Scope and Contents
The collection consists of materials by or about Robley Dunglison, MD and his family from 1837-1980. Included are introductory lectures and one commencement address (1837) given by Dunglison while at Jefferson Medical College, miscellaneous correspondence of Dunglison (1851-1869) as well as photocopied letters (1866-1980) between Dunglison's children. The collection contains an "autobiographical Ana" published in the Transactions of the American Philosophical Society in 1969 and a memorial address to Robley Dunglison given at the College of Physicians in 1869. It also contains biographical information compiled by two of his descendants, Jack Owen Tannett and Reese Davis.
Biographical / Historical
Robley Dunglison (1798-1869) was an English physician who spent most of his career in the United States. He was born on January 4, 1798 in Keswick, England, to Elizabeth Jackson (d. 1854) and William Dunglison. His father was likely involved in wool manufacturing. Robley Dunglison obtained a classical education in Greek and Latin at Green Row Academy, Abbey Holme. Afterward, at age 17, he began his medical education by taking a preceptorship with a Keswick surgeon, John Edmundson. Dunglison studied in Edinburgh, London, and Paris before passing the exams of the Royal College of Surgeons and the Society of Apothecaries in 1818. He obtained his medical degree from the University of Erlangen in 1823.
In 1824, Dunglison accepted an invitation to serve as Chair of Medicine at the University of Virginia. This role encompassed the teaching of anatomy, physiology, pharmacy, materia medica, and medical jurisprudence. Dunglison also became close friends with Thomas Jefferson, third President of the United States and founder of the University of Virginia. Dunglison served as the former president’s personal physician and attended him during his final illness.
After three years at the University of Virginia, Dunglison accepted the position of Professor of Medical Jurisprudence and Materia Medica at the University of Maryland, which he held until 1836. That same year, he assumed the role of Chair of the Institutes of Medicine at Jefferson Medical College. When Dunglison arrived at Jefferson, the school was facing a series of challenges, including disputes between faculty members and a rivalry with the University of Pennsylvania. Dunglison helped mediate in these conflicts. In 1854, he became the Dean of Jefferson Medical College, a position he held until his retirement in 1868.
Dunglison authored numerous medical texts and articles on a variety of subjects over the course of his career. These include: Commentaries on Diseases of the Stomach and Bowels of Children (1824); Human Physiology (1832); A New Dictionary of Medical Science and Literature (1833); Elements of Hygiene (1835); General Therapeutics (1836); New Remedies (1839); and Practice of Medicine (1842). He also edited and contributed to the Virginia Museum and Journal of Belles Lettres, Arts, Sciences (1829–30), edited the American Medical Library and Intelligencer (1837–42), and contributed to John Forbes's Cyclopedia of Medicine (1845).
Robley Dunglison married Harriet (sometimes spelled Harriette) Leadam (d. 1853), the daughter of a London apothecary, in 1824. They had several children. In addition to his teaching and writing, Dunglison was involved with a variety of societies and charitable organizations, including the American Philosophical Society, and the Pennsylvania Institution for the Blind, serving as President of the latter for 30 years. Dunglison died on April 1, 1869 in Philadelphia, at the age of 71.