Antebellum Medicine in Central Massachusetts – An Online Collection

Posted by NNLM Region 7 on August 30th, 2016 Posted in: Announcements

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New collection of early 19th century medical writings (the papers of the Union Medical Association and of Dr. Samuel B. Woodward) are now being hosted on the LSL Office of Medical History and Archives pages.

The Lamar Soutter Library, in conjunction with the Worcester District Medical Society and the Worcester Recovery Center and Hospital and through funding from the New England Region of the National Network of Libraries of Medicine has launched two online collections of historical medical writings specific to central Massachusetts.  The first collection is comprised of papers from the Union Medical Association, a group of physicians active in southern Worcester County between 1834 and 1858.  The second collection is a portion of the unpublished papers of Dr. Samuel B. Woodward, first superintendent of the State Lunatic Asylum in Worcester which opened in 1833.  The State Lunatic Asylum is of note in that it was the first publicly-funded mental health facility in the United States and is the direct ancestor of the Worcester Recovery Center and Hospital.   Browse the collections to discover items such as personal letters from Napoleon Bonaparte’s physician, correspondence from Dr. Benjamin Rush, Philadelphia physician and signer of the Declaration of Independence or an essay by Dr. Woodward from 1838 on the “Management of Children.”