A Philadelphia Story. Lori Litchman

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      Portrait of Benjamin Rush by Charles Willson Peale

      (Via Wikimedia Commons, public domain)

      Rush was born outside of Philadelphia in 1746 and attended the College of New Jersey, known today as Princeton University. After Rush earned his degree, his uncle encouraged him to study medicine rather than law. Rush found a mentor in Dr. John Redman and attended lectures at Penn’s new medical school. Rush ultimately chose to go overseas to study medicine. At the same time, Franklin was overseas, and the two became friends. Rush was even elected to the American Philosophical Society before his return to Philadelphia. Upon his return to the city of brotherly love, Rush was appointed as chair of the College of Philadelphia’s chemistry department. Rush was also one of 24 doctors to found the College of Physicians of Philadelphia in 1787, the country’s first private medical organization. The founders said the organization’s mission was “to advance the science of medicine and to thereby lesson human misery.”

      Museum of Medical Oddities

      HAVE YOU EVER WONDERED what Einstein’s brain was like? Well, you can see for yourself—literally—at the Mütter Museum of The College of Physicians of Philadelphia. Surgeon Thomas Dent Mütter donated 1,700 objects and $30,000 to the college. His mission was to reform medical education, and he made the college promise to “hire a curator, maintain and expand the collection, fund annual lectures, and erect a fireproof building.”

      The museum’s first location was at 13th and Locust Streets and opened in 1863. Today, the museum is located at 19 S. 22nd St. and houses more than 25,000 objects. Some of the things you can see at the Mütter Museum include slides of Albert Einstein’s brain, more than 5,500 historical medical instruments, hundreds of bones, and numerous body parts floating in jars.

      After the Revolutionary War, Rush added courses to his teaching load to include the practice of medicine. He was a beloved teacher, and by the end of his career, he had taught more than 3,000 medical students. He worked as a senior doctor at Pennsylvania Hospital for 30 years, and during that time, he instituted reforms for treatment of the mentally ill. He believed in treating patients with mental illness as human beings, and he abolished cruel practices and procedures that were established medicine. He published the first psychiatry textbook in America, Medical Inquiries and Observations Upon the Diseases of the Mind, in 1812, the year before he died of typhus fever. Rush was harshly criticized, however, for his treatment of yellow-fever patients during the epidemic Philadelphia experienced in 1793.

      Fever Falls on Philadelphia

      ONE OF THE MOST DEVASTATING BLOWS to Philadelphia’s prosperity came in 1793 by way of a yellow-fever epidemic. At this point in time, Philadelphia was still the capital of both the state of Pennsylvania and the growing nation. The epidemic grew from a few cases of the infection along the Delaware waterfront and spread rapidly throughout the city. The population of the city was approximately 55,000, and everyone was terrified of the sickness. At the time, no one knew the cause of the disease or how it was spread. Panic set in, and tens of thousands of Philadelphians fled the city at the urging of Rush. Controversy arose about the suspected origin, with one camp (including Rush) convinced that the fever was born in Philadelphia, while the other side believed it came from foreigners entering the city. Rush was adamant that the sickness was due to the unsanitary conditions of the city, particularly the contamination of water from sewage and rotting food and coffee on the docks. One particularly disgusting part of the city was the area around today’s Dock Street. Back then, Dock Creek flowed freely and became a dumping ground for waste from breweries, tanneries, and households.

      The College of Physicians convened to discuss the matter and how best to treat people. Controversy arose about how to treat afflicted patients, with Rush adamant that bloodletting was the best way to purge the fever. He had a few supporters who agreed with his methods, but most medical professionals vehemently disagreed. The College of Physicians ultimately believed that the fever was contagious and originated overseas, in stark contrast to Rush’s beliefs. Rush fell ill with yellow fever in September and followed his own treatment, recovering completely from the sickness. He was eventually forced to resign from the College of Physicians, and some even suggested that criminal charges be filed against him.