Bridging the East-West divide: genesis of a Chinese hospital in San Francisco

Bridging the East-West divide: genesis of a Chinese hospital in San Francisco

Collection:
NLM Publications and Productions
Contributor(s):
Risse, Guenter B., 1932-
DeWitt Stetten, Jr. Museum of Medical Research.
Washington Society for the History of Medicine.
National Library of Medicine (U.S.)
Publication:
[Bethesda, Md.] : National Library of Medicine, 2008
Language(s):
English
Format:
Moving image
Subject(s):
Hospitals, Community -- history
Asian -- history
Disease Outbreaks -- history
Emigrants and Immigrants -- history
History, 19th Century
History, 20th Century
Plague -- history
San Francisco
Genre(s):
Lecture
Abstract:
In the 1870s the hospital started to be transformed into a truly medical institution. The San Francisco city and county hospitals excluded Chinese people. As a result there was a need for a hospital that treated Chinese. The consular representative from China took the initiative to develop a Chinese dispensary. However, the dispensary was thwarted by local politicians. In 1900 the consular representative tried again. He gathered sponsors and won the support of Christian churches and medical missionaries. Unfortunately, the dispensary opened at the same time as the first cases of plague were discovered, which led to the quarantine of Chinatown. The local authorities insisted that patients who died of plague be dismembered and cremated. This procedure violated the religious beliefs of the Chinese, who wanted to be buried with their ancestors in China. As a result, Chinese patients avoided the dispensary. The dispensary was destroyed by the earthquake and fire of 1906.
Copyright:
The National Library of Medicine believes this item to be in the public domain. (More information)
Extent:
089 min.
Color:
Color
Sound:
Sound
Cast:
Introduction, Elizabeth Fee; introduction, David Cantor; introduction, Robert Mortensen.
Credits:
Speaker, Guenter B. Risse.
Provenance:
Received: Apr. 16, 2008; transfer; from Stephen Greenberg.
Technique:
Live action
NLM Unique ID:
101472664 (See catalog record)
OCLC no.:
232647269
Permanent Link:
http://resource.nlm.nih.gov/101472664