Notes on the Army Surgeon General's Office in Washington 1818 - 1948 Privately printed 1948 Copyright 1948 by George Albert Scheirer Af'ch. UH 2/5 A 2. S3 ft /948 c. 2 NATIONAL LIBRARY OF MEOICtNt -. BETHESOA 14, MD. NOTES on the ARM! SURGEON GENERAL'S OFFICE in WASHINGTON 1818 — 1948 GEORGE ALBERT SCHEIRER IN Managing Editor, The Bulletin of the U. S. Army Medical Department1 Written expressly for the staff of The Surgeon General's Office in Washington, D. C., and dedicated to the x factor in human relationships Privately printed 1948 CONTENTS Chapter P^8 I Introducing a City and a Government Department 1 The District of Columbia 1 Washington 3 Georgetown 3 The War Department 4 The Medical Department 6 The Surgeon General's Office 7 H From 1818 Through the Civil War 9 The Mexican War 12 The Civil War M HI From 1865 Through the First World War 18 The Tragedy 21 The Spanish-American War 22 Punitive Expedition into Mexico 23 World War I 24 IV From 1918 to 1948 27 World War II 28 7 Supplement 34 The Army Medical Museum 34 The Army Chemical Laboratory 35 The Army Medical Library 35 The Office of the Civilian Chief Clerk, S.G.0.37 Hours of Employment 43 References 45 List of illustrations 56 I INTRODUCING A CITY AND A GOVERNMENT DEPARTMENT Of the temporary habitations and early homes of the Yfar Department and, particularly, the Office of The Surgeon General, many have long since disappeared either physically or in the mists of early and imperfect records; but even a brief reference to such as are known to have existed stirs the recollection of persons and incidents interwoven with the life and growth of the City of Washington and the Nation. The District of Columbia. The first mention of the upper Potomac and regions adjacent to Indianhead. about thirty-five miles south of Washington, is made by Captain John Smith,* who explored this region from the Jamestown settlement in Virginia in 1608. In 1634, Henry Fleet, who was taken captive by Indians, visited the falls of the Potomac. The next year, a tract of land (four.hundred acres), called Rome, was laid out for one Francis Pope, gentleman.3 The Capitol is said to be on this land. In 1790, the region in which the City of Washington has been built was in the form of seventeen large farm tracts, covered with woods and streams, with the arable portions tilled for crops of wheat, maize, and tobacco (figure 1). Two hamlets were within the limits of the early survey---CarroUsburg in the south where the War College now stands, and Hamburg, which was then southeast of the thriving port of Georgetown.* In 1765, Jacob Funk, a German resident near Frederick, Maryland, purchased from Thomas Johns about one hundred and thirty acres of land lying between Rock Creek and Goose Creek, later known as Tiber Creek. This land he divided into two hundred and eighty-eeven lots. Thus, Hamburg, or Funkstown, part of which was and still is known as "Foggy Bottom," was bounded roughly by Twenty-third Street to the west, up to about H Street on the north, the eastern boundary between Eighteenth and Nineteenth Streets, and the river on the south. Foggy Bottom was a low, marshy tract west of Twenty-second Street and south of F Street, running to the river. Innocent of the ravages of crude oil or DDT, it was an unhealthful region. The croakings of frogs provided an eerie accompani- ment to the "Foggy Bottom Chills" that were common to those who settled - 1 - nearby. But to small boys seeking catfish and mud turtles, Foggy Bottom was a paradise. Today, the magnificent Lincoln Memorial, winding drives, sculptured monuments, and the Water Gate setting for outdoor concerts \ adorn reclaimed land that was once literally a foggy bottom. Many springs and streams flowed through the valley. The two branches ( of Tiber Creek united in the vicinity of M Street, between North Capitol and First Streets, NE., and flowed south across Pennsylvania Avenue and then I west into the canal along B Street, M. (now Constitution Avenue), and the old bed of the stream, with frequent overflows, became another fruitful source of "agues and bilious fevers." Old Tiber Creek, as it flowed through the section embracing North Capitol Street between G and K, with Second ] Street on the east and First Street on the west, lent its moist approval to that area's poetic designation "Swampoodle." Abundant springs were located in what is now Franklin Park, and a stream emerged that emptied into the Tiber at B Street between Ninth and Tenth Streets, NW. This stream formed a ■ ravine on the south side of E Street near Ninth. Up to 1810, long boats j brought cords of wood up the "branch" during high tide as far as Ninth and i E Streets, NUT., and herring and other fish were caught at high tide at Ninth j and F Streets, Wf.5 Another spring is under the old Masonic Temple building ■ at the northwest corner of Ninth and F Streets, NW. Reedy Branch, with many ( turns, crossed Rhode Island Avenue and M Street, between Sixteenth and Seven- teenth Streets, and flowed thence between L and M Streets to the north foot of Twenty-first Street, NW., to empty into Rock Creek. It now flows below the surface of the streets." Nineteen days after the proclamation of peace between the American 1 Colonies and England, the subject of a permanent capital for the general j government of the states was brought up in the Continental Congress.' But it was not until 1790 that provision was made for the selection of a permanent site on the upper Potomac River for the National Capital "according to such plans as the President shall approve."8 The controversy between the land- j holders led Thomas Jefferson" to make a rough outline plan for a city one- , fourth less in size than that which George Washington^ had in mind, to be built in the vicinity of Georgetown. This sketch showed the Capitol at the site of the town of Hamburg, about where the Naval Hospital used to bej from | there eastward public walks or a Mall was planned, with the location of the President's House at about the present Nineteenth Street, south of Pennsylvania Avenue. Jefferson also proposed a rectangular system of streets, in contrast with the open spaces and radiating avenues planned by L'Enfant,H who also reversed the position of the Capitol by placing it to the east of the President's House on Jenkins Hill. When President Washington arrived at the Fountain Inn, known also as Suter's Tavern,^ j_n Georgetown, on 28 Llarch 1791, he found the clash of rival interests between the Eastern Branch, or Carrollsburg, and Georgetown. | After a conference with tlie principal parties on the evening of the 29th, the | terms of sale of land to the Government were agreed to next day.13 The '< original owners conveyed to the United States Government, free of cost, such portions of their farms as Tfere needed for streets, parks, and other public ' reservations, and sold such land as was needed for Government buildings and - 2 - public improvements at twenty-five pounds, or about sixty-seven dollars, per acre. The remaining land was to be laid out in building lots and apportioned equally between the Federal Government and the original owners^ (figure 2). Washington. The City of Washington itself, arising in 1791 from the meager population of the District, was chartered in 1802 by the Congress. The charter provided for a mayor appointed annually by the President and an elective council of two chambers. The mayor was elected by the council from 1812 to 1820 and by the people (biennially) from 1820 to 1871, when the Congress repealed the charters of Washington and Georgetown^ and established a new government for the entire District, consisting of a governor, secretary, board of public works, board of health, and a council appointed by the President with the concurrence of the Senate and a house of delegates and an elected delegate to the national House of Representatives. In 1874, the Congress substituted a government by three commissioners appointed by the President with the concurrence of the Senate, and in 1878 the government by commissioners was made permanent. Georgetown. Georgetown was laid out pursuant to an act of 1751^* of the Province of Maryland, passed in response to a petition of a number of inhabitants who stated that "there was a convenient place for a town on the Potomac River above the mouth of Rock Creek," and recommended that sixty acres be there laid out for a town. The town was never incorporated as a city, but was commonly called the City of Georgetown as a consequence of the casual reference to it by that title in numerous acts of the Congress. The general supposition is that Georgetown was so named in honor of George II, the then reigning sovereign of Great Britain, but it is also contended that it was named as a compliment to George Gordon and George Beall, the owners of the sixty-acre tract and from whom the site was obtained. The first mayor was appointed for a term of one year, to commence 1 January 1790. Its charter was revoked by the act of 1871*5 by which its name was retained as a topograDh- ical designation until its consolidation with Washington by the act of 1895 ' which stated it "shall be known as and shall constitute a part of the City of Washington." By this act the Commissioners of the District of Columbia were authorized to change the names of the streets and avenues of Georgetown to conform to those of Washington so far as practicable. At the time of the con- solidation the population of Georgetown was about 15,000. Soon after its establishment, Georgetown became a prominent port, and one of the interesting places there today is the old customhouse. Flour, tobacco, and corn were the chief exports. Georgetown University was estab- lished in 1789, the year in which George Washington was inaugurated as the first President of the Republic. The Chesapeake and Ohio Canal, 182 miles long, commenced in 1828, had its beginning in Georgetown.1° Farther south, cotton had become so profitable with the invention of the cotton gin by Whitney^ that antislavery legislation had been checked in that section of the country. President Washington left Philadelphia on 19 September 1796 for his home - 3 - at Mount Vernon on the bank of the Potomac, below the village of Alexandria, Virginia, and fifteen miles down the river from Washington. On that after- noon hia Farewall Address of the 17th had been published for the first tims.* The Congress, which had previously sat in Philadelphia, Baltimore, Lancaster, York, Princeton, Annapolis, Trenton, and New lork, met in Washing- ton for the first time on 22 November 1800. In a coach drawn by four horses, President Adams21 left Philadelphia on 17 May of that year, covered twenty- five miles a day, was eight days on the road, and arrived in Washington on Thursday, 5 June, to take up his official residence. Eliminating the many receptions and respectful addresses of welcome, such a trip could now be made1 by air in about an hour. Secretary of War Samuel Dexter22 arrived in Washington on the 12th with the Department's eighteen employes. The archive! of all the departments had been brought round by sailing vessel and landed at Lear's Wharf, at G and Twenty-sixth Streets, JOT. The War Department.22* The War Department, one of the Executive Departments located at the seat of the national government, is technically a civil establishment, charged, among other things, with the maintenance of the Army and supervision over its operations. These objectives are accomplished by the Secretary of War through the agency of branches or bureaus of the Department, of which the Office of The Surgeon General is one.22" As a temporary War Office, a private dwelling on the south side of Pennsylvania Avenue, between Twenty-first and Twenty-second Streets, Nff., was rented by Secretary Dexter22 from Joseph Hodgson. On Saturday night, 8 November 1800, ; about seven o'clock, this three-story building and an adjacent one of the i same size were entirely destroyed by fire,23 with all papers except those of ' the accountant's office on the first floor. The losses included valuable j papers, relics, and evidences of the Revolutionary War, and a valuable library of books that treated chiefly of tactics. The cause of this fire was reported as due to a defective chimney in the adjacent home of Jonathan Jackson, who had died that day. A fire engine that was kept in the corridor of the Treasury Office was hurried to the scene, but without avail. News of that day included the offer of a four-dollar reward for the return of a brown steer that had strayed away from Georgetown College; a sale of Negro slaves, among whom was a "Bricklayer * * # young, healthy, and a brisk workman": and the birthday celebration for President Adams2-'- in Newburyport, 31 October, with a public dinner and toasts to the President, to George Washington, the Congress, the Heads of Departments, our Commission- ers in France, the Navy, and the contending powers of Europe. Not long after the burning of the Hodgson home in November 1800, the War Department occupied a part of the Navy building as soon as it was avail- able. This Navy Building was occupied by the state, war, and navy depart- ments the latter part of April 1801. The hall or corridor was used for Sunday religious services.24 it stood south of the site for the War Depart- ment Building, which was later built in 1820. However, on 24-25 August 1814, the British arrived in Washington and set fire to the Navy Department Building, along with the President's House, the Treasury and State Build- ings, the Capitol, and a number of houses on Capitol Hill. The Congress convened a month later25 in the Old Land Office Building at Seventh and E Streets, NW., which then housed the Post Office Department and the Patent Office. Thereafter, from 1814 to 1820, the offices of the War Department were quartered on the north side of F Street, adjoining on the east the corner of Fifteenth Street, JOT.26 In 1820, the Department was removed to a brick structure to be known as the War Department Building, erected on the southeast corner of Seventeenth Street and Pennsylvania Avenue, JOT. This building (figure 3) stood on land occupied by the north wing of the present state Department