John Maynard Woodworth
Encyclopedia
John Maynard Woodworth was an American physician and member of the Woodworth political family
. He served as the first Supervising-Surgeon General under U.S. president Ulysses S. Grant, then changed to Surgeon General of the United States Marine Hospital Service
from 1871 to 1879.
, Chemung County
, New York
. His family soon moved to Illinois
, where Woodworth attended school in Warrenville
. He studied pharmacy
at the University of Chicago
and worked as a pharmacist
for a time.
Woodworth was one of the organizers of the Chicago Academy of Science and in 1858 became curator of its museum. In this capacity, he made several trips west of the Mississippi River
to collect natural history specimens. He was appointed naturalist by the University of Chicago
in 1859 and asked to establish a museum of natural history
. Woodworth also spent time working at the Smithsonian Institution
over the next few years. He then decided to embark on medical studies, and graduated from the Chicago Medical College in 1862.
. He was soon promoted to Surgeon
and eventually became Medical Director of the Army of the Tennessee
. Woodworth served under General William Tecumseh Sherman
, and on "Sherman's March to the Sea
" he was in charge of the ambulance train, bringing the sick and wounded to Savannah
without the loss of a single man.
Following the Civil War
, Woodworth spent a year in Europe
, receiving clinical instruction chiefly in the hospitals of Berlin
and Vienna
. In 1866, he became demonstrator in anatomy at the Chicago Medical College. He was also appointed Surgeon of the Soldier's home of Chicago
and Sanitary Inspector of the Chicago Board of Health in that same year.
. The Service had its origins in a 1798 Act of Congress
"for the relief of sick and disabled seamen."
The 1798 law created a fund to be used by the Federal Government of the United States
to provide medical services to merchant seamen
in American ports, which was expanded to include military and others who made their living associated with seagoing. The marine hospital fund was administered by the Treasury Department
and financed through a monthly deduction from the wages of the seamen. Medical care was provided through contracts with existing hospitals and, increasingly as time went on, through the construction of new hospitals for this purpose. The earliest marine hospitals were located along the East Coast of the United States
, with Boston
being the site of the first such facility, but later they were also established along inland waterways, the Great Lakes
, and the Gulf Coast
and Pacific Coast
.
The marine hospitals hardly constituted a system in the Antebellum period. Funds for the hospitals were inadequate, political rather than medical reasons often influenced the choice of sites for hospitals and the selection of physicians, and the Treasury Department had little supervisory authority over the hospitals. During the Civil War, the Union
and Confederate
forces occupied the hospitals for their own use, and in 1864 only 8 of the 27 hospitals listed before the war were operational. In 1869, the United States Secretary of the Treasury
commissioned an extensive study of the marine hospitals, and the resulting critical report led to the passage of reform legislation in the following year.
The 1870 reorganization converted the loose network of locally controlled hospitals into a centrally controlled Marine Hospital Service
, with its headquarters in Washington, D.C.
. The position of Supervising Surgeon (later Surgeon General
) was created to administer the Service. Woodworth began his service in the position on March 29, 1871, and he moved quickly to reform the system. He adopted a military model for his medical staff, instituting examinations for applicants instead of appointing physicians on the recommendation of the local Collector of Customs. Physicians, whom Woodworth placed in uniforms, were no longer appointed to serve in a particular facility, but appointed to the general Service. In this way, Woodworth created a cadre of mobile, career service physicians who could be assigned and moved as needed to the various marine hospitals. The uniformed services component of the Marine Hospital Service was formalized as the Commissioned Corps by legislation enacted in 1889 under Woodworth's successor, John B. Hamilton
.
In 1872, Woodworth initiated the publication of annual reports of the Marine Hospital Service. That same year he also served as one of the founders of the American Public Health Association
.
From the time of his appointment, Woodworth envisioned broader responsibilities for the Marine Hospital Service, well beyond the care of merchant seamen. In 1873, his title was changed to Supervising Surgeon General. He issued publications on cholera
and yellow fever
, and laid the foundations for the passage of the National Quarantine Act of 1878. This Act conferred quarantine
authority on the Marine Hospital Service, initiating a process whereby over the next half a century the Service progressively took over quarantine functions from the states. The Act also authorized the publication of "Weekly Abstracts of Consular Sanitary Reports" (the forerunner of the Service's journal Public Health Reports). The Marine Hospital Service thus moved into public health activities under Woodworth, paving the way for its later evolution into the Public Health Service
.
Woodworth also designed the seal of the Service, which he first used on a publication that he authored in 1874 on Nomenclature of Diseases. The seal consisted of a fouled anchor, to represent the seamen cared for by the Service, and the caduceus
of Mercury. The latter symbol was particularly appropriate since it served as a symbol of commerce (which could represent the merchant marine) but was also used by the Army Medical Corps
as its symbol. With minor changes in design, this device has remained the seal of the Public Health Service to the present day.
