History of medical practice in Illinois - Bushnell Historical Society

278 History of Medical Practice in IllinoisFor many years the leading eye, ear, nose and throat specialist in Jolietwas Dr. Harry Woodruff. The son of early pioneers in the area, Dr. Woodruffwas educated in the public schools of Joliet; in 1888, at the age oftwenty, he graduated from the College of Pharmacy of the University ofIllinois. After working in pharmacies in Joliet and Spokane, Washington,for two years and being encouraged by his mother topursue a medicalcareer, he entered the College of Physicians and Surgeons in 1890, where hereceived credit for one year because of his pharmaceutical background. Hefinished the one year internship at the Illinois Eye and Ear Infirmary in1893, where he had come under the influence of Drs. Montgomery, Beardand Bettman. While he practiced the specialty in Joliet, he retained hisaffiliation with the Infirmary for over thirty-five years, for most of that timeas chief of one of the eye services. He was an excellent teacher, kindly, andhighly regarded by all his colleagues throughout the state. Extremely tall,Dr. Woodruff was possessed of considerable humility.Very few adequately trained or qualified ophthalmologists were to befound in southern Illinois during the 1850-1900 period, although duringthat time trachoma was quite common and the cause of much industrialblindness in that area. One colorful figure who did practice eye, ear, noseand throat for some eight years was Dr. Thomas Hall Shastid. Born inPittsfield, Illinois, in 1866, and the son of a physician, he attended theMedical School of Columbia University. He then transferred to the Universityof Vermont which granted him his M.D. degree in 1888. Postgraduatestudy in Vienna prepared him for his specialty which he carried out inconjunction with general practice in Pittsfield for two years. In his engagingautobiography "Tramping to Failure," he described how he left the practiceof general medicine and eye, ear, nose and throat to enter Harvard,where he received an A.B. degree cum laude in 1893. Returning to Illinois,he practiced the specialty for a period in Galesburg, only to enter the lawschool of the University of Michigan where he received his A.M. degreein 1901 and his LL.B. degree in 1902. Then followed a period of practiceof eye, ear, nose and throat in southern Illinois, ending his career inMarion, Illinois. He later moved to Duluth, Minnesota.As might be inferred from this varied career, Dr. Shastid was interestedin many things outside medicine, the most prominent of which was a planfor permanent peace. He was a prolific writer of both scientific articlesand fiction, and was a principal collaborator in Wood's "Encyclopedia," towhich he contributed some 3000 articles. From 1907 to 1912, Dr. Shastidheld the chair of the Professor of the History of Medicine at the AmericanMedical College of St. Louis.