Nearly 150 years of Memphis medical history will be examined in this WKNO 60-minute documentary.
It is a history filled with growth, disaster, disease and achievements.
In 1858 the Steamboat Pennsylvania exploded down river from Memphis. Among the seriously injured that were taken to Memphis was Henry Clemens, brother of Samuel Clemens, a.k.a. Mark Twain. Twain came to his bedside, wrote letters home to the family and was here when Henry died. Years later in his memoir Life On The Mississippi, Twain re-visited his days in Memphis and praised the doctors and nurses who cared for Henry and proclaimed that the city was “experienced . . . in the gracious office of the Good Samaritan.
"When I began this documentary," said producer Cris Hardaway, "I asked myself 'Why Memphis?' Why did we develop a thriving medical community that today represents over 10% of the economic output of the city and employs one out of every nine workers in Memphis." The answer begins in the nineteenth century with the geography of the city. Sitting on the Mississippi River and intersected by the railroads, Memphis became a crossroads for hundreds of thousands of travelers every year. That brought doctors to the region and prompted the state to build the first hospital here.
Interesting Facts About Memphis Medicine
• Memphis was the site of the first hospital in the state, established by the legislature in 1829, just ten years after the founding of the city.
• Throughout much of the nineteenth century hospitals were open only to travelers and transients — by law. Citizens of Memphis who got sick were treated in their homes.
• Throughout much of the nineteenth century doctors were not licensed or board certified. Most served one or two years as an apprentice to an experienced physician and then attend two semesters of medical college to get a degree.
• The yellow fever epidemic of 1878 almost wiped Memphis off the map. From mid-August to mid-October, there were 17,000 reported cases of yellow fever and 5,150 people died. That death total is higher than either the attack on Pearl Harbor or Nine Eleven.
• Dr. Willis Campbell, founder of the Campbell Clinic, wrote Campbell's Operative Orthopaedics in 1939. Now in its eleventh edition and available as an app for the iPhone, this volume is recognized worldwide as the "bible" of orthopaedic surgery.
• Ever wonder why Danny Thomas picked Memphis as the site of St. Jude? In the mid-fifties Danny began to actively pursue his desire to build a clinic or hospital open to all, regardless of race, religion or ability to pay. He was deeply moved by the racial prejudice and injustice he read about, particularly in the South. He consulted his mentor and friend, Archbishop Samuel Stritch of Chicago. Earlier in his career, Cardinal Stritch had served as pastor of St. Patrick's Church in Memphis, and he felt the city would be an ideal choice. Danny took his advice and the rest is history.
Major production funding for The City of Good Samaritans is provided by the Dr. Iris Pearce Estate. Additional funding provided by the WKNO Production Fund and WKNO Endowment Fund.
The broadcast of this documentary is sponsored by Semmes-Murphey Clinic, Bowden Internal Medicine — Dr. Marcia R. Bowden, Baptist Hospital, UT Health Science Center and Elmwood Cemetery.
