Call Number:

MSS 446

Repository:

Historical Medical Library of The College of Physicians of Philadelphia

Extent:

0.08 linear feet

Language:

English

Date:

1917

Abstract:

Sir William Osler, 1st Baronet (1849-1919) was a Canadian-born physician. He has been described as the Father of Modern Medicine. Osler received his M.D. from McGill University in Montreal in 1872. Following postgraduate training in Europe, Osler returned to McGill University as a professor in 1874. In 1884 he was appointed Chair of Clinical Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia and the following year, was one of the founding members of the Association of American Physicians. Osler became the first chief of staff at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore in 1889, and in 1893 one of the first professors of medicine at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. In 1905 he was appointed to the Regius Chair of Medicine at Oxford, which he held until his death. Osler was created a baronet in 1911 for his many contributions to the field of medicine.

Lady Grace Revere Gross Osler (1855-1928) was born in Boston into a prominent family descended from Paul Revere. In 1876 she married Dr. Samuel W. Gross, a physician and instructor at Jefferson Medical College. Osler worked at the University of Pennsylvania and was friendly with the Grosses. Dr. Gross died in 1889 and Grace and William Osler married in 1892. Their son Edward Revere was born in 1895. Lady Osler was known for her hospitality, and worked with wounded soldiers and refugees during World War I. She spent the last years of her life overseeing the cataloging of Sir Osler's library and preparing it for donation to McGill University.

This collection consists of six letters to Sir William and Lady Osler, written in 1917. The letters are from Major Vivian A. Batchelor, Dr. Harvey Cushing, and Dr. G.E. Brewer, and others. The letters mainly discuss the circumstances of the death of the Osler's son, who was killed in Belgium during World War I. One letter is manuscript and the others are typed transcripts.