Building. The War Department occupied this building from 1820 to 1870. During the Civil War, President Lincoln2' was a frequent visitor to this building, where he went to be close to the telegraph office or to confer with the Secretary of War. The Winder Building, built originally as a hotel, on the northwest cor- ner of Seventeenth and F Streets, JW., was acquired by the War Department in 1854 to provide for expansion of the Department. (See figure 4.) In 1879, the War Department Building was removed, along with other buildings, to make way for the present State Department Building, which for many years was known as the State, War, and Navy Building. This building was built in sections. The south wing was built first. It was started 21 June 1871 and completed 1 July 1875* The War Department moved into the north wing on 23 December 1882. The building, when finally completed on 31 January 1888, with its lawns and terraces, covered more than five acres of ground space, had a total floor area of about ten acres, and contained nearly one and three- quarters' miles of corridors. By 1945} after many alterations through the years, the building contained about 550 rooms. The building in general was much praised at the time of its construction; but in the estimation of Henry Adams2** it was "Mr. Mullet's architectural infant asylum" (Mr. A. D. Mullet was the supervising architect of the structure). Its heavily decorated walls and windows and its crowning mansard roof caused groans in some quarters, but in others it is considered an historical reminder of an era in our national esthetic development. When General Grant29 returned in 1879 from his round- the-world tour, the building was sufficiently advanced for him to remark that it should be preserved as "the milestone of the lowest depth of American taste." This recalls a remark made by General Sheridan30 with respect to the old Pension Office Building at F Street, between Fourth and Fifth Streets, Nff., which now houses the General Accounting Office: "Quite a building * * * but you know it has one fault---it's fireproof." From 1888 to 1930, the military administration was sheltered in portions of this massive structure just west of the White House. But even these quarters were soon outgrown by the departments which originally shared it, and, by 1911, offices of the War Department alone occupied twelve buildings in Washington besides its share of this original State, War, and Navy Build- ing. In addition to the twelve buildings housing the military administration in Washington, the Museum and Library Building was built in 1887 and the - 5 - Army War College was constructed in 1907. Under the impact of war expansion in 1917 and 1918, the Munitions Building was erected for the War Department on Constitution Avenue, formerly . B Street, NT., and was occupied by October 1918. By 1930, the War Depart- ment had expanded into seventeen buildings in Washington and the State, War, and Navy Building had by act of Congress, 3 July 1930, been officially designated the Department of State Building, causing the War Department to seek other and temporary quarters. Thereafter, for ten years, the War Department was without a permanent home. Its removal from the Department of State Building was accomplished gradually between 1935 and 1939. By 1941 the number of buildings in Washington occupied by the War Department had risen to twenty-three; however, purchase of land for the War Department ; Building at Twenty-first Street and Virginia Avenue, JOT., had begun in June 1938, and the first of three units of this building was completed in August I 1941, providing seven acres of floor space. { With the spread of war in Europe in 1939 and 1940, the War Department found it difficult to provide space for the staff headquarters of an expand- ing Army. Buildings in Virginia, at Fort Myer and in Alexandria, were occupied. On 14 July 1941, the President^1 asked the Congress for addition- al buildings to be constructed within or near the District of Columbia. Planning for the necessary building was started in July 1941. The designing began on 8 August 1941, construction commenced a month later on 11 September, and The Pentagon was completed on 15 January 1943* However, the first office workers moved in on 29 April 1942. Before the building was completed, a fifth floor was added, making it the world's largest office building, costing nearly $64,000,000. With its center court it occupies thirty-four acres, contains over 6,000,000 feet of gross floor space that comprise seventeen and one-half miles of corridors and 3,333,000 feet of usable floor space. It is three times the size of the Empire State Building in New York City. Those mainly responsible for The Pentagon are Lt. General Brehon Somervell,^2 then Chief of Construction for the Army, Major General Eugene Reybold, Chief of Engineers, and Lieutenant Colonel Clarence Renshaw, District Engineer for the. project. Mr. G. E. Bergstrom and David J. Witmar were the architects, and construction was by John McShain, Inc., Doyle and Rossell, and Wise Contract- ing Co., Inc.33 At its wartime peak load, The Pentagon housed over 32.000 ] military and civilian employes of the War Department. In December 1946, it had a'population of about 28,000. In September 1947, after more than five years of occupation, it housed about 22,000 persons, and the rest of the Army and War Department then occupied sixteen other buildings in the Washington an The Munitions Building was vacated by the War Department in 1946; while the War Department Building at Twenty-first Street and Virginia Avenue, NR,. was vacated by the War Department in 1947 at the request of the President200 ' to accommodate other agencies of the Government. The Medical Department. The Medical Department of the Army, as its name implies, is one of the constituents of the military establishment; and techni- cally is no part of The Surgeon General's Office or of the War Department. - 6 - While it is, as a whole, under the administration of The Surgeon General's Office, representing the Secretary of War, the tactical operation of its units as a part of the Army, like the tactical operation of other troops, both combatant and noncombatant, is under the direct control of the superior officers of the military commands to which such units are attached. The Medical Department consists of a Surgeon General with the rank of major general, four assistants with the rank of brigadier general,34 and the various separate corps, such as the Medical, Dental, Veterinary, Medical Service,35 Nurse, and Women's Medical Specialist;3o enlisted men of the Medical Department, and contract surgeons} whether they be stationed in The Surgeon General's Office in Washington220 or at Army stations or elsewhere in the field. The history of the Medical Department goes back to the Siege of Boston in 1775 for the first legislation by the Continental Congress. On 27 July of that year, a bill was agreed to "for the establishment of an Hospital" and the appointment of a Director General and Chief Physician, that date thus becoming the unofficial birthday of the Medical Department, despite intermittent periods when an organized corps did not exist and medical service was rendered by medical officers with various designations—some staff, some post or garrison, and some regimental. During the wars of the Revolution and 1812, there were definitely established organizations for medical service, but these passed with the emergencies for which they were created. With the end of the war in the spring of 1815, the Army was greatly reduced?7 and the office of Surgeon General was terminated in June of that year. However, the act of 18183° again reorganized the Army and provided for a Surgeon General and a definite organization for medical service. It marks the real commence- ment of the modern history of the Medical Department. An order of the War Department directed »}i reports, returns, and communications to be made to The Surgeon General's Office in Washington, and announced that The Surgeon General would be obeyed and respected.39 At that time, the Army consisted of less than six thousand men scattered in small posts in remote regions, and the Medical Department had only a few officers in the Medical Corps. Since 1818, the formal establishment of the Medical Department as a staff corps or service has been continuous. The Medical Department maintains numerous hospitals and other units, offices, and administrative establishments; but, though subject in some particulars and in a considerable degree to the super- visory control of the War Department and of the Office of The Surgeon General,220 it is a field service, pure and simple, like other branches of the military establishment, and la not a part of the War Department at the seat of Government or of the Office of The Surgeon General, which are civil establishments. The Surgeon General's Office. The vast territory added in 1803 by the Louisiana Purchase from France and the acquisition of Florida from Spain in 1819 meant the staffing of a great many more small outposts, and the care of the sick and wounded in these garrisons added quite a burden to the medical personnel of the Army. After the close of the War of 1812, the Army was greatly reduced in size; however, it soon became apparent that the medical service, although a very limited one, required an executive head in Washington. Consequently, in the reorganization of the Army in 18X838 the act provided for a surgeon general, an asaistant surgeon general, and an -7- apothecary general. It was provided that The Surgeon General ahould be responsible for the procurement and distribution of medical supplies, thus replacing the Commissary General of Purchases. The Assistant Surgeon General was responsible largely for the inspections of the military hospi- tals. The Apothecary General, who was authorized two assistants, was responsible for the actual procurement of supplies, the compounding of drugs, and the distribution of supplies. The rank of The Surgeon General was that of colonel and the salary was $2,500 a year, the lowest salary of any bureau chief with the exception of the chief of finance.*0 No express authority of law is found for the establishment of a Surgeon General's Office. The several heads of the staff departments were called to Washington by the Secretary of War,^1 in 1818, with such assistants as the duties required, and were formed into bureaus or subdepartments of the War Department. The act of 3 March 1819 appropriated $1,150 for clerks in The Surgeon General's Office. The employment of a clerk at this salary was regularly authorized by the act of 1824.^2 Possibly soldiers were also on detail in The Surgeon General's Office, of which no record is available. However, the provision for employes implies sanction of the office thus established in Washington. In 1820, Mr. Calhoun,** reporting to the Congress regarding the staff, said: "It is believed that the true principle of lis organization is, that every distinct branch of the staff should terminate in a chief, to be stationed, at least in peace, near the seat of Government, and to be made responsible for its condition * * * . It is at present, with slight exceptions, thus organized * * * #43a The mission of the Medical Department as a whole is the conservation of manpower, the preservation of the strength of the military forces; hence, the principal mission of the Office of The Surgeon General is the administra- tive management, for the Secretary of War, of the Medical Department of the Army. The Surgeon General is the head of the Medical Department; as tech- nical staff officer of the War Department he is chief of The Surgeon General'a Office in the War Department,22b 43b Tne central office is organized into staff and operating divisions or other units, directed and supervised by The Surgeon General through his Executive Officer. For over one hundred years the civilian staff had been supervised by a civilian Chief Clerk; but this position was discontinued in 1943. Proper functioning of certain activities of the office is ensured by boards and committees. The Surgeon General represents his office and the Medical Department on a number of interbureau or interdepartmental boards and committees, while individuals on his staff are appointed liaison officers in connection with related activities in other bureaus or departments of the Government. The Surgeon General's establishment in Washington may be divided into three periods: (1) From 1818 through the Civil War---forty-seven years; (2) from 1865 through the first World War---fifty-three years; and (3) from 1918 to the present---thirty years; in all, one hundred and thirty years. FROM 1818 THROUGH THE CIVIL WAR What I have to do is to see, at any rate, that I do not lend myself to the wrong which I condemn. —Thoreau.44 In those early days, as in later years, the Capital City drew to it men of wit and intelligence, those experienced in the skirmishes of diplo- macy, of war, and of love. The influence of great men of the past was strong—William Penn,45 English Quaker, founder of Pennsylvania, and champion of tolerance; Franklin,4o the Leonardo of the New World; Washington.1* leader of the new democracy; Madison,*? the Federalist; and Hamilton,4e intellectual statesman from the West Indies. Jefferson" was spending his last days at Monticello, high on the hill overlooking Charlottesville, Virginia, and the University of Virginia which he himself designed. Gilbert Stuart*^ had had a studio in Washington for two seasons,50 on Pennsylvania Avenue in the neighborhood of Sixth Street, JOT.51 Ideas and Ideals were discussed in the salons. New books were becoming available at the first bookseller's establishment in Georgetown, that of John Marsh, next to the Union Tavern on the northeast corner of Thirtieth and M Streets, JOT.,52 and at the Washington Book Store, on the southeast corner of New Jersey Avenue and B Street, SE., to which a printing shop was attached." On his visits to the capital, Irving54 no doubt found much material for his biog- raphy of the first President, for he declared that the city might be com- pared "to a huge library where a man may