Scope and Contents
This collection includes information by or about Thomas McCrae and his brother John McCrae. The bulk of the collection consists of Thomas McCrae's publications, although it does also include biographical material, two addresses, correspondence, manuscript writings, news clippings, and ephemera. The material related to John McCrae includes several of his medical publications, photocopies of several of his poems, and a memoir.
Biographical / Historical
Thomas McCrae (1870-1935) was born in Guelph, Ontario, Canada on December 16, 1870. He was the older son of Lieutenant Colonel David McCrae and Janet Eckford. He earned both his Bachelor’s degree (1891) and his M.D. (1895) from the University of Toronto. He worked for the University of Gottingen in Germany in 1899. Thomas held internships at Toronto General Hospital and Johns Hopkins Hospital. He was appointed Instructor in Medicine at Johns Hopkins in 1901, and Assistant Professor of Medicine in 1906. In 1912, he became the Chair of Medicine at Jefferson Medical College, a position he held for the rest of his life.
While teaching in Baltimore, Thomas McCrae befriended William Osler, one of the founders of Johns Hopkins. Together the two physicians wrote Cancer of the Stomach(1900), Modern Medicine(1907), and A System of Medicine(1907-1910). Thomas also helped edit the editions of Osler’s Principles and Practice of Medicinepublished after 1916. He eventually married Amy Gwyn, Osler’s niece. They had no children.
During World War I, Thomas served with the First Brigade of the Canadian Infantry as an internist at a Canadian military hospital. He held this position from 1914 to 1918, attaining the rank of lieutenant colonel. In 1924, he delivered the Lumleian Lectures at London’s Royal College of Physicians. Thomas McCrae died on January 28, 1935, at the age of 64.
John McCrae (1872-1918) was the younger brother of Thomas McCrae. He was born on November 30, 1872 in Guelph. As a student at theGuelph Collegiate Vocational Institute, John wrote and published poems and short stories in several magazines. He graduated at the age of 16, and then attended the University of Toronto for his undergraduate degree. John took a year off from his studies due to his asthma, during which time he taught English and mathematics at the Ontario Agricultural College. He returned to the University of Toronto in 1893 and earned his Bachelor’s degree in 1894. In 1898, he obtained his medical degree from the same university.
John worked as a physician at Toronto General Hospital, Johns Hopkins, McGill University, the Royal Alexandra Hospital for Infectious Diseases, Montreal General Hospital, and the Royal Victoria Hospital in Montreal. He was also a military physician, serving first during the Boer War from 1899-1900. In 1904, he was promoted to the rank of Major. John opened a medical practice in 1905 and devoted his time to practicing medicine, lecturing on medical topics, and writing for medical journals.
Like his brother, Thomas, John was a physician. However, he also gained a reputation as a poet. His best-known work was inspired by his experiences treating injured soldiers in Belgium during the First World War. Shortly after the war began, John enlisted in theFirst Canadian Contingent. Later, he was appointed brigade surgeon to the First Brigade of the Canadian Field Infantry. The death of a close friend, 22-year-old Lieutenant Alexis Helmer, at the Second Battle of Ypres (Belgium) inspired John to write the war poem, “In Flanders Fields.” Upon its publication in PunchMagazine in 1915, the poem became popular, appearing in advertisements for war bonds and inspiring the adoption of the poppy as the Flower of Remembrance for the British war dead.
In 1915, John was transferred to Boulogne No. 3 General Hospital, to supervise medical treatment there. He worked at the hospital until his death on January 28, 1918, from pneumonia. He was 48 years old. He was buried with full military honors at Wimereux Cemetery near Boulogne, France. His poetry collection, In Flanders Fields and Other Poems, was published posthumously in 1919.