Farlow, John Woodford (1853-1937). Otolaryngology instrumentation collection, 1870-1935
Content Description
Scientific instrument
Dates
- Creation: 1870-1935
Creator
- Farlow, John Woodford, 1853-1937 (Person)
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
25 objectsBiographical / Historical
John Woodford Farlow (1853-1937), A.B., 1874, Harvard College, Cambridge, Massachusetts; M.D., 1877, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, was a laryngology practitioner in Boston from 188 to 1916, and was the Clinical Instructor of Laryngology at Harvard Medical School from 1892 to 1906.
John Woodford Farlow was born in Boston in 1853 to John Smith Farlow (1817-1890), a prominent Boston merchant, and Nancy Wight (Blanchard) Farlow (1816-1895). He received an A.B. from Harvard College in 1874, and then an M.D. from Harvard Medical School in 1877. Farlow completed an internship at the Boston Lying-In Hospital and then traveled Europe for two years after receiving his degree. He began a general practice in Boston in 1880, but soon began to specialize in the field of laryngology. He quickly became associated with the Boston Dispensary, the Staniford Street Dispensary, and the Free Dispensary for Diseases of Women. He joined the Harvard Medical School faculty in 1892, where he served as Clinical Instructor of Laryngology until 1906. During this time he became associated with the Carney Hospital, where he founded a department for Diseases of the Nose and Throat, the Boston City Hospital, and the Free Home for Consumptives. Towards the end of his career, he became the Consulting Physician for Diseases of the Throat at Boston Dispensary. He retired from practicing medicine in 1916.
Farlow invented and improved upon several laryngology instruments during his career, including the Farlow snare and Farlow punch in 1895. He was president of the American Laryngological Association in 1902. He also served as president of the Massachusetts Library Association and the Medical Historical Club of Boston. He was appointed librarian of the Boston Medical Library in 1905 but acted primarily in an assistant role until his retirement from practice in 1916. He then dedicated most of his time to the Boston Medical Library. In 1918 he published "The History of the Boston Medical Library", and wrote the majority of "The Fiftieth Anniversary of the Boston Medical Library" in 1926.
Farlow married Annie Hardon Burr in 1877. They had two children: Margaret Farlow and John Smith Farlow. He died of an illness at his summer home in Manchester in 1937.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Collection sourced from three separate donations by John Woodford Farlow to the Warren Anatomical Museum on the following dates: May 1916 (M4086), April 2, 1917 (M0222), and June 25, 1935 (M0178).
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.