turn to any department of knowledge he pleases and find an author at hand into which he may dip, until his curiosity is satisfied."55 Irving's "Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon," con- taining the tales of "Rip Van Winkle" and the "Legend of Sleepy Hollow," was published in 1819-1820. Washington women were described as "good tempered and if not well informed, capable of becoming so."5° Fulton,5' already famous and greatly respected, demonstrated before several members of the Senate and the House of Representatives the principle of torpedo attacks. These demonstrations were conducted in Rock Creek, near the present National Zoological Park." However, in the hot summers everyone who could fled, as they do now. In 1809, for example, President Madison*7 found himself forced to spend a couple of days in the summer heat, and he wrote that the city was "a solitude."5* When Dr. Lovell00 became the first Surgeon General, he soon established himself in the city. His many friends included those men and women who were the most distinguished in the professions and in the official life of the Capital. He had been a medical officer of the Army for six years, and was then in his thirtieth year. One clerk was provided for his office. The total appropriation for the administration of the office was $1,540 a year, -9 - which included the salary of the clerk, the purchase of fifteen cords of wood, and the procurement of stationery, printing, and so forth. "The Star-spangled Banner"01* From 1815 to 1819, the Office of The Surgeon General, or Chief Medical Officer of the Army, was probably located in a private building in Washington, as an estimate was submitted in 1818 for nine months' rent for the year 1819—seventy-five dollars, location not stated. m 1819, two rooms were taken in the (then) new War Department Building on the southeast corner of Seventeenth Street and Pennsylvania Avenue, JOT., where The Surgeon General and his staff remained for eleven years (figure 3). The center of learning so much desired by the first President naa begun in 1821 as Columbian College, with thirty-nine students. Located abovi Florida Avenue, JOT., between Fourteenth and Fifteenth Streets, the names University Place and Chapin Street (in honor of Stephen chapin, president frca 1828 to 1841) are present reminders of its early days. Rechristened George Washington University in 1904, its present enrollment is about twelve thousaod students. "Home. Sweet Home"610 In 1824, Dr. Lovell.built the house now known as Blair House, at 1651 Pennsylvania Avenue, JOT.610 Washington was then a city of 16,000 inhabitants, with about 2,500 buildings. The President's House across the street, de- signed by James Hoban, of Charleston, South Carolina, then appeared in its main structure much as it does today. The south portico was built in the same year as the Lovell house; the north portico was not added until 1829. The nearby Octagon House, built between 1798 and 1800 for a wealthy Virginia planter,02 stands at Eighteenth Street and New York Avenue, JOT. Arlington House, known also as the Lee Mansion, on a high bluff south of the Potomac and overlooking the rising young city, was built in 1826. St. John's Church bordering Lafayette Park was built between 1815 and 1816, and the famous Decatur House°3 on Jackson Place at H Street, N.V., facing Lafayette Park, was erected between 1817 and 1819. Both of these latter buildings were designed by Latrobe,0* one of the architects of the Capitol.010 The plans for the Capitol itself were drawn by a physician, Dr. William Thornton,05 of Tortola, West Indies, one of the most remarkable men of his period. In 1825, the Erie Canal connected the Great Lakes with the port of New York, and in the same year the Santa Fe Trail between Missouri and New Mexico was opened. Webster°6 published his "Dictionary of the English Language" in 1828, and Audubon0? published the gigantic edition of "The Birds of America" over the period 1827 to 1838. The first locomotive used in America was imported from England in 1829, 8 and steam trains were running from Charleston to Hamburg, South Carolina, in 1831. - 10 - At about this time, on 26 May 1827, the Army accepted a recruit under the name of Edgar A. Perry, who falsified his name and age at enlistment. He was stationed at Boston until 18 November 1827 when his company was moved to Fort Moultrie, on Sullivan's Island, Charleston, South Carolina, where he remained about a year. On 1 January 1829, he was made a regimental sergeant at Fortress Monroe, Virginia, and was ill in the post hospital there for a short time. He was honorably discharged on 15 April 1829 to enable him to arrange for entrance to West Point Military Academy, which he did on 25 June 1830, remaining until 19 FebruaryJLSSl.^ His dismissal after court-martial was effective 6 March 1831.70 A decade later this soldier- cadet tried for two years?1 to obtain a clerical position in Washington, possibly in the occupation of solving cryptograms, or in the Philadelphia Customs House, but without success. Personally he canvassed the Government departments taking subscriptions for a lecture in Washington in March 1843, but the lecture and an interview with President Tyler72 were cancelled because of the erratic behavior of this young man.°9 Yet, he was destined to achieve fame as the author of poems and short stories of flawless technique and lasting beauty, and to be acclaimed, particularly in France, as the inventor of the "analytical" or detective story. Without the expression of the genius of Edgar Allan Poe73 there would have been no Sherlock Holmes; but, with him, America made an important contribution to world literature and world culture. From the War Department Building the office moved in 1830 to the State Department Building on the southwest corner of Fifteenth Street and Pennsylvania Avenue, JOT. In 1831, there was another move---from the State Department Building, either back into the War Department Building or, as is more probable, direct or en route to "Mr. Vevan's House" on the south corner of Eighteenth and G Streets, NW. It was difficult in 1836 at public auction to obtain a bid of a "-m per foot on ground within a stone's throw of Dupont Circle, for, with the exception of a wagon road or two, and perhaps half a dozen winding footpaths leading to some isolated dwelling, garden, or slaughterhouse, many places were nearly inaccessible. '•> In Boston, Garrison70 founded the Liberator, with his antislavery credo, "I am in earnest. I will not equivocate-—I will not excuse---1 will not retreat a single inch---and I will be heard." And the twenty-aix-year- old poet, Whittier,77 with his Quaker convictions, became a crusader ui the cause of abolition, though his office was ransacked and burned and his life was threatened. Not until slavery was abolished was tlie poet to write his immortal "Snowbound."7^ The vast state of Texas had been annexed in 1845 and the Oregon Territory was added by discovery, by exploration, and by treaty with Great Britain." - 11 - Thoreau,** author and philosopher, spent a night in Concord jail for refusing to pay his poll tax because the money would go toward support of the Mexican War. What he wrote then, on "The Duty of Civil Disobedience," has become in our generation the bedside book of Mahatma Gandhi,80 ^q extended its thesis to a nation-wide movement of noncooperation in India against the domination of Great Britain. Thoreau had not vet published his most famous book, "Walden, or Life in the Woods."81 The enjoyment and relief accompanying the comforts of Government office in 1841 are described in a letter of that period, written from Washington:82 "How would you like to be an office holder here at $1,500 per year payable monthly by Uncle Sam, who, however slack he may be to his general creditors, pays his officials with due punctuality. How would you like it? You stroll to your office a little after nine in the morning leisurely, and you stroll from it a little after two in the afternoon homeward to dinner and return no more that day. If, during office hours, you have anything to do, it is an agreeable relaxation from the monotonous laziness of the day. You have on your desk every- thing in the writing line in apple-pie order, and if you choose to lucubrate in a literary way, why you can lucubrate * * * ." The Mexican War (1846-1848). Matamoras—Monterey—Vera Cruz—Buena Vista The Washington City Directory for 1843 lists Richard Johnson, clerk $1,150; Andrew Balmain, clerk $1,000; and James H. Collins, messenger $500, as comprising the personnel of Surgeon General Lawson's83 office. Three years later, the name of James P. Espy, clerk $1,000, was added, the other civilian employes and their salaries being the same. Cerro Gordo—Contreras—Molino del Rey—Chapultepec In 1845, the office moved out of "Vevan's house," and from 1845 to 1848 it occupied quarters in "Mrs. Elsey's house on the north side of G Street, between Seventeenth and Eighteenth Streets, near Eighteenth, JW.84 At West Roxbury, Massachusetts, the Brook Farm was a nationally known center for idealists who revolted against the accepted Boston way of life in April 1841 and for six years afterward. It was one of the first of a number of communistic settlements in the United States.85 One name closely related to this transcendental experiment was that of Margaret Fuller8"—. conversationalist, feminist, author of "Women in the Nineteenth Century," - 12 - reporter, traveller, and intellectual pioneer. "I accept the universe," she exclaimed, for her mind was wide. Whereupon, a wit from across the Atlantic commented, "By gad, she'd better I" Margaret, however, did not actually live at Brook Farm. In 1844, Morse's87 electric telegraph line opened between Washington and Baltimore. Morse opened and operated on 1 April 1845 the first public telegraph office in the United States, under the direction of the Post Office Department, on the site of the Old Land Office Buildinp at Seventh and E Streets, JOT. The gold rush to California was on in 1848. In the same year, the cornerstone of the Washington Monument was placed; although the shaft was not completed and opened to the public until forty years later, on 9 October 1888. This memorial to the first president continues to be looked upon as one of the most beautiful single objects in the world. The McCormick8® reaper works were established in Chicago in 1849, sixteen years after patents were taken out. Huge new territories were added to the Union by the Mexican Cession of 1848, by purchase from Texas in 1850, and by the Gadsden purchase from Mexico in 1853. Harriet Beecher Stowe89 published "Uncle Tom's Cabin" in 1851-1852 and one more link in the chain of slavery was weakened. The melodramatic play made from this book held the stage in one country or another for almost eighty years. Hawthorne90 published "The 8carlet Letter" in 18S0, Melville91 published "Moby Dick" the following year, while Dr. Holmes92 published the "Autocrat of the Breakfast Table" in 1857, to be followed by the "Professor at the Breakfast Table" in 1860, and the "Poet at the Breakfast Table" in 1872. In 1852, the first railway train ran from Philadelphia to Pittsburgh, and the next year the Baltimore and Ohio railway entered Ohio. The Singer sewing machine, based on patents of Howe,93 was on the market by 1853* Foster94 wrote his best songs between 1848 and I860 and enriched the folk melodies of the Nation.95 Longfellow90 was writing his most popular poems, such as "Hiawatha" (1855), "The Courtship of Miles Standish" (1858), and "Tales of a Wayside Inn" (1863). The first Japanese embassy was received at the White House on 14 May I860. Japan was opened to the commerce of the world, and the manners and customs of the Western nations were introduced to the Japanese. From 1848 to 1861, four rooms in the Winder Building (figure 4), already mentioned, on the northwest corner of Seventeenth and F Streets, Nff., were occupied by The Surgeon General's Office. In Washington, many vessels of eighty to one hundred and twenty- five tons unloaded at the Seventeenth Street Wharf, near the locks of the canal, bringing anthracite coal, and so forth, to the city. That would now be at the corner of Seventeenth Street and Constitution Avenue, JOT. At Farrar's Bowling Saloon, at the corner of Sixth Street and Missouri Avenue, there was "rolling at Northern and Eastern Prices," with the invitation to "Practice the elegant and healthful exercise of Ten-pins, only 6£ cents for 30 balls."97 A private office in the Winder Building, "opposite the west end of the Navy Building," was occupied by Wm. B. Scott, "Late Navy Agent," -13 - who offered his "services to all persona who may hava business transactions with the different departments of the Government, in the settlement of which they may require the services of an agent, or for the prosecution of claims before Congress."