Policing the social boundaries of the American medical association, 1847-70

Journal of the History of Medicine and Allied Sciences

Volumn 60, Issue 2, 2005, Pages 170-195

  Haynes, Douglas M ^a  

^a NONE

Author keywords

American Medical Association; Male privilege; Patriarchy; Professional identity; Reconstruction; Reform; Slavery; The Confederacy; White privilege

Indexed keywords

ARTICLE; FEMALE; HISTORY; HUMAN; MALE; MEDICAL SOCIETY; SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY; UNITED STATES; WAR;

AMERICAN CIVIL WAR; AMERICAN MEDICAL ASSOCIATION; FEMALE; HISTORY, 19TH CENTURY; HUMANS; MALE; PREJUDICE; UNITED STATES;

EID: 17144408439     PISSN: 00225045     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1093/jhmas/jri022     Document Type: Article

References (102)

1. See especially William Cobb Montague, The First Negro Medical Society: A History of the Medico-Chirurgical Society of the District of Columbia, 1884-1939 (Washington, D.C.: Associated Publishers, 1939).
2. Morris Fishbein, A History of the American Medical Association, 1847 to 1947 (Philadelphia: W. B. Saunders, 1947), p. 84. Fishbein defended the segregationist policies of constituent, affiliated state medical associations. See Thomas Ward, Black Physicians in the Jim Crow South (Fayetteville: University of Arkansas Press, 2003), PP. 203-4.
3. Morris Fishbein, A History of the American Medical Association, 1847 to 1947 (Philadelphia: W. B. Saunders, 1947), p. 84. Fishbein defended the segregationist policies of constituent, affiliated state medical associations. See Thomas Ward, Black Physicians in the Jim Crow South (Fayetteville: University of Arkansas Press, 2003), PP. 203-4.
4. James Burrow, AMA: Voice of American Medicine (Baltimore, Md.: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1963), p. 20.
5. Montague, The First Negro Medical Society.
6. See Peter Novick, That Noble Dream: The "Objectivity Question" and the American Historical Profession (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1988), pp. 61-85; Regina Morantz-Sanchez, Sympathy and Science: Women Physicians in American Medicine (1985; Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2000), pp. 232-34 and 266-311; Gloria Moldow, Women Doctors in Gilded-Age Washington: Race, Gender, and Professionalization (Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1987); Darlene Clark Hine, Black Women in White: Racial Conflict and Cooperation in the Nursing Professor, 1890-1950 (Bloomington: University of Indiana Press, 1989); Vanessa N. Gamble, Making a Place: The Black Hospital Movement, 1920-1945 (New York: Oxford University Press, 1995); Ellen More, Restoring the Balance: Women Physicians and the Profession of Medicine, 1850-1995 (Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 2001), pp. 110-11, 169; and Ward, Black Physicians in the Jim Crow South, pp. 191-238.
7. See Peter Novick, That Noble Dream: The "Objectivity Question" and the American Historical Profession (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1988), pp. 61-85; Regina Morantz-Sanchez, Sympathy and Science: Women Physicians in American Medicine (1985; Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2000), pp. 232-34 and 266-311; Gloria Moldow, Women Doctors in Gilded-Age Washington: Race, Gender, and Professionalization (Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1987); Darlene Clark Hine, Black Women in White: Racial Conflict and Cooperation in the Nursing Professor, 1890-1950 (Bloomington: University of Indiana Press, 1989); Vanessa N. Gamble, Making a Place: The Black Hospital Movement, 1920-1945 (New York: Oxford University Press, 1995); Ellen More, Restoring the Balance: Women Physicians and the Profession of Medicine, 1850-1995 (Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 2001), pp. 110-11, 169; and Ward, Black Physicians in the Jim Crow South, pp. 191-238.