John Maynard Woodworth remained in the position of Supervising Surgeon General until his death in Washington, DC, on 14 March 1879.
Woodworth political family
The Woodworth political family is a collection of American and Canadian politicians who descend directly from colonial settler Walter Woodworth. They rose to prominence in the 19th century, serving in several states, in the United States House of Representatives, the Canadian House of Commons, and...
. He served as the first Supervising-Surgeon General under U.S. president Ulysses S. Grant, then changed to Surgeon General of the United States Marine Hospital Service
Surgeon General of the United States
The Surgeon General of the United States is the operational head of the Public Health Service Commissioned Corps and thus the leading spokesperson on matters of public health in the federal government...
from 1871 to 1879.
Early years
Woodworth was born at Big FlatsBig Flats (town), New York
Big Flats is a town in Chemung County, New York, USA, New York. The population was 7,224 at the 2000 census.The Town of Big Flats is on the west border of the county, west of Elmira, New York...
, Chemung County
Chemung County, New York
Chemung County is a county located in the U.S. state of New York. It is part of the 'Elmira, New York Metropolitan Statistical Area' which encompasses all of Chemung County. As of the 2010 census, the population was 88,830. Its name is derived from the name of a Delaware Indian village . Its...
, New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
. His family soon moved to Illinois
Illinois
Illinois is the fifth-most populous state of the United States of America, and is often noted for being a microcosm of the entire country. With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in central and northern Illinois, and natural resources like coal,...
, where Woodworth attended school in Warrenville
Warrenville, Illinois
Warrenville is a city in DuPage County, Illinois, United States. The population was 13,363 at the 2000 census. It is a part of the Chicago metropolitan area and the Illinois Technology and Research Corridor.-History:...
. He studied pharmacy
Pharmacy
Pharmacy is the health profession that links the health sciences with the chemical sciences and it is charged with ensuring the safe and effective use of pharmaceutical drugs...
at the University of Chicago
University of Chicago
The University of Chicago is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois, USA. It was founded by the American Baptist Education Society with a donation from oil magnate and philanthropist John D. Rockefeller and incorporated in 1890...
and worked as a pharmacist
Pharmacist
Pharmacists are allied health professionals who practice in pharmacy, the field of health sciences focusing on safe and effective medication use...
for a time.
Woodworth was one of the organizers of the Chicago Academy of Science and in 1858 became curator of its museum. In this capacity, he made several trips west of the Mississippi River
Mississippi River
The Mississippi River is the largest river system in North America. Flowing entirely in the United States, this river rises in western Minnesota and meanders slowly southwards for to the Mississippi River Delta at the Gulf of Mexico. With its many tributaries, the Mississippi's watershed drains...
to collect natural history specimens. He was appointed naturalist by the University of Chicago
University of Chicago
The University of Chicago is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois, USA. It was founded by the American Baptist Education Society with a donation from oil magnate and philanthropist John D. Rockefeller and incorporated in 1890...
in 1859 and asked to establish a museum of natural history
Natural history
Natural history is the scientific research of plants or animals, leaning more towards observational rather than experimental methods of study, and encompasses more research published in magazines than in academic journals. Grouped among the natural sciences, natural history is the systematic study...
. Woodworth also spent time working at the Smithsonian Institution
Smithsonian Institution
The Smithsonian Institution is an educational and research institute and associated museum complex, administered and funded by the government of the United States and by funds from its endowment, contributions, and profits from its retail operations, concessions, licensing activities, and magazines...
over the next few years. He then decided to embark on medical studies, and graduated from the Chicago Medical College in 1862.
Career
Almost immediately upon graduating from medical school, Woodworth was appointed Assistant Surgeon in the Union ArmyUnion Army
The Union Army was the land force that fought for the Union during the American Civil War. It was also known as the Federal Army, the U.S. Army, the Northern Army and the National Army...
. He was soon promoted to Surgeon
Surgery
Surgery is an ancient medical specialty that uses operative manual and instrumental techniques on a patient to investigate and/or treat a pathological condition such as disease or injury, or to help improve bodily function or appearance.An act of performing surgery may be called a surgical...
and eventually became Medical Director of the Army of the Tennessee
Army of the Tennessee
The Army of the Tennessee was a Union army in the Western Theater of the American Civil War, named for the Tennessee River. It should not be confused with the similarly named Army of Tennessee, a Confederate army named after the State of Tennessee....
. Woodworth served under General William Tecumseh Sherman
William Tecumseh Sherman
William Tecumseh Sherman was an American soldier, businessman, educator and author. He served as a General in the Union Army during the American Civil War , for which he received recognition for his outstanding command of military strategy as well as criticism for the harshness of the "scorched...
