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SERIES Identifier: WAM001, c13255

Bradford, Edward H. (Edward Hickling),1848-192. Series of orthopedic braces designed by Edward H. Bradford, 1880-1898

Content Description

Six leg braces

Dates

  • Creation: 1880-1898

Creator

Language of Materials

Object labels, inscriptions, etc. are primarily in English.

Conditions Governing Access

Warren Anatomical Museum objects are available for research access. Access is premised on the availability of space and staff to facilitate use. Contact Public Services for the Warren Anatomical Museum for more information.

Extent

6 objects

Biographical / Historical

Lloyd Thornton Brown (1880-1961), A.B., 1903, Harvard College, Cambridge, Massachusetts; M.D., 1907, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, was an orthopedic surgeon specializing in chronic diseases.

Lloyd Thornton Brown was born in Worcester, Massachusetts on August 20, 1880, to Edwin and Marianna Brown. He was born with a club foot, which was treated through orthopedic braces, tendon surgery, and eventually osteotomy. This inspired him to join the medical profession and eventually become an osteological surgeon himself. He graduated with an A.B. from Harvard College in 1903 and an M.D. from Harvard Medical School in 1907. After graduating, he became a surgical intern at the Massachusetts General Hospital from 1907-1908. He then practiced at Children's Hospital and Faulkner Hospital in Boston, Massachusetts, and joined the faculty at Harvard Medical School. During this time he became an orthopedic surgeon with a specialty in chronic diseases. He was president of the Board of Directors of the Robert Breck Brigham Hospital from 1933 to 1951, at which point he retired to live a less strenuous life.

While he was an intern at Massachusetts General Hospital, Brown assisted at the hospital's first direct blood transfusion from donor to patient. Brown authored many articles throughout his lifetime, covering a wide range of topics in osteology. He wrote the book "Posture and the Pretubercular Child" in 1926. He co-authored the book "Body Mechanics in the Study and Treatment of Disease" in 1935 with Joel E. Goldthwait, Loring T. Swaim, and John G. Kuhns.

Brown married Marian Wigglesworth on January 14, 1911. They had four children: Dr. Lloyd Brown (1911-2004), Dr. Thornton Brown (d. 2000), Richard Brown, and Ruth [Brown] Ernest. His two oldest sons both entered the medical profession, and his son Thornton became an orthopedic surgeon. Lloyd Thornton Brown died at his home in Harvard, Massachusetts on December 13, 1961.

Biographical / Historical

Edward Hickling Bradford (1848-1926), A.B., 1869, Harvard College, Cambridge, Massachusetts; M.D., 1873, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, was an instructor of orthopedic surgery from 1880 to 1893, assistant professor of orthopedics from 1893 to 1903, professor of orthopedic surgery from 1903 to 1912, Dean of the Faculty of Medicine from 1912 to 1918, and Overseer of Harvard College from 1919 to 1925.

Edward Hickling Bradford was born on June 9, 1948, in Boston, Massachusetts, to Charles Frederick Bradford (1806-1887) and Eliza Edes [Hickling] Bradford (1825-1916). After graduating from Harvard College with an A.B. in 1869, Bradford had a brief career in business. He soon decided to pursue a career in medicine instead. He graduated from Harvard Medical School in 1873. He then traveled to Europe, where he studied in Vienne, Paris, Berlin, Strasburg, and London. Upon returning to the United States in 1875, he went to New York to study with the surgeon Dr. Charles Fayette Taylor. He joined the staff of the Boston Dispensary in 1876 and Boston Children's Hospital in 1878. While he was there he became interested in orthopedics, which soon became the focus of his work. He later worked at the House of the Good Samaritan for many years with Dr. Buckminster Brown. Brown was the chair of the institution, which specialized in bone and joint diseases of children. Bradford eventually succeeded Brown as the chair.

Bradford joined the faculty at Harvard Medical School in 1880 as a clinical instructor in orthopedic surgery. He then became an instructor in surgery in 1886. He was promoted to assistant professor of Orthopedics in 1893, and he became the first full professor of Orthopedic Surgery in 1903. In 1912 he retired from teaching and became the 12th Dean of the Faculty of Medicine. He served in this position for six years, and then became Overseer of Harvard College. He retired from this position in 1925.

In 1890, Bradford published the text "Orthopedic Surgery" with Dr. Robert B. Lovett, which was considered the standard work on the subject for many years. He was influential in founding the American Orthopedic Association and served as its third president in 1889. In 1893, Bradford founded the Industrial School for Crippled and Deformed Children with Dr. Augustus Thorndike. This was the first school for children with physical disabilities in the United States. The name was later changed to Cotting School and the campus was moved to Lexington, Massachusetts, where the school continues to operate.

Edward Hickling Bradford married Edith Fiske in 1900. They had four children: Robert Fiske Bradford (1902-1983), Edward Hickling Bradford (1904-1970), Charles Hickling Bradford (1904-2000), and Elizabeth Bradford (1906-2007). He died suddenly of a cerebral hemorrhage on May 7, 1926.

Immediate Source of Acquisition

This set of orthopedic leg braces was given to the Warren Anatomical Museum by Dr. Lloyd T. Brown on February 15, 1943. These braces were most likely used by Lloyd T. Brown himself throughout his childhood in order to treat club foot. The braces were used from 1880-1898, with the majority being used before 1885.

Processing Information

These objects were processed as part of the Warren Anatomical Museum's 2019 LEAN project "Maximizing Cataloging Output for the Warren Anatomical Museum Instrumentation Backlog Through Minimal Processing."

Repository Details

Part of the Center for the History of Medicine (Francis A. Countway Library of Medicine) Repository

The Center for the History of Medicine in the Francis A. Countway Library of Medicine is one of the world's leading resources for the study of the history of health and medicine. Our mission is to enable the history of medicine and public health to inform healthcare, the health sciences, and the societies in which they are embedded.

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