad:

They used the word "jayaitcheff" in a number of their ads, and if you sound it out, it's J H F for J.H. Friedenwald.

This is quite the contraption, and I wonder if they ever received the patent for it.

Friedenwald's seems to be a full service store, with their own rye whiskey and their own cough drops.

And if you want to have a really fun picnic, then just fill your basket with booze. And these are quart bottles, not miniatures.

It's such fun to look at the old advertisements and see what was on offer, and how little it cost! When I went to check the address, there was still a liquor store in the location,

although it looks quite a bit more down-market than Friedenwald's.

P.S. This isn't an April Fool's joke. The store actually existed.