8. See Peter Novick, That Noble Dream: The "Objectivity Question" and the American Historical Profession (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1988), pp. 61-85; Regina Morantz-Sanchez, Sympathy and Science: Women Physicians in American Medicine (1985; Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2000), pp. 232-34 and 266-311; Gloria Moldow, Women Doctors in Gilded-Age Washington: Race, Gender, and Professionalization (Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1987); Darlene Clark Hine, Black Women in White: Racial Conflict and Cooperation in the Nursing Professor, 1890-1950 (Bloomington: University of Indiana Press, 1989); Vanessa N. Gamble, Making a Place: The Black Hospital Movement, 1920-1945 (New York: Oxford University Press, 1995); Ellen More, Restoring the Balance: Women Physicians and the Profession of Medicine, 1850-1995 (Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 2001), pp. 110-11, 169; and Ward, Black Physicians in the Jim Crow South, pp. 191-238.
9. See Peter Novick, That Noble Dream: The "Objectivity Question" and the American Historical Profession (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1988), pp. 61-85; Regina Morantz-Sanchez, Sympathy and Science: Women Physicians in American Medicine (1985; Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2000), pp. 232-34 and 266-311; Gloria Moldow, Women Doctors in Gilded-Age Washington: Race, Gender, and Professionalization (Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1987); Darlene Clark Hine, Black Women in White: Racial Conflict and Cooperation in the Nursing Professor, 1890-1950 (Bloomington: University of Indiana Press, 1989); Vanessa N. Gamble, Making a Place: The Black Hospital Movement, 1920-1945 (New York: Oxford University Press, 1995); Ellen More, Restoring the Balance: Women Physicians and the Profession of Medicine, 1850-1995 (Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 2001), pp. 110-11, 169; and Ward, Black Physicians in the Jim Crow South, pp. 191-238.
10. See Peter Novick, That Noble Dream: The "Objectivity Question" and the American Historical Profession (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1988), pp. 61-85; Regina Morantz-Sanchez, Sympathy and Science: Women Physicians in American Medicine (1985; Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2000), pp. 232-34 and 266-311; Gloria Moldow, Women Doctors in Gilded-Age Washington: Race, Gender, and Professionalization (Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1987); Darlene Clark Hine, Black Women in White: Racial Conflict and Cooperation in the Nursing Professor, 1890-1950 (Bloomington: University of Indiana Press, 1989); Vanessa N. Gamble, Making a Place: The Black Hospital Movement, 1920-1945 (New York: Oxford University Press, 1995); Ellen More, Restoring the Balance: Women Physicians and the Profession of Medicine, 1850-1995 (Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 2001), pp. 110-11, 169; and Ward, Black Physicians in the Jim Crow South, pp. 191-238.
11. See Peter Novick, That Noble Dream: The "Objectivity Question" and the American Historical Profession (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1988), pp. 61-85; Regina Morantz-Sanchez, Sympathy and Science: Women Physicians in American Medicine (1985; Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2000), pp. 232-34 and 266-311; Gloria Moldow, Women Doctors in Gilded-Age Washington: Race, Gender, and Professionalization (Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1987); Darlene Clark Hine, Black Women in White: Racial Conflict and Cooperation in the Nursing Professor, 1890-1950 (Bloomington: University of Indiana Press, 1989); Vanessa N. Gamble, Making a Place: The Black Hospital Movement, 1920-1945 (New York: Oxford University Press, 1995); Ellen More, Restoring the Balance: Women Physicians and the Profession of Medicine, 1850-1995 (Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 2001), pp. 110-11, 169; and Ward, Black Physicians in the Jim Crow South, pp. 191-238.
