John Shaw Billings
Encyclopedia
Librarian
A librarian is an information professional trained in library and information science, which is the organization and management of information services or materials for those with information needs...
and surgeon
Surgeon
In medicine, a surgeon is a specialist in surgery. Surgery is a broad category of invasive medical treatment that involves the cutting of a body, whether human or animal, for a specific reason such as the removal of diseased tissue or to repair a tear or breakage...
best known as the modernizer of the Library of the Surgeon General's Office
Library of the Surgeon General's Office
The Library of the Surgeon General's Office, later called the Army Medical Library, was the institutional medical literature repository of the U.S...
of the Army and as the first director of the New York Public Library
New York Public Library
The New York Public Library is the largest public library in North America and is one of the United States' most significant research libraries...
.
Biography
Born in Allensville, Switzerland County, IndianaSwitzerland County, Indiana
Switzerland County is a county located in the U.S. state of Indiana. As of 2010, the population was 10,613. The county seat is Vevay.-History:Switzerland County was formed in 1814...
, Billings graduated from Miami University
Miami University
Miami University is a coeducational public research university located in Oxford, Ohio, United States. Founded in 1809, it is the 10th oldest public university in the United States and the second oldest university in Ohio, founded four years after Ohio University. In its 2012 edition, U.S...
in 1857, and from the original Medical College of Ohio (now the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine) in 1860. He was medical inspector of the Army of the Potomac
Army of the Potomac
The Army of the Potomac was the major Union Army in the Eastern Theater of the American Civil War.-History:The Army of the Potomac was created in 1861, but was then only the size of a corps . Its nucleus was called the Army of Northeastern Virginia, under Brig. Gen...
during the American 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...
, then became head of the Library of the Surgeon General's Office 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 Surgeon General's library
Library of the Surgeon General's Office
The Library of the Surgeon General's Office, later called the Army Medical Library, was the institutional medical literature repository of the U.S...
that he developed (see Army Medical Museum and Library
Army Medical Museum and Library
The Army Medical Museum and Library of the U.S. Army was a large brick building constructed in 1887 at South B Street and 7th Street, SW, Washington, D.C., USA, which is directly on the National Mall...
) later became the core of the National Library of Medicine. During his time as Director of the Library of the SGO, 1865–1895, he was responsible for the creation of both the Index Medicus
Index medicus
Index Medicus is a comprehensive index of medical scientific journal articles, published since 1879. It was initiated by John Shaw Billings, head of the Library of the Surgeon General's Office, United States Army...
(1879) and the Index Catalogue of the Surgeon General's Office (1880). He was elected an Associate Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences
American Academy of Arts and Sciences
The American Academy of Arts and Sciences is an independent policy research center that conducts multidisciplinary studies of complex and emerging problems. The Academy’s elected members are leaders in the academic disciplines, the arts, business, and public affairs.James Bowdoin, John Adams, and...
in 1881.
He was also for some years professor of hygiene in the University of Pennsylvania
University of Pennsylvania
The University of Pennsylvania is a private, Ivy League university located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. Penn is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States,Penn is the fourth-oldest using the founding dates claimed by each institution...
. He is also credited with designing the original buildings of Johns Hopkins Hospital
Johns Hopkins Hospital
The Johns Hopkins Hospital is the teaching hospital and biomedical research facility of Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, located in Baltimore, Maryland . It was founded using money from a bequest by philanthropist Johns Hopkins...
, which opened in 1889. The building with the hospital's trademark dome was subsequently named for Billings.
Billings received an Honorary Fellowship of the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland in 1892.
After he left the Surgeon General's Office he united the libraries of New York to form the New York Public Library
New York Public Library
The New York Public Library is the largest public library in North America and is one of the United States' most significant research libraries...
and it was Billings who inspired Andrew Carnegie
Andrew Carnegie
Andrew Carnegie was a Scottish-American industrialist, businessman, and entrepreneur who led the enormous expansion of the American steel industry in the late 19th century...
to provide funds for the construction of sixty-five branch libraries throughout New York and 2509 libraries in cities and towns across North America and Britain. Billings also recruited a young man named Harry Miller Lydenberg to work as his personal assistant and head of reference. Lydenberg expanded upon the collection practices of Billings, and eventually served as Director of NYPL from 1934-1941.
Billings was the senior editor of books reporting the work of the Committee of Fifty
Committee of Fifty (1893)
The Committee of Fifty was formed in 1893 by scholars to investigate problems associated with the use and abuse of alcoholic beverages. It attempted to use contemporary social scientific methods to study the subject and to avoid the moralism of the temperance movement.The committee concluded that...
to Investigate the Liquor Problem in the early 1900s. The Committee researched the activities and publications of the Department of Scientific Temperance Instruction of the Woman's Christian Temperance Union
Woman's Christian Temperance Union
The Woman's Christian Temperance Union was the first mass organization among women devoted to social reform with a program that "linked the religious and the secular through concerted and far-reaching reform strategies based on applied Christianity." Originally organized on December 23, 1873, in...
(WCTU).
He acted as supervisor for the U.S. Census 1880 and 1890. He often collaborated with Herman Hollerith
Herman Hollerith
Herman Hollerith was an American statistician who developed a mechanical tabulator based on punched cards to rapidly tabulate statistics from millions of pieces of data. He was the founder of one of the companies that later merged and became IBM.-Personal life:Hollerith was born in Buffalo, New...
Billings died in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
in 1913, aged 74.
Works
Among his publications are:- Principles of Ventilation and Heating (1884)
- Mortality and Vital Statistics of the United States (1885)
- National Medical Dictionary (Two volumes, 1889)
- Description of the Johns Hopkins Hospital (1890)
- Social Statistics of Cities (Six volumes, for the Eleventh Census)
- Some Library Problems of Tomorrow (1902)
- Physiological Aspects of the Liquor Problem (1903)
See also
- Fielding H. GarrisonFielding H. GarrisonColonel Fielding Hudson Garrison, MD was an acclaimed medical historian, bibliographer, and librarian of medicine. Garrison's An Introduction to the History of Medicine is a landmark text in this field....
- Frank Bradway RogersFrank Bradway RogersFrank Bradway Rogers was born in Norwood, Ohio, United States to Frank Shane and Nettie Bradway Rogers. He was a Medical Doctor and Librarian who was instrumental in changing the Army Medical Library into the National Medical Library...