^ In 1854,98 a young fellow named Whistler99 received an appointment to the U. S. Coast and Geodetic Survey in Washington, at a salary of a dollar and a half a day. Two engraved plates definitely attributed to him are still in that office. They are enlivened with figures and flights of birds. Whistler frequented social functions in the city, and found office life very dull. On occasion, he delayed his appearance at the office until mid- morning, and resigned after three months. This was not long after his discharge from the West Point Military Academy, which he had attended for three years*100 There, during an examination in history, a professor exclaimed: "What 1 you do not know the date of the battle of Buena Vista? Suppose you were to go out to dinner, and the company began to talk of the Mexican War, and you, a West Point man, were asked the date of the battle, what would you do?" "Do," said Whistler, "why I should refuse to associate with people who could talk of such things at dinner l" But Whistler's failure in chemistry was the cause of his expulsion from the Academy. He remarked later: "Had silicon been a gas, I would have been a major-general." Nevertheless, a memorial tablet by St. Gaudens101 is in the library of the Academy to do honor to the student and artist who never became a major general.102 In the Plymouth Church in Brooklyn, with the largest membership of any congregation of the day, Beecher,1°3 nthe greatest preacher the world has seen since St. Paul preached on Mara HiH,ol°4 held a dramatic mock public auction of a white slave girl in his crusade against slavery. The Civil War (1861-1865). At the beginning of the Civil War, there were 8 clerks and 1 messenger in The Surgeon General's Office. By 1867, the civilian force had been increased to 39 clerks and 12 messengers, with 185 hospital stewards acting in a clerical capacity. Sumter—Bull Run—Yorktown The office occupied quarters in the building on the southeast corner of Fifteenth and F Streets, JOT., from 1861 to 26 June 1862. The office moved on 27 June 1862 to the Riggs Bank Building on the northwest corner of Fifteenth Street and Pennsylvania Avenue, Nff. The Surgeon General's headquarters was located in a small two-story brick building formerly a dwelling house, set ten or twelve feet back from the sidewalk, on the north aide of Pennsylvania Avenue, adjacent to the left of the bank. The Surgeon General had his personal room in this small building (figure 5). The front parlor was the library, the back parlor was The Surgeon General's office, and the pantry was the chief clerk's office. On the second floor, fronting -14 - on Pennsylvania Avenue, were several modest rooms, two of which were occupied by Colonel Baxter105 and clerks, engaged in the compilation of the statistics of the Provost Marshal's Office, and in the duties of the Chief Medical Purveyor. Dr. Billings,100 who was the Librarian and Disbursing Officer, with two or three clerks, occupied rooms on the north side. One of the largest rooms, probably 20 by 24 feet, contained all the files of the office and four desks for clerks. There were possibly 15 civilian clerks and 100 hospital stewards acting in a clerical capacity in 1872.;u}7 Here, in 1873. Major Brown108 compiled the first history of the Medical Department.109 The office also occupied the second floor of the bank building proper, and an old two-story frame building in the yard behind the dwelling house, but having no outlet on Fifteenth Street. Access to the frame house was via a small alley along- side the dwelling house. This annex building housed a printing shop, a distribution office for medical periodicals and documents, and one or two rooms for clerks. It was heated by stoves and had no water. Water was obtained from a hydrant in the back yard. A commodious stable in the back yard housed two horses and three carriages, and harness, be- longing to the quartermaster, for use of The Surgeon General's Office, especially in trips to the post office and between the buildings occupied* The following clerks were at one time stationed in the frame build- ing: Edward Shaw, E. K. Winship, Lu Clark, Charles Roller, Ben Williams, and James S. Macfarland. As messengers, Richard Osborne and Samuel Bryant were employed in the office when it was located on these premises. Mr. Bryant entered on duty there in 1876 and retired^ 1930; he was still enjoying good health at the age of ninety-two. Mr. Samuel Ramsey was the chief clerk in these quarters, from 1870 on, with Mr. Wilson111 performing most of the duties until the correspondence of 1887 which is reproduced later in this article. Mr. Thompson entered on duty here in 1882 and served for fifty-one and one—half years, retiring as chief clerk in 1933.112 On 29 July 1862, one month after The Surgeon General's staff moved into the Riggs Bank Building and thirty years after their use in New York City, the first horse-drawn street railroad in the Capital City—the Washington and Georgetown Railroad Company, chartered by the Congress 17 May 1862—-was officially opened. The tracks ran from the Capitol to the Department of State Building on Fifteenth Street where the north end of the Treasury Building is now located. A week later the route was ex- tended past The Surgeon General's Office to Washington Circle. Antiatam—Fredericksburg—~<;hancellorsville—Gettysburg In Washington and vicinity, in 1865, there were twenty-five general hospitals, with a capacity of 21,426 beds. Various public buildings were converted into barracks and hospitals, and even the Capitol quartered troops and stored provisions of war, as well as housing a hospital. The Patent Office, many hotels, schools, and private residences, and a number of - 15 - churches, including the Epiphany Church on G Street, NIT., were used as hospitals.3-1^ A ring of small forts and batteries surrounded the city, at one of which, Fort Stevens, the President was once exposed to direct hostile fire (figure 6). "Marching Through Georgia"---"Old Folka at Home" Dorothea Dlx,11* who had achieved a Nation-wide reputation as an effective crusader for improvement in the housing and care of the insane, was appointed superintendent of women nurses during the Civil War. Among the hundreds of hospital workers in and around Washington was Louisa May Alcott,115 the famous author, who cared for the wounded brought to the Union Hotel Hospital in Georgetown. Chickamauga—-Missionary Ridge—The Wilderness—Appomatox Walt Whitman110 went to the battlefield of Fredericksburg, in the winter of 1862, to aid his wounded brother.117 He later, resided in Washington from December of that year to the summer of 1873, and was in and about the hospitals and battlefields as a nurse and an aid to the surgeons, and served as a clerk in the Indian Office of the Interior De- partment, the office of the Solicitor of the Treasury, and the office of the Attorney General. He resigned from the last position in 1873, after his first stroke of paralysis. Soon after his appointment in the De- partment of the Interior, the Chief Secretary119^ inspected Whitman's desk and found in it an annotated copy of the book of poems entitled "Leaves of Grass." He promptly discharged Whitman "because he was the author of an indecent book." That happened in the summer of 186-5 ,120 Despite a personal letter from Emerson,121 that sage of Concord, and the representa- tions of other friends, the Secretary of the Treasury122 had refused Whitman an appointment, because he, too, considered "Leaves of Grass" a very bad book, and he would not put its author in contact with gentlemen employed in the bureaus.118 Nearly ten years previously, Whitman had written: "Other states indicate themselves in their deputies * * * but the genius of the United States is not best or most in its executives or legislatures, not in its ambassadors or authors or colleges or churches or parlors, nor even in its newspapers or inventors * * * but always most in the common people,"123a "Tramp, Tramp, Tramp"---"Carry Me Back to Old Virginny"123b---"Nellie Bly" Covering practically the same period as Whitman's stay in Washington (1862-1873), John Burroughs^ spent his days in the office of the Comptroller of the Currency. His observations of bird life about Washington are preserved in his "Wake Robin.nl25 126 " 'Way Down Upon the Suwannee River"---"Jeannie With the T.yht Brown Hair" - 16 - One of the most colorful and mysterious figures of the Civil War period was Dr. Mary Walker.127 In Washington, she visited the hospitals and, with the backing of several Army generals and the Secretary of War, she served as a contract surgeon. She was never a medical officer of the Army128 nor was she ever authorized by act of the Congress to wear man's attire129 as is so often related. She was examined by a board of medical officers and was recommended for assignment as a nurse. One of these examiners has written: "In a day or two after the examination, she was assigned to a hospital as nurse, but had not entered upon her duties, when an order came from Department Headquarters, sending her to the extreme front l We learned in a few days, that she was riding about the outposts, and when riding alone one day, she ventured too far, and was captured and forwarded to Richmond, being treated with considerable rigor, notwithstanding her sex and her claim to the privilege of a medical officer.* It appeared subsequently that this was the design. She was intended as a spy, and went forward to be captured. It was supposed that her sex and profession would procure her greater liberties and wider opportunities for observation than were at all possible to other prisoners. The medical staff of the army was made the blind for the execution of this profound piece of strategy by the War Office * * * ."130 Dr. Walker was at one time assigned to duty at the Female Prison at Louis- ville, Kentucky, where complaints of cruelty were leveled against her and she was removed from any control of prisoners other than the sick.128 She later lectured in St. James' Hall, London, with some resulting ridicule in the medical press.131 The Congressional Medal of Honor was awarded her 24 January 1866, but on 15 February 1917 the board that rescinded hundreds of previous awards to persons not in the military service struck her name from the liBts.1^2 The writer observed Dr. Walker in 1917, emerging from the National Woman's Party Headquarters, which was formerly located next to the Belasco Theater on Madison Place, facing Lafayette Park. She was dressed in man's clothes, a black cape thrown about her shoulders, her white hair showing beneath a high silk hat. She was then about 85. The first half century of effort by The Surgeon General in Washington, in small rooms and make-shift, inadequate quarters, closes with a capital :ity still noted for the muddy roads between its "magnificent distances," a country still presenting enormous problems and difficulties because of Lts rapid expansion and the recent internal strife, and, amid the general lack of conveniences and nioetiea, a people emerging strong and determined. -17 - ni FROM 1865 THROUGH THE FIRST WORLD WAR Human freedom consists In perfect adjustments of human interests and human activities and human energies.---- Woodrow Wilson.1^ The territory of Alaska was purchased from Russia in 1867 and out- posts in that far-away land became a necessary burden of Government. m 1866, and subsequently for twenty-six years, The Surgeon General used a building at 513 Tenth Street, JOT., for Army Medical Museum, the Library of The Surgeon General's Office, and the Army Chemical Laboratory (figure 7)* This Tenth Street property was, in 1834, the site of the First Baptist Church of Washington, built by Rev. Obediah B. Brown, who was for years chief clerk in the General Post Office. When the congregation decided to unite with another in 1859, the building was abandoned, and in 1861 it was purchased by John T. Ford, who converted it into a theater. On the night of 30 December 1862, the theater was destroyed by fire. The cornerstone of the present building was laid on 28 February 1863 and the new Ford's Theater was opened to the public 27 August of that vear. In this theater, on the evening of 14 April 1865, President Lincoln27 was shot. He died on the following day in a house across the street at 516 Tenth Street, then owned by William Petersen, a well-to-do tailor. Surgeon General Barnes1-'* attended the President.^5 No further theatrical performances were allowed in the Ford's Theater. In June 1865, the building was restored to Mr* Ford, who planned to reopen the theater; but, because of aroused public opinion, the Government prohibited that action and finally rented the building for official use. Alterations were completed in November 1865, and the next year the Congress provided for its purchase (figure 8). During his long and fatal illness, PresidentGarfield1^7 was also attended by Surgeon General Barnes, among others."4 135 The President had been shot by a disgruntled office seeker,1^ while in a waiting room in the old Baltimore and Potomac Railroad Depot, 2 July 1881. Mr. Garfield died 19 September of that year, and the next day among those present at an autopsy were Surgeon General Barnes ,134 Surgeon Woodward,1^9 and Doctor Lamb,1^ who made the autopsy. In 1882, following a great increase in force, certain buildings and floors of buildings at the northeast corner of Tenth and F Streets, JOT., were rented and held for several years. The organization for furnishing information relating to pension claims, called the Record and Pension Division, was located at this address. - 18 - In August 1687, the Record and Pension Division was moved into the Tenth Street Building and a part of it to the new Museum and Library Building on the Mall (figure 9). But the headquarters of the office still remained at Fifteenth Street and Pennsylvania Avenue, JOT., until it was moved on 15 February 1888 into the new State, War, and Navy Building on the southeast corner of Seventeenth Street and Pennsylvania Avenue, JOT., where quarters were assigned on the third floor of the west wing, overlooking Seventeenth Street (figure 10). Here the office remained for twenty-nine years, except for movements of the Library and Museum, which are described separately herein. Some personal recollections of the office and the City of Washington in 1882 have been supplied by Mr. Thompson:112 1*1 "In 1882, when I came into the office, Washington had near 200,000 people. Gaxfieldr^* had been shot the previous summer. Arthur1*2 was in the White House. Robert T. Lincoln1*3 was Secretary of War. There were a number of horaecar lines in the old area of the city, following the streets much as now. A few years later, cable cars appeared on two lines. In 1889, the electric trolley was introduced as an experiment on New York Avenue east of Seventh Street* The streets were poorly lighted by gas. There was no Potomac Park. All the apace now Potomac Park was open river, a mile or more wide except at old Long Bridge, from where Bains Point now is to Analostan Island just west of where we stand*1** * * * The office equipments were crude. There were no electric fans. When it was hot, there was nothing to do but be hot. There were no telephones or electric lights. There were no calculating machines or typewriters—-clerical work was done by pen or pencil by hand. There were penmen in those days. "The personnel of the office was wholly masculine, mostly veterans of the Union Army from the Civil War* There were rough necks among us, some from the wide open spaces, who settled their difficulties by deeds rather than words. We did not enjoy the softening influences of the ladies for eight years yet, when three came in to start the «^»w« infiltration. Now we can see flowers where only tares once grew. * * » » And yet, despite conditions which were close to primitive, it was con- sidered a stroke of fortune to be assigned to The Surgeon General's Office. Nearly twenty years prior to the period of which Mr* Thompson spoke, Dr. Billings100 had written:145 "My old cadet ♦ » * writes me that he has received a position in The Surgeon General's Office and that,I am to be translated to the same Elysium before a great while."1*0 -19- (Note: The Surgeon General'a Office, in 1948, is located in a building that is alleged to approach perfection, equipped with every conceivable gadget of convenience, and located near a city excelled in beauty only by Paris itself, and yet The Pentagon la described by a currant observer aa "Homesick House.nl*7) During the period 1868-1876, Louisa May Alcott115 had written "Little Women"!