, and on "Sherman's March to the Sea
Sherman's March to the Sea
Sherman's March to the Sea is the name commonly given to the Savannah Campaign conducted around Georgia from November 15, 1864 to December 21, 1864 by Maj. Gen. William Tecumseh Sherman of the Union Army in the American Civil War...
" he was in charge of the ambulance train, bringing the sick and wounded to Savannah
Savannah, Georgia
Savannah is the largest city and the county seat of Chatham County, in the U.S. state of Georgia. Established in 1733, the city of Savannah was the colonial capital of the Province of Georgia and later the first state capital of Georgia. Today Savannah is an industrial center and an important...
without the loss of a single man.
Following the Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
, Woodworth spent a year in Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
, receiving clinical instruction chiefly in the hospitals of Berlin
Berlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
and Vienna
Vienna
Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...
. In 1866, he became demonstrator in anatomy at the Chicago Medical College. He was also appointed Surgeon of the Soldier's home of Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
and Sanitary Inspector of the Chicago Board of Health in that same year.
Surgeon General
In 1871, Woodworth was appointed the first Supervising Surgeon of the Marine Hospital ServiceMarine Hospital Service
The Marine-Hospital Service was an organization of Marine Hospitals dedicated to the care of ill and disabled seamen in the U.S. Merchant Marine, U.S. Coast Guard and other federal beneficiaries....
. The Service had its origins in a 1798 Act of Congress
Act of Congress
An Act of Congress is a statute enacted by government with a legislature named "Congress," such as the United States Congress or the Congress of the Philippines....
"for the relief of sick and disabled seamen."
An Act for the relief of sick and disabled seamen
An Act for the relief of sick and disabled seamen was passed by the 5th Congress. It was signed by President John Adams on July 16, 1798. The Act authorized the deduction of twenty cents per month from the wages of seamen, for the sole purpose of funding medical care for sick and disabled...
The 1798 law created a fund to be used by the Federal Government of the United States
Federal government of the United States
The federal government of the United States is the national government of the constitutional republic of fifty states that is the United States of America. The federal government comprises three distinct branches of government: a legislative, an executive and a judiciary. These branches and...
to provide medical services to merchant seamen
Merchant Navy
The Merchant Navy is the maritime register of the United Kingdom, and describes the seagoing commercial interests of UK-registered ships and their crews. Merchant Navy vessels fly the Red Ensign and are regulated by the Maritime and Coastguard Agency...
in American ports, which was expanded to include military and others who made their living associated with seagoing. The marine hospital fund was administered by the Treasury Department
United States Department of the Treasury
The Department of the Treasury is an executive department and the treasury of the United States federal government. It was established by an Act of Congress in 1789 to manage government revenue...
and financed through a monthly deduction from the wages of the seamen. Medical care was provided through contracts with existing hospitals and, increasingly as time went on, through the construction of new hospitals for this purpose. The earliest marine hospitals were located along the East Coast of the United States
East Coast of the United States
The East Coast of the United States, also known as the Eastern Seaboard, refers to the easternmost coastal states in the United States, which touch the Atlantic Ocean and stretch up to Canada. The term includes the U.S...
, with Boston
Boston
Boston is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper had...
being the site of the first such facility, but later they were also established along inland waterways, the Great Lakes
Great Lakes
The Great Lakes are a collection of freshwater lakes located in northeastern North America, on the Canada – United States border. Consisting of Lakes Superior, Michigan, Huron, Erie, and Ontario, they form the largest group of freshwater lakes on Earth by total surface, coming in second by volume...
, and the Gulf Coast
Gulf Coast of the United States
The Gulf Coast of the United States, sometimes referred to as the Gulf South, South Coast, or 3rd Coast, comprises the coasts of American states that are on the Gulf of Mexico, which includes Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and Florida and are known as the Gulf States...
and Pacific Coast
Pacific Coast
A country's Pacific coast is the part of its coast bordering the Pacific Ocean.-The Americas:Countries on the western side of the Americas have a Pacific coast as their western border.* Geography of Canada* Geography of Chile* Geography of Colombia...
.
The marine hospitals hardly constituted a system in the Antebellum period. Funds for the hospitals were inadequate, political rather than medical reasons often influenced the choice of sites for hospitals and the selection of physicians, and the Treasury Department had little supervisory authority over the hospitals. During the Civil War, the Union
Union (American Civil War)
During the American Civil War, the Union was a name used to refer to the federal government of the United States, which was supported by the twenty free states and five border slave states. It was opposed by 11 southern slave states that had declared a secession to join together to form the...
and Confederate
Confederate States of America
The Confederate States of America was a government set up from 1861 to 1865 by 11 Southern slave states of the United States of America that had declared their secession from the U.S...
forces occupied the hospitals for their own use, and in 1864 only 8 of the 27 hospitals listed before the war were operational. In 1869, the United States Secretary of the Treasury
United States Secretary of the Treasury
The Secretary of the Treasury of the United States is the head of the United States Department of the Treasury, which is concerned with financial and monetary matters, and, until 2003, also with some issues of national security and defense. This position in the Federal Government of the United...
commissioned an extensive study of the marine hospitals, and the resulting critical report led to the passage of reform legislation in the following year.
