{"id":16412,"date":"2019-05-23T11:00:29","date_gmt":"2019-05-23T15:00:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov\/?p=16412"},"modified":"2022-06-10T15:46:15","modified_gmt":"2022-06-10T19:46:15","slug":"celebrating-the-graduation-season","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov\/2019\/05\/23\/celebrating-the-graduation-season\/","title":{"rendered":"Celebrating the Graduation Season"},"content":{"rendered":"

By John Rees ~
\n<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cThe long looked for day has come and it is passed and all the toil is over for its attainment\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Ephraim Sheppard Wynn wrote these words of relief March 9th 1872, the day he graduated with his M.D. degree from Jefferson Medical College in Philadelphia, PA, in a diary he kept during his last year of medical school. The diary has been digitized and is available in NLM Digital Collections<\/a> as part of a digitization project of medical student lecture notes<\/a>. His is a sentiment shared by many getting ready for graduations of all types at this time of year. Good luck to all of this year\u2019s graduates!<\/p>\n

Wynn\u2019s diary is a unique passport into the everyday life of a typical late 19th century medical student. Readers can follow his daily routine of attending classes and recording notes, taking quizzes, attending study groups, taking his final oral exams, and hanging out with his friends before the last big day. Not only does Wynn chronicle his days almost hourly over the two years he attended Jefferson but he also pasted into his diary the College and Quiz Rosters cards that laid out his course of study and schedules. Starting at 9 AM and ending at 7 PM, he followed a set course of study in anatomy, physiology, chemistry, general surgery, institutes of medical and medical jurisprudence, materia medica, obstetrics and diseases of women and children, and hospital clinical observations.<\/p>\n

\"A <\/a>
Wynn\u2019s course schedule for 1871-1872 National Library of Medicine #101681833 MS B 1089 p. 317. <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>
\"A <\/a>
Wynn\u2019s course schedule for 1870-1871 National Library of Medicine #101681833 MS B 1089 p. 2. <\/div> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>\n

In the 1870s medical education was still on the brink of professionalization and standardization. Medical schools in American did not resemble the selective academic universities known today. Most were for-profit \u201cproprietary\u201d schools. The full Winter session started in October and ran through the end of February. Students paid professors directly for each class along with other a la carte expenses such as matriculation and graduation fees. According to the Forty-Eighth Annual Announcement of the Jefferson Medical College of Philadelphia, 1872-1873<\/a> where Wynn is listed as a graduate:<\/p>\n

The candidate for the Degree of M.D. must be of good moral character, and at least twenty-one years of age. He must have attended at least two full Winter sessions of lectures in some regular and respectable medical school, one of which, the last, shall have been in this COLLEGE; and must exhibit his tickets, or other adequate evidence thereof, to the Dean of the Faculty.<\/p>\n

He must have studied medicine for not less than three years, and have attended at least one course of clinical instruction in an institution approved by the Faculty. He must present to the Dean of the Faculty a thesis of his own composition, correctly written and in his own handwriting, on some medical subject; and exhibit to the Faculty, at his examination, satisfactory evidence of his professional attainments.<\/p>\n

The degree will not be conferred upon any candidate, who absents himself from the public commencement, without the special permission of the Faculty.<\/p>\n

FEE to each Professor $20\u2014in all $140. Matriculation Fee $5, to be paid once only. The Graduation Fee is $30. Students who have paid for two full courses are entitled thereafter to attend free of all charge.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Wynn\u2019s thesis is titled \u201cFoundation of Medical Education\u201d and listed in the rolls of the Graduates of the Jefferson Medical College of Philadelphia, March, 1872<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"Printed<\/a>
Wynn\u2019s exam schedule, 1872
National Library of Medicine #101681833<\/em><\/a>
MS B 1089, p 4.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

It is unclear how rigorous the final exams were. Wynn does not describe their contents much, but instead comments more often on his professors\u2019 mood and spirit\u2014perhaps all were ready for the school year to be over with. While most of the preceding diary entries are brief, he writes about his last two weeks in an especially thoughtful and reflective narrative.<\/p>\n

