June 2007 Wick Volume 10, Issue 2 the Doctor Was Framed: Portrait of 19Th Century Physician Joins Collection by Paul Robertson, Curator
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BaillieThe June 2007 wick Volume 10, Issue 2 The Doctor was Framed: Portrait of 19th Century Physician Joins Collection By Paul Robertson, Curator Page 2 Museum Highlights the Battle of the Windmill near Prescott, Ontario in 1838. In his short life, Dr. Reynolds Page 3 played many roles. He was later chairman of the Board of Executive Director’s Education in Brockville, the Message first Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of Canada West, Inter- national Order of Odd Fellows, Pages 4 & 5 and a contributor to the jour- nals of the Canadian Institute Curatorial Corner and the Smithsonian Institu- tion, and the British-American Page 6 Medical Journal. Education Edge Although we do not yet know the name of the paint- ing’s artist, this is a fine exam- Page 7 ple of traditional medical por- traiture. The subject is por- Welcoming New Faces A new face has joined the Museum of trayed with the tools of the medical trade: Health Care – young and self-confident, a skull and a book of anatomy, traditional this new gentleman is a welcome addition symbols of profession. The existence of Page 8 to the institution. this portrait is particularly significant, par- List of Donors ticularly because it was done for a young Our newest “staff member” is a nota- physician in the early part of his career in ble arrival: the first painted portrait of a a country where formal medical training Canadian physician to enter the collec- was still emerging. tion of the Museum of Health Care. Dr. Thomas Reynolds (1820-1859) trained in Dr. Reynolds’ portrait descended the early 1840s in Edinburgh and at through the family line to Archibald McGill College, Montreal and later “Archie” Edward Malloch (Queen’s BA practiced in Brockville, Ontario. 1948), a McGill English professor. His widow Mrs. Barbara Malloch generously In an age when the lack of local insti- donated the painting to the Museum in tutions forced most would-be Canadian 2007. doctors to head to medical schools in the United States, Dr. Reynolds represents the Come and meet Dr. Reynolds later in first wave of Canadian-born and trained the summer when he goes on exhibit at physicians. Prior to entering medicine, he the Museum! served as a volunteer with British forces fending off an American rebel invasion at 1 Museum Highlights Architecture as Artefact: Health Care History as told by the Buildings of KGH by Danielle Pacey, Walking Tour Guide You may know one of the reasons for In 1894, a new facility, the Doran Build- Kingston General Hospital’s designation ing, was built specifically for the care of as a National Historic Site: that KGH’s female patients and was designed accord- main building served as the House of Par- ing to sanitization principles popularized liament for the United Province of Canada by Florence Nightingale, as well as in rec- from 1841 to 1844. You might not be so ognition of the value of antisepsis and familiar, though, with the second reason: asepsis. Built in pavilion style, the design that every building of substance ever built of the Doran Building aimed for patient on KGH property since 1835 is still stand- comfort and health through cleanliness ing and in use today. After over 170 years and good ventilation. Sunlight and clean of expansion and development, the hos- air entered the building freely through the pital now boasts the most complete col- large windows and sun porches. In a very lection of public hospital buildings in progressive move, though, Doran was al- Canada. most entirely isolated from the rest of the Participants on the Astonishing Past of hospital in order to prevent the transmis- These buildings, like so many in King- sion of infections. Doran staff didn’t have Kingston General Hospital Walking Tour, ston, serve as artefacts in themselves, tell- contact with patients in other parts of the outside of the original building constructed ing through their architecture the story hospital, and separate wards were desig- in 1835. of health care’s development since the nated for different cases. It even had its early 1800s. One such development was own operating room, which was outfitted that of germ theory, the advancement of with metal and glass fixtures instead of The Museum in which had a substantial impact on build- wood, since metal and glass were much the News! ing design over the years. easier to keep clean. The first hospital building, completed Over the years, Kingston General Hos- It seems that everywhere you look these in 1835, was built near the water because pital has continued to expand, and many days, our Museum is there (and that’s how its rural location was quiet and clean. This more fascinating examples of