archives collection - American Academy of Family Physicians ...

esidency at Mt. Sinai Hospital in Chicago, finishing in 1941. He was named chief resident at Mt.
Sinai. In 1941, he entered the U.S. Army Medical Corps as a first lieutenant, serving as a hospital
executive officer and port surgeon in the South Pacific from 1941-1946. He was discharged a
lieutenant colonel and entered private practice in Chicago. Dr. Shapiro was involved in the founding
of the American College of Physicians and Surgeons, which merged with the AAGP in 1948. Dr.
Shapiro’s hospital practice began at Mt. Sinai in Chicago, where he was clinical assistant in surgery.
He later moved to the active staff of Jackson Park Hospital in Chicago and served as director of the
department of physical medicine and rehabilitation and practiced under the department of general
practice. He served the Illinois Chapter in a number of roles, including as delegate to the AAGP
Congress for ten years and as vice president, speaker, chairman of the board, and president (1961-
1962). He was elected to the AAGP Board of Directors in 1963 and served as vice president and
president of the AAGP (1968-1969). He died in 1999 in Chicago.
Dr. Shapiro’s collection consists of four boxes of scripts from the Marcus Welby, M.D. television
show which aired on ABC from 1969-1976. Dr. Shapiro was AAGP president when the show
started, and was sent copies of each script. He received scripts through 1976 but this collection was
weeded in order to eliminate duplicates with Dr. Thomas L. Stern’s collection of Welby scripts.
Skinner, John O., M.D. (1845-1932)
1850-1932
3 boxes
A native of Baltimore, Maryland, John Oscar Skinner, M.D. was born in 1845 and was from an old
Maryland family. After graduating with M.D. degrees from both the University of Maryland (1866)
and the University of Pennsylvania (1867), he took special courses at the Sorbonne in Paris, at the
University of Wurzburg in Germany, and at the University of Vienna. After returning to the U.S., in
1871 he joined the United States Army as a civilian, or contract surgeon (the term “surgeon” being
used in the military to describe all physicians then in service, regardless of specialty). After various
postings at forts all across the Western United States, Dr. Skinner was detailed to serve as a surgeon
in the Modoc War of 1873-1874. On January 17, 1873, while serving in this capacity at Lava Beds,
Oregon, Dr. Skinner performed an act of bravery which would eventually lead to his being
recommended for the Medal of Honor when he “Rescued a wounded soldier who lay under a close
and heavy fire during the assault on the Modoc stronghold after 2 soldiers had unsuccessfully
attempted to make the rescue and both had been wounded in doing so.” However, the Army initially
held that he was not eligible for the award since at the time of his act of bravery, Dr. Skinner was a
civilian. The issue was not resolved until 1916, when Congress finally passed a special act which
authorized awarding of the Medal of Honor to Dr. Skinner. On April 6, 1916—forty-three years after
his heroic deed—Dr. Skinner received the award from President Woodrow Wilson in a ceremony at
the White House. Following his service in the Modoc War, in 1874 Dr. Skinner received a
commission as an assistant surgeon in the Army, where he spent the next 19 years, retiring in 1893 as
a Surgeon with the rank of major. While in service, Dr. Skinner was posted to areas all across the
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