Wynn\u2019s final oral exams started Feb. 29th at 9 AM with an \u201cextra\u201d examination with Dr. Keen on surgery, then he moved on to his regular scheduled start with Dr. Gross in The Green Room from 10\u201312 AM and again from 7\u20139 PM. Wynn \u201cfound the room anything but an easy place to sit and wait for one\u2019s turn\u201d but that \u201cKeen congratulated the class on their average proficiency and wished all a prosperous passage through the troubled waters.\u201d<\/p>\n

He found Prof. Gross in a good mood for his next exam: \u201cFound the Professor excedingly good natured and pleasant\u2014told me I had a good deal of pluck and had been a good student.\u201d<\/p>\n

Wynn was first in line for Dr. Dickson on March 1st. Dickson apparently talked more about the topic himself\u2014describe the courses of disease\u2014and asked Wynn only the occasional question: \u201cExamination was easy to what I had expected.\u201d Dickson as curious to know if Wynn \u201cconsidered the old men of the profession \u2018fogies, simpletons, etc.\u201d and \u201csaid we had a very pleasant conversation and that he was satisfied with me.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"A <\/a>
National Library of Medicine #101681833 MS B 1089 p. 277 <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>
\"A <\/a>
National Library of Medicine #101681833 MS B 1089 p. 277 <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>
\"A <\/a>
National Library of Medicine #101681833 MS B 1089 p. 278 <\/div> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>\n

The other exams follow a similar pattern except for his 4th exam with Dr. Rand where he might have been taking success for granted: \u201cWent in and had a very easy examination but made a miserable out of it \u2026 Could not have made much worse out than I did if I had tried to do as bad as I could.\u201d And then panic creeps in\u2014\u201cMarch 2nd. No examination today\u2014but am sweating over materia medica and longing to be beyond the reach of Prof. Biddle\u2026. How I do wish I was passed on Prof. Biddle for I fear every question he can ask will be but a surer doom to failure. Anxiety is terrible but for 3 more days\u2026.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Handwritten <\/a>
National Library of Medicine #101681833 MS B 1089 p. 281. <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>
\"Handwritten <\/a>
National Library of Medicine #101681833 MS B 1089 p. 291 <\/div> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>\n

March 6, the class nervously gathers together at 10 PM waiting to receive their \u2018notices\u2019 of graduation.<\/p>\n

\"A <\/a>
National Library of Medicine #101681833 MS B 1089 p. <\/div> <\/div>
\"A <\/a>
National Library of Medicine #101681833 MS B 1089 p. 287. <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>
\"A <\/a>
\u2018Notice\u2019 that Wynn passed his final exams, 1872 National Library of Medicine #101681833 MS B 1089 p. 4. <\/div> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>\n

Wynn is last to get his \u2018notice\u2019 from Prof. Rand and \u201cCox\u201d; some classmates don\u2019t receive one. Wynn relaxes on the 7th and skips a few events to travel to Camden and Bristol. He returns March 8th where the class is to meet with Jefferson alumni, but he \u201cdid not get to it.\u201d Later the class meets in the afternoon \u201cto see about the dress for the commencement. Each one to go as he chooses so [long as] it is decent\u2026.\u201d<\/p>\n

March 9th is the big day. Wynn drew five balcony seats for the graduation ceremony\u2014E 247-251.<\/p>\n

\"A <\/a>
National Library of Medicine #101681833 MS B 1089 p. 288. <\/div> <\/div>
\"A <\/a>
National Library of Medicine #101681833 MS B 1089 p. 289. <\/div> <\/div>
\"A <\/a>
National Library of Medicine #101681833 MS B 1089 p. 290. <\/div> <\/div>
\"Card <\/a>
National Library of Medicine #101681833 MS B 1089. <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>
\"Formal <\/a>
Programme for the Jefferson Medical Collage Commencement Ceremony National Library of Medicine #101681833 MS B 1089. <\/div> <\/div>
\"Printed <\/a>
Graduation ticket for seat E 450 Balcony, March 9, 1872 National Library of Medicine #101681833 MS B 1089. <\/div> <\/div>
\"Green <\/a>
Academy of Music ticket for the Commencement, 1872 National Library of Medicine #101681833 MS B 1089. <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>
\"A <\/a>
Embossed graduation card for E. S. Wynn, M.D. National Library of Medicine #101681833 MS B 1089. <\/div> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>\n

