Among the many medical breakthroughs that are attributed to Boston, surgical anesthesia is among the most impactful. It’s hard to overstate the importance in medical history of ether for the treatment of pain, particularly for those undergoing surgical procedures. Many believe that this technique was pioneered at MGH under the famous Ether Dome, but history tells us a different origin story.
The Miracle of Ether
- A History of the Discovery of the Application of Nitrous Oxide Gas, Ether and Other Vapors to Surgical Operations, by Horace Wells
- How Ether Went From a Recreational ‘Frolic’ Drug to the First Surgery Anesthetic, Roger K Thomas in Smithsonian Magazine
- The Crawford W Long Museum in Jefferson, Georgia
- The Crawford Long collection at the Smithsonian
Boston Book Club
This week, we’re featuring Wicked Victorian Boston By Robert Wilhelm. Boston has a fairly stuffy reputation. We are, after all, the city that once outlawed Christmas in an effort to cut down on the amount of fun being had. And it isn’t all in the past – visitors to our stately city will be shocked to find that happy hour isn’t very happy, due to the lack of $3 margaritas. But our listeners know that Bostonians have not been afraid to riot, canoodle on the Charles, or gamble on rat fights in the North End. Wicked Victorian Boston details our lesser known and sordid history. The History Press, the publisher of the book, tells us:
Victorian Boston was more than just stately brownstones and elite society that graced neighborhoods like Beacon Hill. As the population grew, the city developed a seedy underbelly just below its surface. Illegal saloons, prostitution and sports gambling challenged the image of the Puritan City. Daughters of the Boston Brahmins posed for nude photographs. The grandson of President John Adams was roped into an elaborate confidence game. Reverend William Downs, a local Baptist pastor, was caught in bed with a married parishioner. Author Robert Wilhelm reveals the sinful history behind Boston’s Victorian grandeur.
Upcoming Historical Event
Retired UMass Lowell reference librarian and author Ronald Dale Karr will discuss his book Between City and Country: Brookline, Massachusetts, and the Origins of Suburbia at the Copley branch of the Boston Public Library on May 1. The BPL description of the event is as follows:
Since 1945, American popular culture has portrayed suburbia as a place with a culture, politics, and economy distinct from cities, towns, and rural areas. Ronald Dale Karr examines the evolution of Brookline, Boston’s most renowned nineteenth-century suburb, arguing that a distinctively suburban way of life appeared here long before World War II.
Already a fashionable retreat for wealthy Bostonians, Brookline began to suburbanize in the 1840s with the arrival of hundreds of commuter families—and significant numbers of Irish Catholic immigrants drawn by opportunities to work as laborers and servants. In Brookline the poor were segregated but not excluded altogether, as they would be from twentieth-century elite suburbs. A half century later, a distinct suburban way of life developed that combined rural activities with urban pastimes, and a political consensus emerged that sought efficient government and large expenditures on education and public works. Brookline had created the template for the concept of suburbia, not just in wealthy communities but in the less affluent communities of postwar America.
The event will take place on Wednesday, May 1, from 6 to 7:30.