*" g^ nettle Men,"149 and Mark Twain1^0 had written his first book of travel, "Innocents Abroad."151 His "Tom Sawyer" was published in 1876 and "Huckleberry Finn" in 1884* The telephone had been patented152 by Bell,l53 whose home in Washington was on Connecticut Avenue, below Dupont Circle. In the 1920's, it was used aa a little theater by the Ram's Head Players, and the one-act plays of Lady Gregory, J. M. Singe, and James Bran< Cabell, among others, were produced, before the principal players dispersed to Broadway and Hollywood. About eighteen months after the invention of the telephone, the first line installed in Washington, in October 1877, coi nected the office of the Chief Signal Officer, War Department, with Fort Whipple, Virginia, later renamed Fort Myer in honor of Doctor Myer,15* a former member of the Medical Department of the Army, founder of the Signal Corps, and first Chief Signal Officer.155 The great Chicago fire had destroyed 18,000 buildings in that city in 1871. Edison150 invented the phonograph in 1877 and on 18 April of the following year he demonstrated it before the National Academy of Sciences in Washington* It was not made practicable until 1888* In 1879, he developed the incandescent electric light* In that same year, electric current for lighting was first used in Washington by the Great London Circus employing arc lamps*1-57 Two years later, the Society of the Army of the ' Cumberland caused some few streets to be illuminated by arc lamps, while in 1882, the merchants of F Street, JOT., caused that thoroughfare to be ' Illuminated from Ninth to Fifteenth Streets. In the same year, a company , was organized to exploit Edison'a invention of the incandescent lamp,15** and the use of electric current was gradually extended in Washington from that time forward. Edison personally negotiated for lighting the Treasury Department.the first Government building in Washington to adopt electric lighting.159 The installation of electric lighting in the Ford'a Theater j Building waa attended by the great tragedy which will be related* I In 1883, an act to regulate and improve the civil service of the j United States, known as the Civil Service Reform Act, became a law.100 On i the stage, the unrivaled productions and performances of the Shakespearean actor, Edwin Booth,1Pl1 extended over a period of forty years, from 1850 to I 1891. Joaquin Miller,""* the poet, lived three years in Washington, from ' 1883 to 1886, in a cabin on Meridian Hill at crescent Place, a duplicate of one in which he had lived on the Soda Springs Ranch in California. In I 1906, he was again in Washington, living at Florence Courts on California Street, near Connecticut Avenue, JOT. In 1912, the California State Associa-| tion acquired the cabin, moved it to upper Rock Creek Park,and presented it I to the United States as a memorial to the poet.lo3 1&4 165 in 18Q0 Sousa,100 a native of Washington and a famous composer of inarches for band I instruments, became for twelve years leader of the U. S. Marine Corps - 20 - Band. With continued composing, and in later world tours with a band of his own, he became widely known as the "march king." In 1874, the Connecticut Avenue and Park Railway Company laid its tracks on Seventeenth Street from H to K Streets, JOT., thence to Connecticut Avenue to Boundary Street (now Florida Avenue); but the tracks above P Street were not put in use until a shuttle service was provided about 1883 from Dupont Circle to Florida Avenue, JOT.168 The first electric street car was operated109 in the City of Washington ir^l888,170 and in the early 1890'a horse cars dis- appeared from the city.171 The tragedy. As far back aa 1880, Surgeon General Barnes134 had reported: "I would respectfully invite attention to the overcrowded and unsafe condition of the building Nos. 509-511, Tenth Street, JOT., now occupied by the Record and Pension Division, the Division of Surgical Records, and the Library of thia office, as well as by the Army Medical Museum * * # . The walla of the Tenth Street Building are not only weak, but much out of plumb. * ♦ * "172 In 1881, 1882, and 1883, these warnings were repeated in annual reports. On 28 December 1883, Surgeon General Murray1^ issued an order17* by which the Army Medical Museum and the Library of The Surgeon General's Office were consolidated into one division, to be known as the Museum and Library Division of The Surgeon General's Office. Major Billings100 was assigned as Curator of the Museum and Library; one clerk, Mr. C. J. Myers, was aaaignad for duty in thia diviaion. To the Museum and Library Division was assigned the use of the second and third floors of the building on Tenth Street, to which were transferred, so far as possible, all of the books, and so forth, belonging to the Library, together with the clerks and other em- ployes engaged in library work. On 6 January 1882, the Secretary of War, Robert Todd Lincoln,1*^ had recommended to the President, and,on the 19th, President Arthur1*2 recommended to the Congress, a new fireproof building for the Museum and Library. This building was erected in the Mall, at Seventh and B (later redesignated as Independence Avenue) Streets, SW., on the northwest corner, and the Library was moved there in 1887. On 15 February 1888, the removal of the Museum specimens to the new building on the Mall was completed, and the Museum was opened to the public on the 21st of that month* In July 1891, Secretary of War Proctor175 issued an order transferring all pension records in the Offices of The Adjutant General and The Surgeon General to a common office, which he designated as the Record and Pension Office of the War Department. He placed Colonel Ainsworth155 at the head of it* Thia transfer included the clerks who were then engaged on thia work, numbering nearly n1"* hundred altogether. This consolidation under an independent head was later confirmed by the Congress.170 Thus, the em- ployes housed in the Tenth Street Building, and the work performed by them, ceased to fall under the supervision of The Surgeon General. On 9 June 1893, between 9:30 and 10:00 a.m., a portion of the Tenth - 21 - Street Building collapsed while "upward of half a thousand men were at work." "About 475 persona were employed in the building and about 125 went down with the floors or were Immediately beneath the floors," re- sulting in 22 killed and 68 injured. From news accounts of the day,177 the general opinion was "that the accident was caused directly by the weakening of the structure by reason of excavations made beneath it for an electric lighting system*" It was stated that several days previously "the clerks in the building circulated a petition protesting against this work being continued, as they considered that it imperiled the lives of every man who waa working in the building." However, the chief of the Record and Pension Division indicated that he did not understand the reason for the crash, aa "it had never been intimated that it was in any way in- i secure." While the employes involved in this tragedy were not technically J a part of The Surgeon General'8 Office, many of them were old-time members of it. The administration of personnel in the Record and Pension Office had produced in many of the clerks, according to testimony, a reaction of absolute terror. Because of Indignant public outcries at the time of the tragedy, when the colonel'a peculiar system of management was exposed, he was forced to carry arms for bis personal safety. But, in later years, he went on to glory, becoming The Adjutant General of the Army, a unique dis- tinction for a medical officer*155 In that position, however, he once applied his biting sarcasms to the Chief of Staff, General Leonard Wood,155 who was also a medical officer. There followed "The Battle of the Doctors," and in 1912 Ainsworth was forced hastily to resign and to retire to private life* "Whoever walks a furlong without sympathy walks to his own funeral*"^1 In October 1893, the Army JJedigal School, which had been established176 by order of the Secretary of War,179 began its first session, that of 1893-1894, in the Museum and Library Building, occupying parts of the first and third floors. In this same year, 1893, Edison150 invented the Kinetoscope, or moving picture apparatus, from which was to spring one of tlai greatest of the Nation's industries* The Spanish-American War (1898). Santiago—San Juan Hill—Manila Bay I ^ I The U. S. Battleship Maine was sunk on 15 February 1898. During i the ensuing Spanish-American War no movement of the office headquarters , ' is recorded. The clerical force regularly employed in 1898-1899 was 117* < About 50 more were added during that emergency* J i i "There'll be a Hot Time in the Old Town Tonight"---"Just Break the J News to Mother" |;1 'i The Territory of Hawaii was annexed in 1898; and, in 1899, there were '* added Puerto Rico, Guam, and the Philippines. The Tutuila Group in Samoa l) was obtained by settlement in 1899. In 1904, the Panama Canal Zone was v purchased for the purpose of constructing the interocean canal.180 During |° 1895-1900, the first automobiles made their appearance—-on three wheels fw|C - 22 - wheels, under steam, electricity, and gasoline generation. In 1913, one of the first electric models was owned by Surgeon General and Mrs. Gorgas.181 This car is now in the Smithsonian Institution.182 "The Sweetest Story Ever Told" During the following quarter century, much was written about the American scene* Besides many articlea by Ida Tarbell183 and Char lea Edward Russell,18* there were significant novels185 by H*""" Garland180 (Much-Travelled Roads. 1890-1898), Theodore Dreiser187 (Sister Carrie, 1900), Frank Norris188 (The Ootopus, 1901), David Graham Phillips189 (The Deluge, 1905), Upton Sinclair190 {The Jungle, 1906), Jack London191 (Revolution, 1910), Edith Wharton192 (Ethan Frame, 1911), Sinclair Lewis193 (Main Street, lSCO), and Ellen Glasgow19* (Barren Ground, 1925). In 1901, wireless telegraphy was first received in this country. In 1903, the Wright Brothers19^ demonstrated heavier than air flying machines at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina. In 1905, the first motion picture theater was opened, in Pittsburg* Sound films were made possible by 1927, and motion and talking pictures have become one of the greatest media for the distribution of knowledge and the circulation of ideas. After the earth- quake and fire in San Francisco in 1906, the Medical Department of the Army assisted in establishing sanitary conditions and care for the sick and injured. In 1909, Peary190 reached the North Pols. Halley'a comet waa visible day and night in April and May of 1910. The parcel post system 1 began to operate on 1 January 1913. The Panama Canal was opened on 15 August 1914, its building made possible by the Medical Department of the Army and the work of Walter Reed197 and Gorges181 in eliminating malaria and yellow fever. The cost of constructing the canal was about $400,000,000* The Virgin Islands were acquired by purchase from Denmark in January 1917.198 "Listen to the Mocking Bird"—"Cone. Josephine, ijn M£ Flying Machine" Punitive Expedition into Mexico (1916-1917). The American Punitive Expedition into Mexico began 17 March 1916, when General Pershing,199 with a force of 12,000 troops, crossed the border in pursuit of Pancho Villa.200 The unsuccessful expedition was withdrawn on 5 February 1917. No general expansion of The Surgeon General's staff waa required because of this emergency. In Washington, in the early 1900'a, the terminal railroad station waa located at Sixth and B Streeta, JOT.j the Old Ebbitt House was at Fourteenth and F Streets, NW., where the present National Press Building is located; the British Embassy waa at the corner of Connecticut Avenue and N Streets, W., and the old Bradley home, a feudal-appearing castle, waa removed stone ' >y atone and re-erected in one of the New England Statea from its location on Dopant Circle where the Dupont Apartment Building now stands. The old .Corcoran residence at Sixteenth and H Streeta, JOT., gave way to the Chamber of Commerce of the United Statea; the old Arlington Hotel at Vermont -23 - Avenue and H Streets, NIT*, was demolished to make room for the eyesore that is the U. S. Veterans' Administration Building; the old fashioned and conservative Shoreham Hotel at Fifteenth and H Streets, JOT., has become the modern Shoreham office building; moat of the larger embassies and legations that ware on Sixteenth Street have followed the British Embassy to Massachusetts Avenue, JOT. Poll's Theater was removed from the south side of Pennsylvania Avenue at Fifteenth Street to make room for the Commerce Department under the Hoover Administration; in fact, the triangular park south of the Washington Hotel ia the location of the former theater* The Shubert-Garrick Theater was torn down to make room for the Hecht Department Store at the corner of Seventh and F Streets, JOT. The President and the Bijou Theaters have long since disappeared from lower Pennsylvania