The 1870 reorganization converted the loose network of locally controlled hospitals into a centrally controlled Marine Hospital Service
Marine Hospital Service
The Marine-Hospital Service was an organization of Marine Hospitals dedicated to the care of ill and disabled seamen in the U.S. Merchant Marine, U.S. Coast Guard and other federal beneficiaries....
, with its headquarters in Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
. The position of Supervising Surgeon (later Surgeon General
Surgeon General of the United States
The Surgeon General of the United States is the operational head of the Public Health Service Commissioned Corps and thus the leading spokesperson on matters of public health in the federal government...
) was created to administer the Service. Woodworth began his service in the position on March 29, 1871, and he moved quickly to reform the system. He adopted a military model for his medical staff, instituting examinations for applicants instead of appointing physicians on the recommendation of the local Collector of Customs. Physicians, whom Woodworth placed in uniforms, were no longer appointed to serve in a particular facility, but appointed to the general Service. In this way, Woodworth created a cadre of mobile, career service physicians who could be assigned and moved as needed to the various marine hospitals. The uniformed services component of the Marine Hospital Service was formalized as the Commissioned Corps by legislation enacted in 1889 under Woodworth's successor, John B. Hamilton
John B. Hamilton
John B. Hamilton was an American physician and soldier. He was appointed the second Surgeon General of the United States from 1879 to 1891.-Early years:...
.
In 1872, Woodworth initiated the publication of annual reports of the Marine Hospital Service. That same year he also served as one of the founders of the American Public Health Association
American Public Health Association
The American Public Health Association is Washington, D.C.-based professional organization for public health professionals in the United States. Founded in 1872 by Dr. Stephen Smith, APHA has more than 30,000 members worldwide...
.
From the time of his appointment, Woodworth envisioned broader responsibilities for the Marine Hospital Service, well beyond the care of merchant seamen. In 1873, his title was changed to Supervising Surgeon General. He issued publications on cholera
Cholera
Cholera is an infection of the small intestine that is caused by the bacterium Vibrio cholerae. The main symptoms are profuse watery diarrhea and vomiting. Transmission occurs primarily by drinking or eating water or food that has been contaminated by the diarrhea of an infected person or the feces...
and yellow fever
Yellow fever
Yellow fever is an acute viral hemorrhagic disease. The virus is a 40 to 50 nm enveloped RNA virus with positive sense of the Flaviviridae family....
, and laid the foundations for the passage of the National Quarantine Act of 1878. This Act conferred quarantine
Quarantine
Quarantine is compulsory isolation, typically to contain the spread of something considered dangerous, often but not always disease. The word comes from the Italian quarantena, meaning forty-day period....
authority on the Marine Hospital Service, initiating a process whereby over the next half a century the Service progressively took over quarantine functions from the states. The Act also authorized the publication of "Weekly Abstracts of Consular Sanitary Reports" (the forerunner of the Service's journal Public Health Reports). The Marine Hospital Service thus moved into public health activities under Woodworth, paving the way for its later evolution into the Public Health Service
United States Public Health Service
The Public Health Service Act of 1944 structured the United States Public Health Service as the primary division of the Department of Health, Education and Welfare , which later became the United States Department of Health and Human Services. The PHS comprises all Agency Divisions of Health and...
.
Woodworth also designed the seal of the Service, which he first used on a publication that he authored in 1874 on Nomenclature of Diseases. The seal consisted of a fouled anchor, to represent the seamen cared for by the Service, and the caduceus
Caduceus
The caduceus is the staff carried by Hermes in Greek mythology. The same staff was also borne by heralds in general, for example by Iris, the messenger of Hera. It is a short staff entwined by two serpents, sometimes surmounted by wings...
of Mercury. The latter symbol was particularly appropriate since it served as a symbol of commerce (which could represent the merchant marine) but was also used by the Army Medical Corps
Medical Corps (United States Army)
The Medical Corps of the U.S. Army is a staff corps of the U.S. Army Medical Department consisting of commissioned medical officers – physicians with either an MD or a DO degree, at least one year of post-graduate clinical training, and a state medical license.The MC traces its earliest origins...
as its symbol. With minor changes in design, this device has remained the seal of the Public Health Service to the present day.
John Maynard Woodworth remained in the position of Supervising Surgeon General until his death in Washington, DC, on 14 March 1879.