c1847 Daguerreotype by Southworth & Hawes in the Mass General operating Room
Toronto. One of the earliest medical photos around seems to be this re-enactment of the first operation at the Massachusetts General Hospital under ether (taken by Southworth & Hawes). According to the Massachusetts General Archives, a second re-enactment was taken by an unknown photographer.
More recently Dr Mike Robinson of Century Darkroom in the east end of Toronto took a modern day Daguerreotype of another re-enactment (Mike is a past president of both the PHSC and the Daguerreian Society).
Back in February of last year, I did post on a variation to this group – dentistry photos. The photo used is from Cindy Motzenbecker’s collection some of which was shown to us in an earlier ZOOM meeting.
Check out our next 2025 event, the famous fall fair to see many great items for your collection, perhaps not a medical photo, but certainly great items! Our PHSC News newsletter for July (25-7) has details.
