Category Archives: Medicine

Polio vaccinations, 1955 and 1964

Posted on December 15, 2020 by editor

First- and second-graders topped the priority list when local public health officials prepared to deliver the first polio vaccinations in 1955. The program was a success, despite an unplanned delay in scheduled “booster” shots. Children were among those most susceptible … Continue reading →

Posted in Children, Medicine, Public health, Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Abortion murder trials, 1894

Posted on September 7, 2020 by editor

Was a Springfield doctor guilty of killing two women via botched abortions in 1893? Juries said no, but newspaper editorial writers disagreed. And despite the acquittals of Dr. John H. Lawrence, the boyfriend of one of the women was convicted … Continue reading →

Posted in Crime and vice, Medicine, Women | Leave a comment

Prince Sanitarium fire, 1923

Posted on August 21, 2020 by editor

Twenty-five patients and five nurses escaped unharmed when a fire destroyed the top two floors of the David Prince Sanitarium on Aug. 23, 1923. But a Springfield Fire Department aerial truck was also a near-casualty. The Prince Sanitarium was founded … Continue reading →

Posted in Buildings, Fires, Medicine | Leave a comment

Bachmann & Keefner Pharmacy

Posted on July 10, 2020 by editor

When it closed in 2003, Bachmann & Keefner Pharmacy, with its black-and-white mosaic floor, handsome walnut paneling and fire-engine-red bar stools, ended a 90-year tradition at the southeast corner of Sixth Street and Capitol Avenue. The corner building, under various … Continue reading →

Posted in Buildings, Business, Medicine, Restaurants | 4 Comments

Smallpox and Springfield’s ‘pest house,’ 1901-02

Posted on May 13, 2020 by editor

This entry has been edited and expanded to reflect questions about whether there really was a smallpox “epidemic”in Sangamon County in 1901-02. When a smallpox scare broke out in Springfield in 1901, the Springfield City Council decided to build a “pest … Continue reading →

Posted in Buildings, Local government, Maps, Medicine, Public health | Leave a comment

Southern Illinois Medical School 50th anniversary (2020)

Posted on March 31, 2020 by editor

Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, Southern Illinois University School of Medicine indefinitely postponed its 50th anniversary alumni gala, which had been scheduled for April 4, 2020, at the Crowne Plaza in Springfield. The gala was a minor casualty of the … Continue reading →

Posted in Education, Medicine, Prominent figures | Leave a comment

Broadwell’s building

Posted on January 30, 2020 by editor

This entry has been edited to correct information in a photo caption. The building on the northwest corner of Fifth and Washington streets in Springfield was a drugstore for about 125 years. While that tradition ended in 1981, the old … Continue reading →

Posted in Architecture, Buildings, Business, Historic Sites, Medicine, Prominent figures | 2 Comments

Polio quarantine, 1949

Posted on January 6, 2020 by editor

In July 1949, with a polio epidemic under way, Springfield officials ordered children under 16 years old into quarantine – confined, with few exceptions, to their own backyards. Hours later, 4-year-old Thomas Suttle died of polio. The boy was the … Continue reading →

Posted in Children, Local government, Medicine, Public health | 9 Comments

First woman dentist

Posted on April 23, 2019 by editor

Jennie F. Spurrier (1847-1912) was a dentist in Springfield beginning in 1877, making her the city’s first woman dentist and one of the earliest female dentists in the U.S. From what we know of her, she also seems to have … Continue reading →

Posted in Medicine, Prominent figures, Women | 2 Comments

First blood transfusions

Posted on February 11, 2019 by editor

This entry has been edited to fully identify transfusion recipient Julia Harney. Dr. Don Deal (1879-1952) performed Sangamon County’s first blood transfusion in 1914 – apparently successfully. The patient was Julia Matthews Harney (1867-1924), a farm wife from Middletown, who … Continue reading →

Posted in Medicine, Public health | 2 Comments