The class met at the college at 11 AM where they received invitations to an evening party at Dr. Pancoast\u2019s and also received their \u201cMedical Ethics\u201d book. They lined up to march to the Academy of Music building, arriving around 12 PM. Dr. Pancoast gave the commencement speech and \u201cit was all over about 2:15.\u201d And like many students that came before him and after, Wynn was underwhelmed with the event, complaining \u201cI was disappointed in the manner in which the affair passed off\u2014There was a great lack of dignity about it\u2026.\u201d His soon-to-be wife Mary \u201cwas present in spite of the wretched state of the weather\u201d, but in the end Wynn was still moved by the day\u2014\u201ctook me by surprise when Dr. Getchell called out E.S. \u201cWyman\u201d M.D.\u201d The post-graduation revelry continued for both students and professors\u2014\u201cRe\u2019c\u2019d. my diploma from \u2018Cox\u2019 about 3.30 PM and he was as near drunk as he need have been.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"A<\/a>
Wynn\u2019s home was #321. Sanborn Fire Insurance Map image #6 from Camden, Camden County, New Jersey, June 1885
Courtesy Library of Congress, Geography and Map Division<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Wynn was born in Millville, NJ in 1849. His father was a farmer and his mother died when he was 10. He did not become a famous doctor or illustrious man of science\u2014apparently, he did not become a practicing physician until many years after his graduation. Wynn was 23 years old when he graduated from Jefferson in 1872 and he married Mary Kinsey that same year. But according to the 1880 U.S. census, 8 years later they were back in Millville, where Wynn worked as a bookkeeper and they lived on a street with millworkers, laborers, and seamstresses for neighbors. He was a Mason and was active in lodges across southern New Jersey. It is not until at least 1885 that they returned to the Philadelphia area where he went to school to live in Camden, NJ where he was a clerk\/physician for an insurance company.\u00a0 Their home then was 321 N. 3rd Street\u2014a 3-story semi-detached brick row house\u2014 where they lived modestly alongside tailors, clerks, a butcher, grocers, and carpenters. The home-site is now a Rutgers University-Camden parking lot. Mary had two more boys and the Wynn\u2019s lived out their life at the same address. Ephraim died at 61 in 1910; Mary seven years later in 1917. Both are buried in Harleigh Cemetery in Camden.<\/p>\n

For questions about these materials, including how to consult them, please contact the History of Medicine Division Reference staff at NLM Customer Support<\/a> or (301) 402-8878.<\/em><\/p>\n

\"Portrait<\/a>John Rees is Archivist and Digital Resources Manager for the Archives and Modern Manuscripts Program in the History of Medicine Division at the National Library of Medicine.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cThe long looked for day has come and it is passed and all the toil is over for its attainment.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":19605840,"featured_media":16437,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_coblocks_attr":"","_coblocks_dimensions":"","_coblocks_responsive_height":"","_coblocks_accordion_ie_support":"","advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"Celebrating the Graduation Season - Excerpts from the diary of a Jefferson Medical College graduate, class of 1872. Now available in NLM Digital Collections.","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[42333869,12763],"tags":[273905,3128,106484,1342,517998,22720,11113,541893],"class_list":["post-16412","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-archives-manuscripts","category-collections","tag-1800s","tag-diary","tag-digitization","tag-education","tag-manuscript","tag-new-jersey","tag-pennsylvania","tag-physician"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/101681833_000301-a_feature.jpg?fit=900%2C400&ssl=1","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p3xcDk-4gI","jetpack-related-posts":[],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16412","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/19605840"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16412"}],"version-history":[{"count":14,"href":"https:\/\/circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16412\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":16590,"href":"https:\/\/circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16412\/revisions\/16590"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/16437"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16412"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16412"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16412"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}