12. See Peter Novick, That Noble Dream: The "Objectivity Question" and the American Historical Profession (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1988), pp. 61-85; Regina Morantz-Sanchez, Sympathy and Science: Women Physicians in American Medicine (1985; Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2000), pp. 232-34 and 266-311; Gloria Moldow, Women Doctors in Gilded-Age Washington: Race, Gender, and Professionalization (Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1987); Darlene Clark Hine, Black Women in White: Racial Conflict and Cooperation in the Nursing Professor, 1890-1950 (Bloomington: University of Indiana Press, 1989); Vanessa N. Gamble, Making a Place: The Black Hospital Movement, 1920-1945 (New York: Oxford University Press, 1995); Ellen More, Restoring the Balance: Women Physicians and the Profession of Medicine, 1850-1995 (Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 2001), pp. 110-11, 169; and Ward, Black Physicians in the Jim Crow South, pp. 191-238.
13. See especially Moldow, Women Doctors in Gilded-Age Washington.
14. On antebellum medicine, see Todd Savitt, Medicine and Slavery: The Diseases and Care of Blacks in Antebellum Virginia (Chicago: University of Illinois Press, 1978). For a more recent study that richly examines the intersection of race and gender in plantation medicine, see Shark Fett, Working Cures: Healing, Health, and Power on Southern Plantations (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2002).
15. On antebellum medicine, see Todd Savitt, Medicine and Slavery: The Diseases and Care of Blacks in Antebellum Virginia (Chicago: University of Illinois Press, 1978). For a more recent study that richly examines the intersection of race and gender in plantation medicine, see Shark Fett, Working Cures: Healing, Health, and Power on Southern Plantations (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2002).
16. Julie Roy Jeffrey, The Great Silent Army of Abolition: Ordinary Women in the Antislavery Movement (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1998), pp. 134-70, 139-41.
17. Orthodox and heretic was another binary designation used in the struggle for legitimacy. See James Whorton, Nature Cures: The History of Alternative Medicine in the United States (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2002), pp. 3-101.
18. Illinois abolished its licensure laws in 1826; Alabama and Ohio followed in 1832 and 1833, respectively; Mississippi in 1836; Maryland, Massachusetts, South Carolina, and Vermont two years later; Georgia in 1839; New York in 1844; and Michigan in 1851. See William Rothstein, American Physicians in the Nineteenth Century: From Sects to Science (Baltimore, Md.: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1972), pp. 333-39.
19. Ibid., p. 98.
20. "Report of a Committee on the Subject of Medical Legislation, to the Monroe County Medical Society, Rochester, November 9, 1842," cited in Trans. Med. Soc. State NY, 1844 (Appendix), 337-53, 338.
21. Ibid., 41.
22. They included the Georgia Medical Association (1835), Medical Association of the District of Columbia (1838), New Hampshire Medical Association (1839), and the Ohio State Medical Society (1846). These state organizations added to the number of established associations in Delaware (1789), Connecticut (1792), New York (1806), New Jersey (1766), and Massachusetts (1781). See Joseph Kett, The Formation of the American Medical Profession (Westport, Ct.: Greenwood Press, 1980), pp. 165-80.
23. For a useful overview of the institutional history of antebellum medicine, see James H. Cassedy, Medicine in American: A Short History (Baltimore, Md.: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1991), and William Rothstein, American Medical Schools and the Practice of Medicine: A History (New York: Oxford University Press, 1987).
24. For a useful overview of the institutional history of antebellum medicine, see James H. Cassedy, Medicine in American: A Short History (Baltimore, Md.: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1991), and William Rothstein, American Medical Schools and the Practice of Medicine: A History (New York: Oxford University Press, 1987).
25. Kett, The Formation of the American Medical Profession, pp. 165-80.