Avenue, NW* There were not many more than a half dozen motior picture houses for the silent films in those days; the Columbia was the only one on F Street, NUT. However, there were five theaters for stage productions and each one was filled to capacity, in addition to the vaudeville at Keith'a Theater on Fifteenth Street, Mr. Instead of the present huge Government buildings along Pennsylvania Avenue, there were small shops and moat of the Chinese community of Washington who are now quartered farther uptown* In 1922, the Knickerbocker Theater at Eighteenth Street and Colombia Road, NW., collapsed under the weight of heavy snows—Washington's greatest catastrophe since the Civil War*201 The Ambassador Theater was later erected on the same spot* "Alexander's Ragtime Band,"—-"Meet Me in the Shadows" World War I (1917-1918). Cantjgny—Belleau Wood—Chateau Thierry At the beginning of World War I, there were in The Surgeon General's Office 7 commissioned officers of the Medical Department, 1 nurse, and 134 civilian employes. This force was expanded to a total of 265 commissioned officers of the Medical Department, 30 nurses, 191 enlisted men acting in clerical capacities, and 1,617 civilian employes---a maximum of 2,103 employes.202 The civilian force in the field expanded likewise from 260 to a maximum of 20,000*203 The Marne—Somas—St. Mihiel—Argonne The office headquarters in the State, War, and Navy Building (16 rooma, 8,049 square feet), which had houaed The Surgeon General and hia ataff since 1887, was forced into wide expan- sion, m July 1917, that part of the office, with the except! of the Statistical Branch of the Sanitary Diviaion, was moved to aix floors of the Milla Building, at Seventeenth Street and Pennsylvania Avenue, NW. (figure U). The space (32,000 square feet) in thia building I allotted by the Secretary of War to The Surgeon General was soon found to inadequate for the needs of the office. The Veterinary Branch was later -24 - moved to the Cassell House, 1907 F Street, JOT., which is now a part of the downtown branch of American University (figure 12). The newly created Finance and Supply Division and the Division of Special Hospitals and Physical Reconstruction were housed in the Premier Apartment Building at 718 Eighteenth Street, JOT., which waa commandeered for the purpose (figure 13), while the Statistical Branch was moved, first, to the Old Land Office Building at Seventh and E Streeta, JOT. (figure 14), thence to the Mills Building (figure U), thence to the Hooe Building at 1380 F Street, NW* (formerly on the site of the present National Press Building), and finally, on 1 February 1918, to the three-story garage bunding on the northeast comer of Twenty-fourth and M Streeta, NW.20* (figure 15)* The combined floor apace occupied by The Surgeon General's Office in January 1918 was 147,966 square feet, which included the Museum and Library Diviaion, housed at Seventh and B Streets, SW., with a floor space of 73,818 square feet. "Over There"---"Keep the Home Fires Burning"---"K-k-k-Katie" In May 1918, the office, with the exception of the Museum and Library Diviaion, was again moved, thia time to "Unit F" of the Henry Park Buildings (temporary three-story construction) situated on the Mall near Seventh and B Streeta, JOT. (figure 16), and in proximity to the Smithsonian Institution, the new National Museum, the Museum and Library Division Building, and the great Center Market of the city, on the site of which now stands the imposing Archives Building. Unit F was originally constructed for the use of the Medical Department of the Army, but eventually only 179,078 aquare feet were allotted to The Surgeon General. For the first time since entry into the war all activities of the office were housed under one roof, with the ex- ception of the Museum and Library Division, and that was near by. Our account, thus far, concludes one hundred years of official residence in Washington for The Surgeon General and hie staff. The latter fifty years comprised an era strong in the arts and sciences and with a rising feeling for social justice. Most, if not all, of its notable figures were in Washington at one time or another. In showmanship, there were Buffalo Bill205 and his wild-riding cowboys, Barnum200 ("There's one born every minute"), Lew Docstater of adnstrel fame ("Gentlemen, be aeatedl"), and the teams of Weber and Fields and Montgomery and Stone* Thestage was adorned by John Drew, the younger,207 Ada Rehan,208 Nat Goodwiay209 DeWolfe Hopper,210 Tf"H«" Russell,211 beautiful exponent of how to live a hundred years; regal Maxlne Elliott,212 of the beautiful back; Mary Anderson, James K* Hackett,213who3e son visited The Surgeon General'a Office in 1942; good humored May Irwin;21* William Gillette,215 famed for his "Sherlock Holmes" and "Secret Service"; Wilton Lackaye,210 as Svengali in "Trilby"; David Warfield217 as the beloved "Music Master" and the "Auctioneer"; the ever charming Maude Adams,218 In the plays of Sir James M. Barrie; Julia Marlowe219 and her husband, E. H. Sothern,220 in Shakespearian roles; Mrs. Fiake,221 In tragic and comedy roles, and noted for her portrayal of "Becky -25 - Sharp"; Otis Skinner222 in "Kismet"; and Nance 0'Neil223 in «The Passion Flower." There were Isadora Duncan,22^ who revolutionized the convention- al ballet; and the singers, Louise Homer225 and Emma Eames.220 Among musicians were Edward MacDowell,227 composer, whose wife founded and main- tains the MacDowell Colony at Peterboro, New Hampshire; and Maude PoweH,228 violinist. One could not omit the names of a fewtjroducers of note, such as Augustin Daley, Tony Pastor, Charles Frohman, 9 and David Belasco.230 Legal talent shone in Joseph Choate,^1 Elihu Root,232 chauncy Depew,233 and William T. Jerome ,234 Painters of note included Homer, 35 Sargent,23° Inness,237 Bellows,238 and Eakins,239 The sciences were en- riched by Steinmetz,2^0 Burbank,2^1 Carver,2^2 Jane Addams,2*3 Charles W. Eliot,244 and Booker T. Washington;2*5 and literature by the novels of the expatriate Henry James,246 and the tales of Ambrose Bierce.247 The "elegance" of quarters to which The Surgeon General's Office had attained was exceeded only by the gallantry engendered in the male breast by the introduction of women employees during this period* A reflection of the idealism of Woodrow Wilson1^ was revealed in the inner spirit of the employes—the x factor necessary to the success of life and its undertakings—and the inadequate and scattered office quarters made necessary during the war period became of no consequence in the determina- tion to contribute every effort toward victory and the continuation of the American way of life. -26 - IV FROM 1918 TO 1948 The government has no department that takes cognizance of life itself; it posts no watchers out of doors to sniff the wind and inform those within of eternity.—Halle2*8 The Unit F Building served The Surgeon General's Office until 1920, when all but the Museum and Library Division was again moved to 46,310 square feet in the semipermanent Munitions Building on Constitution Avenue between Nineteenth and Twenty-first Streets, JOT. (figure 17)* The move was made on 17 August 1920, again in the shadow of Lincoln, near the beautiful Lincoln Memorial which was dedicated on Memorial Day, 30 May 1922, a Quarter century ago. The dedication was attended by President Harding,2*9 Robert Todd Lincoln,1^ 30n of Abraham,27 Chief Justice Taft,250 Henry Bacon,251 architect of the Memorial, Daniel Chester French,252 the sculptor. Dr. Moton," president of Tuskegee Institute, and Edwin Markham,25* who read his poem "The Man with the Hoe." Many shifts occurred within the Munitions Building, but no further major moves we're necessary for seventeen years. In 1939, the space occupied in the Munitions Building had been reduced to 32,122 square feet. The Eighteenth Amendment to the Constitution dried up the legal supply of spiritous liquors, except for medical use, from 16 January 1920 until 6 December 1933 when it was repealed by the Twenty-first Amendment. Equal suffrage for women was embodied in the Nineteenth Amendment, effective 26 August 1920. An act for the retirement of employes in the Classified Civil Service was approved 22 May 1920,255 and since then it has been amended and im- proved on many occasions. Some there were who for years had been carried to and from work, sometimes in Government vehicles. The act enabled many elderly clerks to cease their labor in The Surgeon General's Office. An act to provide for the classification of civilian positions within the 2_, District of Columbia and in the field services was approved 4 March 1923. 5° It, too, has been amended a number of times since that date. In 1921, the KDKA broadcasting station was opened in Pittsburgh. Twenty-five years later, there were 915 licensed broadcasting stations In the United States, and the number of receiving sets was estimated to be at least 56,000,000. On 7 November 1935, The Surgeon General of the Army for - 27 - the first time spoke officially over the radio. General Reynolds' subject on that occasion was "The Constructive and Humanitarian Work of the Army. "257 ^ Washington, the "Senators" won the baseball world series in 1924| while in 1927, following postwar vears of disillusionment and lack of faith in those In high quarters,250 a wave of pride and hero worship swept Washington and the country in the wake of the daring aolo flight from New York to Paris, on 20-21 May, by the young American aviator, Idndbergh,259 who thereby won the Orteig prixe260 originally offered in 1919. In the summer o f 1932, a worn and desperate band of former service men, having converged on Washington to lobby for the immediate payment of their bonus certificatea, were camping on the aitea of demolished wartime temporary dormitories and offices scheduled for removal along Pennsylvania Avenue, NW., and on Anacostia Island, and had become a menace to public health and a center of increasing disorders. Despite the pleas of the chief of police,201 they were finally dispersed at the order of President Hoover202 by cavalry and machine guns from Fort Myer, which rumbled past The Surgeon General's Office shortly after 3:00 p.m. on 28 July. °3 The rise of Hitler20* and Mussolini205 and an increasing armed force at home finally made further moves necessary for The Surgeon General and his staff. The first of these, on 1 May 1939, was to the first six floors and basement of Corcoran Courts, a vacated eight-story apartment building at 401 Tweniy-third Street, JOT., which was shared with a part of the office of The Chief of Finance, and was known as War Department Annex No. 1 (figure 18)* Thirty-five thousand aquare feet were allotted to The Surgeon General. Many records were sent to the Archives Building and others were stored at Fort Myer in nearby Virginia. However, it was but a short stay. By 4 January 1941, the office staff, consisting of 87 commissioned personnel, 7 nurses, and 714 civilian employes, had moved again, this time to 90,000 square feet of space in the newly con- structed and sensibly luxurious Social Security Building on Independence Avenue, between Third and Fourth Streets, SW. (figure 19)* Independence Avenue was the new name for B Street, SW. World War II (1941-1945). On 8 September 1939, the President31 declared a state of limited emergency, and on 27 May 1941 he raised this to a state of unlimited national emergency. On 7 December 1941, while special em- bassies from Japan were in Washington discussing disagreements between the two countries, Japanese airplanes attacked the American Naval Base at Pearl Harbor, near Honolulu, Hawaii, where 86 ships were at anchor. Heavy destruction and damage were inflicted on 8 battleships and on many other craft, including practically all Army and Navy aircraft in Hawaii. The killed, wounded, and missing totaled 4,575 men. On the next day, 8 Decem- ber 1941, the United States was officially involved in what was to become a global war. North Africa—Anzio—Omaha and Utah Beachheads——St. Lo—-Bastogne - 28 - On 7 November 1942, American troops landed on the North Coast of Africa. On 6 June 1944, Allied troops landed on the Coast of Normandy, France (D-Day), and on 8 May 1945, the German Command capitulated (VE-Day). The surrender of Japan was announced on 14 August 1945, and on 2 September 1945 occurred the formal capitulation of Japan (VJ-Day)^ The cessation of hostilities was formally announced by the Preaident'*00 as effective 31 December 1946. The Coral Sea—Guadalcanal—New Guinea—Tarawa With the experience of London and other British citiea in mind, Waahington waa obsessed with the fear of hostile air raids. Hones, stores, and Government buildings indicated by placards the safest shelters avail- able, and civic and Governmental test alarms, drills, and "blackouts" were rigorously performed. The city was ringed with antiaircraft batteries, and antiaircraft guns were manned on the State Department Building, the Court of Claims Building, and many other Government and private buildings in the city. One of the latter was the Chestnut Farms Dairy building near the M Street bridge across Rock Creek. Salpan—Iwo Jima—The Philippines The secret development (as the "Manhattan Project"), manufacture, and amployment of the atomic bomb by the United States and subsequent Inter- national maneuvers to control ite use in future were matters of vital " ideo, saki, "Operation C^roade^^^'overheaTexpe^^ on 1 July 1946 ("Able-Day"), and a ahallow underwater experiment on 25 July 1946 ("Baker-Day"). "Don't Sit Under the Apple Tree With Anyone Else But Me." At the beginning of World War U., there were 896 civilian employes and about 38 commissioned personnel in the office, including the Museum and Library Diviaion. This was 736 more civilian employes than normally re- quired in peacetime during the 1920'a. This staff sventually expanded to 1 732 civilian employee at the wartime peak. In the field the civilian em- ployes expended from 26,439 on 31 December 19a to nearly 75,000. On 15 December 1941, the office was moved into the thirteen- story building newly constructed for, but not yet occupied by, the Maritime Comndsaion, at 1818 H