Harvey Cushing and the battle of Boston common: military medical preparedness for world war one.

OBJECTIVE

To explore the events and people that shaped Harvey Cushing, one of the nation's leading surgeons, into a political actor as he rallied support for the issue of military medical preparedness for World War One.

SUMMARY BACKGROUND DATA

In a little remembered episode of American medical history, for 2 years before the nation's formal entry into World War One in April 1917, Harvey Cushing attempted to garner political and professional support for the idea of military medical preparedness. His efforts, including the proposed construction of a functioning Base Hospital on Boston Common, sparked controversy in a public that was torn between maintaining neutrality and going to war.

METHODS

An analysis of Harvey Cushing's unpublished letters, manuscripts, and papers located at the Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT.

RESULTS

While Harvey Cushing's crusade for military medical preparedness failed to win over the local public, it helped convince national military leaders that the civilian medical community was ready to assist in the war. This, in turn, laid the foundation for much of the American medical establishment's success on the battlefields of World War One.

CONCLUSIONS

The disagreement surrounding the Battle of Boston Common, as Harvey Cushing had labeled the debate, reveals both how, even at the brink of war, ideas formulated on the war front could not be translated to the home front, and how early military medical preparedness, although national in character, was commanded by only a few select voices.