26. Byron Stookey discusses early calls for medical conventions in "Origins of the First National Medical Convention, 1826-1846," J. Am. Med. Assoc., 1961, 177, 133-40. For contemporary calls, see John H. Kain, "Oration," Transylvania J. Med., 1831, 4:3, 456; "History of the Origin of the American Medical Association," Am. Med. Times, 27 August 1864, 9, 104; "Proceedings of the Ohio Convention of Medicine," J. West. Med. Surg., 1838, 2, 17. The formation of the British Medical Association also provided an example of professional reform through voluntary association. See "History of the Origin of the American Medical Association."
27. Byron Stookey discusses early calls for medical conventions in "Origins of the First National Medical Convention, 1826-1846," J. Am. Med. Assoc., 1961, 177, 133-40. For contemporary calls, see John H. Kain, "Oration," Transylvania J. Med., 1831, 4:3, 456; "History of the Origin of the American Medical Association," Am. Med. Times, 27 August 1864, 9, 104; "Proceedings of the Ohio Convention of Medicine," J. West. Med. Surg., 1838, 2, 17. The formation of the British Medical Association also provided an example of professional reform through voluntary association. See "History of the Origin of the American Medical Association."
28. Byron Stookey discusses early calls for medical conventions in "Origins of the First National Medical Convention, 1826-1846," J. Am. Med. Assoc., 1961, 177, 133-40. For contemporary calls, see John H. Kain, "Oration," Transylvania J. Med., 1831, 4:3, 456; "History of the Origin of the American Medical Association," Am. Med. Times, 27 August 1864, 9, 104; "Proceedings of the Ohio Convention of Medicine," J. West. Med. Surg., 1838, 2, 17. The formation of the British Medical Association also provided an example of professional reform through voluntary association. See "History of the Origin of the American Medical Association."
29. Byron Stookey discusses early calls for medical conventions in "Origins of the First National Medical Convention, 1826-1846," J. Am. Med. Assoc., 1961, 177, 133-40. For contemporary calls, see John H. Kain, "Oration," Transylvania J. Med., 1831, 4:3, 456; "History of the Origin of the American Medical Association," Am. Med. Times, 27 August 1864, 9, 104; "Proceedings of the Ohio Convention of Medicine," J. West. Med. Surg., 1838, 2, 17. The formation of the British Medical Association also provided an example of professional reform through voluntary association. See "History of the Origin of the American Medical Association."
30. Byron Stookey discusses early calls for medical conventions in "Origins of the First National Medical Convention, 1826-1846," J. Am. Med. Assoc., 1961, 177, 133-40. For contemporary calls, see John H. Kain, "Oration," Transylvania J. Med., 1831, 4:3, 456; "History of the Origin of the American Medical Association," Am. Med. Times, 27 August 1864, 9, 104; "Proceedings of the Ohio Convention of Medicine," J. West. Med. Surg., 1838, 2, 17. The formation of the British Medical Association also provided an example of professional reform through voluntary association. See "History of the Origin of the American Medical Association."
31. "American Intelligence and Editorial: National Medical Convention," N.Y.J. Med. Collat. Sci., 1845, 5, 417-19.
32. Nathan Smith Davis, History of the American Medical Association (Philadelphia: Lippincott, Grambo, 1855), pp. 33-35.
33. "Proceeding of the National Medical Convention," Med. Ex., 1847, 3, 366.
34. Rothstein, American Physicians in the Nineteenth Century, p. 93.
35. Daniel Kilbride, "Southern Medical Students in Philadelphia, 1800-1861: Science and Sociability in the 'Republic of Medicine,' " J. South, Hist., 1999, 55, 699-732, 701-5.
36. These were Delaware, Maryland, Tennessee, Virginia, Mississippi, and Georgia. See Davis, History of the American Medical Association, p. 33.
37. Ibid., p. 32.
38. Ibid., pp. 36-37.
39. Ibid., p. 41.
40. Ibid., pp. 45-49.
41. Ibid., p. 49.
42. "Minutes of the First Annual Meeting of the American Medical Association," Trans. Am. Med. Assoc., 1848, 1, 9.