Street, JOT., and from thia location the aplendid work of the Medical Department waa direct- ed during World War H (figure 20). Additional space was for a time required for record files and personnel at the La Salle Building, a large apartment with commercial offices and stores on the ground floor, at 1034 Connecticut Avenue, NW. -29 - During the period March to September 1942, the Field Branch of the Civilian Personnel Division was housed in a temporary barrack-like utilities building, part of a greenhouae unit, at the Arlington Experimental Farms, across the Potomac from the city, while the Departmental Branch of the same Division was housed for about the same period in the Securities and Exchange Build- ing on the southeast corner of Pennsylvania Avenue and Eighteenth Street, JOT., a few steps from the main office in the Maritime Building. With the development and expansion of the Department of State, the quarters in the Maritime Building were finally givenup to that Department at the direction of President Truman,266 and The Surgeon General's Office was again on the march—this time away from the "permanent seat of Government" and into the State of Virginia, to 135,000 square feet of The Pentagon, which building has been previously mentioned. The move took place in December 1945. As Is usual, circumstances have occasioned many moves within this monumental structure (figures 21 and 22). The Supply Service occupied far a short time 20,000 square feet in Tempo Building T5, near the Army War College (now termed National War College), from 22 December 1945 until 27 January 1946, when employes and equipment of that section of the office were absorbed in The Pentagon* The past thirty years have covered a severe depression208 and a war20' on a scale more vast than history has thus far recorded. Nevertheless, music, literature (especially poetry), and the stage have flourished—as all things flourish—under difficulties. On the stage we have seen Walter Hampton,270 famous for his "Cyrano de Bergerac"; Bertha Kalisch. tragically impressive in "Magda" and "The Kreutzer Sonata"; Florence Reed271 in "The Shanghai Gesture"; Frances Starr in "The Easiest Way"; Jane Cowl271a ^ "Lilac Time" (1918), "Pelleas and Melisande" (1923), and "First Lady" (1935- 1936); Lillian Gish in the motion pictures "Birth of a Nation," "Broken Blossoms," and "The Scarlet Letter," and on the stage In "The Star 7/agon," "Uncle Vanya," 'Within the Gates," "Hamlet," and "Crime and Punishment"; Judith Anderson in "Mourning Becomes Electra," "Macbeth," "As You Desire Me," and "Medea"; Pauline Lord272 in "Anna Christie," "They Knew What They .'.'anted," and "The Glass Menagerie"; Ethel Barymore2^ in "Declassee"; Katherine Cornell274 in nThe Barretts of Wimpole Street"; and Helen Hayes,2''5 of Washington, in "Dear Brutus," "What Every Woman Knows," and "Victoria Regina." Those who amuse always win affectionate regard, so we add the na-nes of Tom Wise, Raymond Hitchcock, Mr. and Mrs. Sydney Drew, Herbert Salinger, Richard Carle, Walter Catlett, Eddie Foy, Sr., Nora Bayes Cecil Lea:i, Gleo Mayfield, Elsie Janis, Ernest Truex, Roland Young, Ina Claire (Mrs. William Wallace), and the Lunts---Alfred and Lynn. In the dance we have seen Agna Enters, Agnes DeMille, and Martha Graham. Playrights have included Eugene O'Neill,27" with his "Beyond the Horri3on," "Strange Interlude," "Desire Under the Elms," "Mourning becomes Electra," and "The Iceman Cometh"; and Maxwell Anderson,277 with his - 30 - "Winterset," "Elizabeth the Queen," and "Mary Queen of Septs." We have heard the voices of Geraldine Farrar,278 Richard Crooks,279 Roland Hayes,280 Richard Bonelli,281 Lawrence Tibbett,282 Paul Robeson,283 Joseph Bentonelli,284 Leonard Warren,285 jan Peerce, Marian Anderson,280 and the composers Ernest Shelling (survived by his sister, Julia Shelling, who lives, teaches, and lectures in Washington), Charles Griffes,287 George Gershwin, with his "Rhapsody in Blue" and "Porgy and Bess"; Samuel Barber,288 Roy Harris,289 and William Shuman. We have heard the violinist Albert Spalding.290 j^ sports, we have remembered Ty Cobb,291 and Washington's own contribution, Walter Johnson,292 in baseball; and Knute Rockne293 in football. Two men have lent especial dignity to the Supreme Court: Charles Evans Hughes,294 and Oliver Wendell Holmes,29* son of the good Doctor. Outstanding among sculptors are Augustus St. Gaudens, 1 Gutzon Borglum,29° Daniel Chester French,252 and Melvina Hoffman.297 There have been many poets, a few among them being Edna MLlxay.298 Elinor Wylie.299 whose family home was on Thomas Circle; Amy Lowell,^00 Robert Frost,3°x Sara Teasdale,302 and T. S. Eliot.3°3 Among the prose writers not hereto- fore mentioned, we have read Sherwood Anderson3°4 ("ffinesburg, Ohio,"1919), and Thornton Wilder3°5 ("The Bridge of San Louis Hey," 1927; "Our Town," 1938). In 1920, a quarter century ago, the District of Columbia contained 437,571 inhabitants, while the population of the entire Metropolitan area including adjacent residences in Montgomery, Prince Georges, Arlington, Alexandria, and Fairfax Counties, was 571,852. In 1930, the figures were 485,716 and 670,525. In 1940, they had advanced to 663,091 and 967,985. The estimate for 1946 was put at 930,000 for Washington and 1,380,000 for the entire Metropolitan area, which indicates that nearly a half million people live in the suburbs of the capital city. The Surgeon General's Office has participated in the development of the City of Waahington; it has seen the rapid growth and determined preserva- tion of the United States. The office itself is concerned with the expansion and use of medical science to lessen the miseries of war. Historical con- tributions of the Army in the field of medicine and public health have been made with the encouragement of the central headquarters of The Surgeon General. Among many, the following individual names and achievements stand out as deserving a place in history;3°6 qj William Beaumont'83°7 research in human digestion. (2) The vision of William A. Haramond3°8 for the study of pathology.3°9 (3) The extraordinary organizational scheme of evacuating wounded from the battlefield, devised by Jonathan Letterman.310 ^ The bibliographic research and the founding of the Index Catalogue of medicine, by John Shaw Billings.100 (5) The discovery of the mode of transmission of yellow fever by Walter Reedo197 311 (6) The contributions to the study of bacteriology by George M. Sternberg.3x2 (7) Tne practical 8anitary measures instituted by William C. Gorgas,178 resulting in the elimination of -31- mosquito-borne disease in the Panama Canal Zone.313 (8) The United States Army's enviable record in the care and treatment of pulmonary tuberculosis, which received its impetus from the early work of George F. Bushnell.314 (9) The introduction of compulsory vacoination against typhoid fever in the U. S. Army by Frederick F. Ruasell.-,JO ■*to (10) The discovery of a method for the practioal aterilization of water by means of chlorine, by Carl R. Darnell..317 (Note: The original experiments were conducted in Washington with water samples from the Potomac.) (U) The elimination of uncinariasis, or hookworm, from large areas in Puerto Rico, by Bailey K. Ashford*318 (12) jhs coordination of medical elements in the European Theater of Operations in World War I, by Merritte W. Ireland.319 320 These contributions of great figurea of the past have been brilliant and spectacular, both in science and culture. But, despite the fact that medicine men with their Indian herbs, anake oil, and magic universal remedies have given way to the x-ray, penicillin, and atreptomycin; that the minstrels, the circus, and the vaudeville have collapaed before the phonograph, the radio, and television, American taste and American civiliza- tion show plainly the depression of spirit which has accompanied the mechanical age. streamlined economy, and the increasing tendency to minimum effort of mind and body. A possible oorrolary is the fact that crime recorda for the last ten years were broken in 1946.321 However, where clerks once trembled before the inalgnia of automatic rank and the bellow of misplaced authority, many now offer with confidence their contributions to the welfare of the office and the accomplishment of the mission of the „ Medical Department. It was evidently to such as these that the President200 spoke in 1945, on the close of the second World War: "One of the hardest-working groups of war workers during the past four years—-and perhaps the least appreciated by the public——has been the Federal employes in Washington and throughout the country. They have carried on the day-to-day operations of the Government which are essential to the support of our fighting men and to the carrying on of the war. On behalf of the Nation, I formally express thanks to them*"322 In the State of Virginia, beyond the seat of Government, Tlie Surgeon General's Office still remains within the enormous Pentagon—that honeycomb of discontented souls. Here it is again being demonstrated that the physical environment of an office—vistas of marbled halls, air condition- ing, ramps and escalators, cafeterias (6), snack bars (8), lavatories (236), cooled water drinking fountains (546), and even an inner court "hatching grounds'1—-will never bring about contentment of employes or increase work dividends. Only a generous revelation of the inner spirit——the x factor in human relationships—will attract and bind in confidance and unity those who direct and those who serve. -32 - Now, in days of peace, we hope to take courageous grasp on those tilings of the mind and spirit that are of permanent value; to absorb with deliberation the best of American culture and Ideala, and never again to be swayed by little minds, nor influenced by temporary events that soon pass into oblivion because they have no universal significance. -33- V SUPPLEMENT The Army Medical Museum. Acting on an order from Surgeon General Hammond,3°8 dated 1 August 1862, to form a collection for the "Military Medical Museum," Dr. John H. Brinton, Surgeon, U. S. Volunteers,3*3 records that "* * * very soon the first specimens, the initial preparations of our new Museum, were ready, and made their official appearance on top of my desk, and on the shelves put up for the purpose in my rooms in The Surgeon General's Office, at first down stairs, and afterwards in the second story room of the office on Pennsylvania Avenue, looking toward Riggs' Bank. This room I afterwards relinquished to Medical Inspector General Perley, and was moved with my Museum possessions into one or two of the small rooms of a second story back building on Pennsylvania Avenue, below the War Department, where quarters were assigned to Dr. Woodward139 and myself, then actually pushing on our medical and surgical histories of the war, and compiling our reports of sick and wounded, a work demanding the services of many clerks." Dr. Larnb1^0 324 comments on the above extract: "The first building named above was really a part of the former Riggs' Bank Building, being the part above and back of that occupied by the bank itself (figure 5). A new building has since been erected. The second building named was then known as 180 Pennsylvania Avenue, west of Seventeenth Street, north side. The building is still standing, with a new number, 1719-1721 (figure 23)." According to Dr. Lamb, the museum collection having outgrown the space allotted to it at 180 Pennsylvania Avenue, it became necessary to secure more suitable quarters, and the Corcoran Schoolhouse was se- lected. This building was situated at what is now 1325 H Street, NW.; the old building was torn down some years since and the present one erected at 1335 H Street, NET., which is used by the George Washington University Medical School. The school house was taken over for use by the Government and tendered the Medical Department for the use of the Army Medical Museum.325 j-t was described as being near (opposite) Dr. Gurley's Church, now the New York Avenue Presbyterian Church. It was in this church that President Lincoln worshipped, sometimes in the pew now appropriately designated and sometimes in the little room at the left as one faces the rostrum. The school house mentioned had previously been fitted up for a picture gallery. The Museum was opened to the public about September 1863. ] 1866 Between 12 November and 8 December 1866, the specimens were removed to the renovated Ford's Theater building at 513 Tenth -34 - Street, and the Corcoran building was put in use by the Medical College as it was then called. The building on Tenth Street has been described elsewhere in this article (figure 7). On 11 December, the movement of material and records from 180 Pennsylvania Avenue to the Tenth Street building began. It was completed on 21 December and the quarters at 180 Pennsylvania Avenue were also vacated. The Army Medical Museum was again opened to the public 14 April 1867. During the year ending 1 July 1868, 14,448 persons visited the Museum, and in the following year 25,373 persons viewed the exhibit.326 On 15 February 1888, the removal of the Museum specimens from the Tenth Street building to the new red brick building on the Mall (figure 9) was completed and the Army Medical Museum was again available to the public, on 21 February 1888. In 1946, the Army Medical Museum became one of four divisions of the greatly expanded Army Institute of Pathology. Most of the exhibits were packed away in the basement of the building, and in October 1946 the Museum was quietly moved out of the building to quarters across the street on Independence Avenue, SW., in a temporary building erected during World War II as barracks for the SPARS (Women's Reserve of the Coast Guard Reserve). (Figure 26.) The Army Chemical Laboratory. The Army Chemical Laboratory was located in the Ford's Theater Building on Tenth Street (figure 7). This Laboratory was moved into the new building completed in 1887 for the Museum and Library Division of The Surgeon General's Office (figure 9). Many years later, in 1923, it was transferred to the New York Medical Supply Depot, New York, N.Y. The Army Medical Library. The Library