CPP 2/012-01: James Tyson address "The Homes of The College of Physicians", 1908

Series — Box: 1, Folder: 1

Scope and Contents

This small collection consists of a typescript of James Tyson’s address, “The Homes of the College of Physicians,” which Tyson read at the cornerstone-laying ceremony on April 29, 1908.

Dates

1908

Biographical / Historical

James Tyson was born in Philadelphia on 26 October 1841, the son of Henry Tyson, M.D., and Gertrude (Haviland) Caswell Tyson. He graduated from Haverford College in 1860, and five years later, also received the degree of Master of Arts from Haverford.

Following his graduation from Haverford, James enrolled in the Medical Department of the University of Pennsylvania. In January 1862, in the midst of his second-year medical studies, he volunteered his services as an acting medical cadet assigned to the U.S. Army General Hospital located at Broad and Cherry Streets in Philadelphia. There he worked under surgeon-in-charge, Dr. John Neill, while completing his course of study at Penn. Tyson graduated with the degree of Doctor of Medicine in March 1863, and the next month became an acting assistant surgeon at the General Hospital. During the Gettysburg Campaign, the Army ordered James to Harrisburg and assigned him to the Mulberry Street Hospital and also to the West Walnut Hospital until mid-July. On 10 July Tyson learned that the Board of Managers of the Pennsylvania Hospital in Philadelphia had elected him Resident Physician of the Hospital. Pennsylvania Hospital was Philadelphia’s leading medical institution and election to a residency there was an exceptional supplement to the regular medical education. Tyson immediately resigned his position with the Army, and reported to the medical staff at the Pennsylvania Hospital. In May 1864, after completing his residency, he was reappointed an acting assistant surgeon with the U.S. Army and re-assigned to the Broad and Cherry streets hospital. He served at that hospital – and also, for six weeks in the fall of 1864, at a hospital in Winchester, Virginia – until the end of the Civil War in the spring of 1865.

In May 1864, Tyson also established a private practice at his home. He was elected to the position of “microscopist” in 1866 by the Board of Philadelphia Hospital. In November 1871, the directors promoted Tyson to the joint positions of pathologist to the Hospital and curator of the pathological museum, followed by his election to visiting physician in March 1872. He served as a visiting physician at the Hospital for seventeen years, 1872 to 1889, and as president of the medical board from 1885 through 1889.

In June 1888, the Trustees elected Tyson to the twin administrative positions of Dean and Secretary of the Faculty of Medicine, a position he held for four years; as well as to the position of Professor of Medicine, which he held for twelve years before his retirement in the summer of 1910.

Tyson was elected a Fellow of the College of Physicians of Philadelphia in 1886. One year later he was elected a member of the American Philosophical Society. He was President of the Philadelphia County Medical Society in 1897 and of the College of Physicians from 1907 to 1910. At his retirement, he was without peer in the Philadelphia community.

On December 5, 1865, Tyson married Frances (Fanny) Bosdevex; they had at least two children. His wife died on May 8, 1900; Tyson died on February 19, 1919.

Adapted from the James Tyson Family Papers (UPT 50 T994), 1854-1982, finding aid from the University of Pennsylvania’s University Archives: http://www.archives.upenn.edu/faids/upt/upt50/tyson_j_family.html