43. State Residency of Association Presidents 1847-60 table presented Compiled from Fishbein A History of the American Medical Association, Appendix I.
44. Session Locations by Region 1847-60 table Presented Compiled from Fishbein. A History of the American Medical Association, Appendix I.
45. Attendance at national meetings compiled from Trans. Am. Med. Assoc. (1848-64), vols. 1-15.
46. See "Minutes of the Eighth Annual Meeting of the American Medical Association," Trans. Am. Med. Assoc., 1855, 8, 34.
47. Until 1874, participation in the AMA was based on a combination of individual membership and delegates from four categories of medical organizations that subscribed to the Code of Ethics. Members included delegates and past delegates as well as members by invitation. Medical organizations, such as county, district, and state medical societies, faculties of medical schools, professional staffs of municipal and chartered hospitals, and others so recognized by the association, were entitled to a fixed number of delegates based on a formula. After 1874, representation was based largely on local medical societies that were recognized by their respective state medical associations. See Burrow, AMA: The Voice of American Medicine, pp. 15-16.
48. George Frederickson, The Black Image in the White Mind; The Debate on Afro-American Character and Destiny, 1817-1914 (New York: Harper and Row, 1971), pp. 71-96.
49. "Report on the Medical Sciences," Trans. Am. Med. Assoc., 1850, 3, 56.
50. "Report on the Epidemics of Louisiana, Mississippi, Arkansas, and Texas," Trans. Am. Med, Assoc., 1854, 470-71.
51. "Report on the Epidemic Diseases of Kentucky," Trans. Am. Med. Assoc., 1858, 96-97.
52. For example, see "Address of Vice President Usher Parsons," Trans. Am. Med. Assoc., 1854, 47; "Address of Dr. C. K. Winston," Trans. Am. Med. Assoc., 1857, 10.
53. For example, see "Address of Vice President Usher Parsons," Trans. Am. Med. Assoc., 1854, 47; "Address of Dr. C. K. Winston," Trans. Am. Med. Assoc., 1857, 10.
54. "Code of Ethics, Article II," Trans. Am. Med. Assoc., 1857, 612.
55. See Morantz-Sanchez, Sympathy and Science, pp. 28-46.
56. "Code of Ethics, Article II," Trans. Am. Med. Assoc., 1857, 610.
57. On the history of abortion, see James Mohr, Abortion in America: The Origins and Evolution of National Policy, 1800-1900 (New York: Oxford University Press, 1978); Janet Farrell Brodie, Abortion and Contraception in the Nineteenth Century (Ithaca, N.Y.: Cornell University Press, 1994).
58. On the history of abortion, see James Mohr, Abortion in America: The Origins and Evolution of National Policy, 1800-1900 (New York: Oxford University Press, 1978); Janet Farrell Brodie, Abortion and Contraception in the Nineteenth Century (Ithaca, N.Y.: Cornell University Press, 1994).
59. Mohr, Abortion in America, pp. 3-45.
60. On the range and scale of reproductive control in the nineteenth century, see Brodie, Contraception and Abortion in Nineteenth Century America, esp. pp. 57-86 and 87-135.
61. Mohr, Abortion in America, pp. 46-85, 86-117, and 147-70; Brodie, Contraception and Abortion in Nineteenth Century America, pp. 270-72.
62. Mohr, Abortion in America, pp. 46-85, 86-117, and 147-70; Brodie, Contraception and Abortion in Nineteenth Century America, pp. 270-72.
63. "Proceedings of the Twelfth Annual Meeting," Trans. Am. Med, Assoc., 1859, 27-28 and 75-78.
64. Ibid., p. 76.
65. Ibid., pp. 27-28.
66. "Address of George B. Wood," Trans. Am. Med. Assoc., 1856, 62-63.
67. "Minutes of the Tenth Annual Meeting of the American Medical Association," Trans. Am. Med. Assoc., 1857, 10.
68. "Editorial: American Medical Association," Chicago Med. Exam., 1861, 2:1, 60.
69. I b i d.
70. "Editorial," Chicago Med. Exam., 1861, 2:4, 237.
71. "Proceedings of Societies: The American Medical Association," Chicago Med. Exam., 1863, 4, 248.
72. "Minutes of the American Medical Association for 1863," Trans. Am. Med. Assoc., 1864, 15, 51.
73. On the history of Maryland and Baltimore in the age of slavery, see Barbara Fields, "The Maryland Way from Slavery to Freedom" (Ph.D. diss., Yale University, 1978).