architectural we like it)! These are just a few of the reflected the early 19th century belief that innovation can be found on KGH prop- places we’ve been seen: disease was transmitted by bad air, also erty. The first hospital building, the Nickle called miasma. Natural ventilation was Wing, and the Doran Building are only • Canadian Nurse magazine’s January the main form of preventive medicine at three of the buildings which not only re- 2007 issue included an article about the time; hence the large windows and flect the development of health care, but the Museum’s online artefact database numerous balconies on the first building, the ever-evolving role of the hospital in • In February, the Kingston Whig- designed to receive the stiff breeze from the Kingston community. Standard published a page 2 article by the lake. Jack Chiang about the Museum’s To tour the grounds of Kingston Gen- Heritage Week tours, and their March By the end of the 19th century, in con- eral Hospital and learn more about what 16th issue included a photo of our trast, germ theory had become much more makes KGH a historical treasure, why not new Rockwood Asylum exhibit (read complex. The designers of the Nickle try the “Astonishing Past of Kingston more about this exhibit on page 5 of Wing, built in 1891, had in mind the pa- General Hospital” Walking Tour? These this newsletter) tient with a contagious illness in need of one-hour tours run Tuesday through Sun- • Our Curator Paul Robertson was isolation. When it was built, the second day, rain or shine, at 11a.m., 1 p.m. and 3 interviewed about the evolution of floor was only accessible by an outside p.m., throughout the summer, departing the hospital gown for a Toronto Star staircase. A new emphasis on hygiene from the Museum at 32 George Street. article published May 11th could be seen in the wall design: the cor- Admission is $5 for adults and free for • The “Living Well” section of Kingston ners of the rooms were filled in and children 14 and under. Group rates are Life magazine’s Summer 2007 issue rounded, and all the edges were beveled available, but please call ahead to make features an article entitled “The so that the rooms could be easily cleaned. your booking! Museum of Health Care: Lessons of the Past Create Teachings for the Future” by writer Sabitri Ghosh. Pick up a copy today! 2 An Astonishing Example of Health Executive Director’s Message Care in Canada By Dr. James Low, Executive Director The development of health care in L1,000. The government, in 1832, ap- Wing and received formal training, Kingston is reflected in the two National proved a grant of L1,000 annually for amounting to about 12 hours a week, in Historic Sites, the Kingston General Hos- three years to build a hospital. Although the hospital. In exchange they formed the pital and the Ann Baillie Building. construction was delayed during the chol- principal labour force of the hospital, era epidemic in 1834, the building was working long hours attending to patients In 1815, Kingston was a community of completed in 1835. However there were on the wards and in the operating rooms. 3000; a population which gradually in- no funds to open or operate the hospital. creased over the next 50 years to approxi- The Main Building was finally opened as The nurses’ home, completed in 1904, mately 12,000. Society included an up- a hospital in 1845. acknowledged the advance of nursing as per class of government officials and sen- a profession critical to the institution. In ior military personnel, a middle class of Religious orders for centuries had pro- 1997, the Historic Sites and Monuments merchants, shopkeepers, and tradesmen vided nursing services for the destitute Board recommended the Nurses’ Home, and the urban poor. A large annual mi- and the sick. There were no secular nurs- now the Ann Baillie Building, to be of his- gration occurred of immigrants, many of ing training programs when Florence toric significance. The following com- whom were destitute and sick and repre- Nightingale demonstrated the importance memorative plaque was unveiled in 1999. sented a major problem for this small of nursing in the maintenance of sanita- community. tion and the prevention of suffering and “One of the earliest nurses’ residences in ill health during the Crimean War. The Canada, this stately building symbolizes the Sickness and particularly infections role and need for nursing services was development and recognition of nursing as were a constant problem in the commu- highlighted during the American Civil a profession. The home was completed in nity. These infections were responsible for War, and the end of the war recognized 1904 for students at the Kingston General loss of life with a high mortality among nursing as a respectable profession for Hospital nursing school, who cared for pa- infants, children and young adults.