of The SurgeoQ General' s Office, known as the Army Medical Library since 10 January 1922,327 ^as initiated in 1836, during the admin- istration of President Jackson,328 by surgeon General Lovell,°° when he began in his office the collection of books which was thus to become world famous. It is probable that Colonel Lovell's office was at that time in the Vevan house on G Street---exact location not identified. It appears that this library collection followed The Surgeon General until the property at 513 Tenth Street was remodeled for office use (figure 7). While the actual date is not of record, books began to be sent to the Tenth Street building almost at once following the remodeling of the premises for office use in 1866. Substantial additions began to materialize with the active support of Surgeon General Barnes,^34 and under the direction of Dr. Billings, who came to Washington in 1865 and became In S.G.O. head- quarters until 1866 - 35 - Librarian (1868-1895). In I864, the library contained 2,000 volumes; but there were 13,000 in 1871, and in 1873 there were 25,000 books and 15,000 pamphlets. In 1879, there were 50,000 books on the shelves. Between 1865 and 1887, The Surgeon General's Library was a growing collection of books. In cramped quarters over the old Riggs' Bank (figure 5), The Surgeon General and his assistants carried on. Here, among other official business, all new accessions in the way of books, pamphlets, and thesea were ticketed and catalogued, after which they were sent to the Library Hall in the Ford's Theater building on Tenth Street. So small were the quarters over Riggs' Bank that boxes of books had to be opened in the back yard.329 The necessary appropriations for the library were eventually made by the Congress, and its collections began to grow rapidly. The Library was removed from the Tenth Street building in 1887, to the new red brick building newly constructed on the Mall for the Museum and Library Division (figure 9). The amount appropriated for this structure ($200,000) was found to be in- sufficient by $50,000; hence, one small back building was omitted and many other changes were made to bring the cost within the sum at hand. From news accounts of the period we learn that even then "The building (was) not only too small, but it (was) only partially fireproof and there (was) danger the valuable contents (might) be destroyed by fire." In 1942, several circumstances pressed for the removal from the Army Medical Library of certain rare and valuable volumes. Space problems, the danger of fire, storms, the building deterioration, and the movement of many items of value away from the City of Washington to locations less vulnerable to air attack by the nations with which we were then at war, all conspired to the decision to open a branch library in an inland city. Accordingly, on 13 July 1942, there was established the Cleveland Branch of the Army Medical Library, located in the Allen Memorial Medical Library, 11,000 Euclid Avenue, Cleveland 6, Ohio. A bindery was an important establishment there for the preservation and repair of the rare books——a work long delayed (figure 24)• From August 1942 to January 1943, a considerable portion of the Library's rare books and a large part of its statistical and document collection were shipped to Cleveland, where facilities would be available for "the restoration of the rare books as well as the binding of the medical documents and vital statistics." The volumes classed as rare were the 483 incunabula; 2,672 sixteenth century, 4,346 seventeenth century, 11,048 eighteenth century, 472 later works, 846 special collections, and 300 manuscripts---a total of 20,167 items.330 Land for a new building for the Army Medical Library and a suitable structure have been authorized by the Congress,331 but action further than preparation of plans has not yet been taken (February 1948). The propoaed location is on East Capital Street, bounded by Third, Fourth, and A Streets, SE., near the Folger Shakespeare Library, the Library of the Supreme Court and connecting by an underground passage with the Annex to the Library of' Congress (figure 25)* -36- The Office of the Civilian Chief Clerk. S.0.0. Sixty yeara ago the position of civilian Chief Clerk in a bureau220 dominated by temporarily-aaaigned military personnel was a delicate one, requiring tact and diplomacy to a high degree. The following letters re- veal a situation which existed in earlier days and which at that time effectively blocked the higheat level of civilian personnel administration. WAR DEPARTMENT Surgeon General's Office Washington, D. C. April 2d, 1887. "Hon. Wm. C. Endicott,332 Secretary of War. Sir; Mr. Tweedale, Chief Clerk of the War Department, has called upon me and handed me a copy of your circular of March 30th, 1887, relative to the duties of chief clerks of bureaus. I am therein required to report to you in writing what measures I have taken to regulate the clerical force and work of this office, in accordance with sections 173 and 174 of the Revised Statutes, and, in case I have not complied with the law, to submit such remarks as I may deem proper in explanation of my failure. "In compliance with this requirement, I have the honor to state that I do not take, and never have taken, any measures to give effect to the law in question. A narrow and strict construction of your circular might require no further reason for this neglect, than that I have considered myself subject to the immediate orders of the Surgeon General, that I have never been directed by him to exercise any general supervision, and that the slightest voluntary movement in that direction has been instantly checked. I conceive, however, that your purpose would be more fully answered by giving what I suppose to have been in part the reasons, actuating the successive Surgeons General, who are no longer present, to speak for themselves. "So intimation has reached me from any quarter that I am con- sidered deficient in business capacity, industry or integrity. In- deed the successive recommendations of the Chief of the bureau, and the fact that I have been left in charge of large pecuniary interests, seem to negative such a supposition. "I was appoint*? i a clerk of class one in 1857, and in 1862 was promoted to class four, on the recommendation of Surgeon General Hammond.308 I was appointed Chief Clerk, June 27th, 1871, upon the recommendation of Surgeon General Barnes.134 From my first entry into office until the last named date I had been employed almost ex- clusively in examining and recording contracts, accounts and claims--- -37- Documents whose footings weuld aggregate about $45,000,000 had passed through my hands, and I was, perhaps, more familiar with them than any other person then was, or was ever likely to be- come. The Surgeon General may possibly have thought that I would render more valuable service by remaining in charge of these matters than if I were removed to a new sphere of duty. "Again, the greater part of the clerical force and work of this office are under the immediate direction of commissioned officers; some of whom are conspicuous for their rank, services, or attainments, and the least of whom treat me as an inferior. Any attempt to interfere within their respective jurisdictions would lead to conflicts of authority that might prove disastrous to a meddlesome chief clerk. I suppose it is somewhat so in all mili- tary bureaus, and it is probable that this was a further considera- tion in the mind of the Surgeon General. "More potent, however, than either of the above considerations, was probably the peculiar bias of the late General Crane's mind.333 He came into the office in 1863, and showed a marked aptitude for supervising the minutiae of office work. He wished to be kept individually advised what every man was doing, and how he was doing it. For many years he added to the duties of a staff-officer all those that usually devolve upon a chief clerk. I apprehend that he would have resented very effectually any interference with his management. But at length increasing cares and failing strength led to an insensible transfer of most of the details to the efficient clerk who acted as his private secretary. This transfer culminated in an order dated August 24, 1882, a copy of which is herewith enclosed. "This order, conferring plenary authority sufficiently indi- cates the General'a failing powers. Since that time the Chief of the Administrative Branch has presented to the general view all the appearance of the chief clerk of a bureau. "For myself, with three assistants I have charge of the furnishing of artificial limbs and appliances, or commutation therefor, the examination of accounts of disbursing officers, and the examination in part of all old claims. I fully believe that my present sphere of activity might be somewhat enlarged, with ad- vantage to the public service. Very respectfully Your obedient servant (Signed) Samuel Ramsey (Note: Transmitted through Chief Clerk." The Surgeon General.)334 -38- To the above letter the following prompt reply was received from the Secretary of War. WAR DEPARTMENT Washington City April 18, 1887. "Sir: "I have received the report of Mr. Ramsey, Chief Clerk of the Surgeon General's Office, dated the 2d instant, forwarded by you on the 5th instant. "It appears from this report that Mr. Ramsey is on duty in charge of a division of work in your office and has been so engaged for several years, and that he has not performed the duties imposed upon him by Sections 173 and 174 of the Revised Statutes. "It will be seen from the law that the duties of Chief Clerk cannot be delegated to another, and I have the honor therefore to inform you that Mr. Ramsey should at once resume his legitimate duty as Chief Clerk of the Surgeon General's Office. Very respectfully, Your obedient servant, The Wnu c* Endicott,332 Secretary of War. " Surgeon General U. S. Army.334 On 19 April 1887 an S.G.O. Order restored Mr. Ramsey to the Office of Chief Clerk, and on 29 April 1887 The Surgeon General issued another order outlining the specific duties of the Chief Clerk, S.G.O.334 The Revised Statutes of tlie United States referred to in the above correspondence read as follows;335 "RS. 173. Each chief clerk in the several Departments, and Bureaus, and other offices connected with the Departments, shall supervise, under the direction of his immediate superior, the duties of the other clerks therein, and see that they are faithfully per- formed. 336 "RS. 174. Each chief clerk shall take care, from time to time, that the duties of the other clerics are distributed with equality and uniformity, according to the nature of the case. He shall revise such distribution from time to time, for the purpose of correcting any tendency to undue accumulation or reduction of duties, whether arising from individual negligence or incapacity, or from increase or diminution of particular kinds of business. And he shall report monthly to his superior officer any existing defect that he may be aware of in the arrangement or dispatch of business.336 - 39 - "RS. 175. Each head of a Department, chief of a Bureau, or other superior officer, shall, upon receiving each monthly report of his chief clerk, rendered pursuant to the preceding section, examine the facts stated therein, and take such measures, in the exercise of the powers conferred upon him by law, as may be necessary and proper to amend any existing defects in the arrange- ment or dispatch of business disclosed by such report."•3JO During the period of World War I, the Chief Clerk of The Surgeon General's Office was assisted by many additional commissioned and civilian executive officers and assistants, including imported efficiency special- ists. At its greatest expansion, the civilian payroll covered 1,617 em- ployes. The average of salaries in The Surgeon General's Office was known to be next to the lowest of any bureau in the War Department, underbid only by the Militia Bureau (later known as the National Guard Bureau); yet, early in the war, a petition for extra pay for overtime work was in- dignantly rejected on patriotic grounds by the employes themselves, and its circulation was stopped. Many employes gave one hundred extra hours a month to their work; a few gave as many as one hundred and fifty or more extra hours each month. So long and strenuous were these voluntary work hours (without pay) that, to relieve the tension in at least one branch, a halt was insisted on once a week for general congregation, con- versation, the development of acquaintance with fellow employes, and the reading of articles or short stories.337 smoking indoors was not permit- ted because of the temporary construction of Unit F, but short recesses were arranged for that purpose, when employes walked out of doors. In all dealings with the employes idealism was stressed; the spirit of the civilian group was kept exceptionally high. Group singing out of doors was a frequent practice, followed by personal words of encouragement from The Surgeon General.319 ^ personal address by Secretary of War 3aker338 pro. duced a particularly inspiring effect among the employes* Salary adjust- ments were based on recommendations as to efficiency and on funds available. Such funds were allocated to division heads, and promotions, based on recommendations of supervisors, and approved by the division heads, could generally be effected with dispatch. In most instances, the employe was not aware of a proposed promotion, and no time was spent by him in publicizing his value to the office. If his name could not be reached on one list it was placed foremost on the next one submitted. In the matter of employe counsel, a subsection of the Chief Clerk's office was established for this purpose. The greatest contributions were in finding rooms for newly arrived clerks, assisting during the great influenza epidemic of 1917-19J8, and escorting home those inexperienced persons to whom life in the wartime capital had been too harrowing an experience. The Ordnance Welfare Service was available to us for many years. The Classification Act was passed in 1923, to provide equal pay for equal work.256 -^ its wal