74. "Proceedings of Societies: The American Medical Association," Chicago Med. Exam., 1863, 4, 258.
75. On Alden's address, see Fishbein, A History of the American Medical Association, p. 602.
76. "Minutes of the Meeting of the American Medical Association," Trans. Am. Med. Assoc., 1864, 15, 40. On the Trading with the Enemy Act of 1861, see James Breeden, "Medical Shortages and Confederate Medicine: A Retrospective Evaluation," South. Med. J., 1993, 86:9, 1040-47.
77. "Minutes of the Meeting of the American Medical Association," Trans. Am. Med. Assoc., 1864, 15, 40. On the Trading with the Enemy Act of 1861, see James Breeden, "Medical Shortages and Confederate Medicine: A Retrospective Evaluation," South. Med. J., 1993, 86:9, 1040-47.
78. "Editorial: The American Medical Association Meeting," Chicago Med. Exam., 1865, 6:6, 379.
79. "Proceedings of Societies: The American Medical Association Meeting," Chicago Med. Exam., 1867, 8:6, 345-46.
80. Ibid., p. 345. This was not the first time Washington, D.C., was proposed as a regular meeting venue. Charles Pope in his presidential address in 1855 proposed biannual meetings in the nation's capital to institutionalize the association, that is, establishing a library and permanent specimens collection. See "Address of Charles A. Pope," Trans. Am. Med. Assoc., 1855, 8, 78.
81. Ibid., p. 345. This was not the first time Washington, D.C., was proposed as a regular meeting venue. Charles Pope in his presidential address in 1855 proposed biannual meetings in the nation's capital to institutionalize the association, that is, establishing a library and permanent specimens collection. See "Address of Charles A. Pope," Trans. Am. Med. Assoc., 1855, 8, 78.
82. "Proceedings of Societies: The American Medical Association Meeting," p. 345.
83. Morantz-Sanchez, Sympathy and Science, pp. 47-63 and 64-89.
84. I b i d.
85. Steven J. Peitzman, A New and Untried Course: Woman's Medical College and Medical College of Philadelphia, 1850-1998 (New Brunswick, N.J.: Rutgers University Press, 2000), p. 32. See also Martin Kaufman, "The Admission of Women to Nineteenth-Century American Medical Societies," Bull. Hist. Med., 1976, 50, 251-60.
86. Steven J. Peitzman, A New and Untried Course: Woman's Medical College and Medical College of Philadelphia, 1850-1998 (New Brunswick, N.J.: Rutgers University Press, 2000), p. 32. See also Martin Kaufman, "The Admission of Women to Nineteenth-Century American Medical Societies," Bull. Hist. Med., 1976, 50, 251-60.
87. Peitzman, A New and Untried Course, p. 32.
88. Gulielma Fell Alsop, History of the Woman's Medical College, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 1850-1950 (Philadelphia: Lippincott, 1950), pp. 65-66.
89. On Henry I. Bowditch, see Martin Kaufman, "The Admission of Women to Nineteenth Century American Medical Societies."
90. "Report of the Committee on Medical Ethics," Trans. Am. Med. Assoc., 1868, 19, 87.
91. Ibid. Kennedy subsequently endorsed Bowditch's report.
92. Ibid., p. 91.
93. Ibid., p. 89.
94. I b i d.
95. "Annual Meeting of the American Medical Association," Chicago Med. Exam., 1868, 9, 359.
96. Ibid. Davis's rationale for not challenging sexism or racism in state medical associations affiliated with the AMA would provide the historical framework for sanctioning segregation in medicine. See Ward, Black Physicians in the Jim Crow South, pp. 203-4.
97. Ibid. Davis's rationale for not challenging sexism or racism in state medical associations affiliated with the AMA would provide the historical framework for sanctioning segregation in medicine. See Ward, Black Physicians in the Jim Crow South, pp. 203-4.
98. Ibid., p. 366.
99. Ibid., p. 367. On the reunion movement, see David Blight, Race and Reunion: The Civil War in American Memory (Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 2001).
100. Ibid., p. 367. On the reunion movement, see David Blight, Race and Reunion: The Civil War in American Memory (Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 2001).
101. I b i d.
102. Fishbein, A History of the American Medical Association, p. 660.