Scope and Contents
The bulk of the collection consists of a 299-page typescript of Dr. Montgomery's memoir, "Living Through the Twentieth: A Story of One Man's Journey Through a Century of American Life." The memoir contains descriptions of growing up in Decatur, Illinois and southeastern Missouri, pre-medical education at the University of Illinois, twentieth century progress, medical education at Jefferson Medical College and other observations on everyday life. Complementing this text is an audiotape recording entitled "Decatur Days," which contains excerpts from the manuscript pertaining to his boyhood days, read by Dr. Montgomery in April 1992.
The collection also includes Dr. Montgomery's Presidential Address at the 1955 meeting of theAmerican Association of Obstetrics and Gynecology, a typescript of Dr. Paul Bowers' introduction of Dr. Montgomery at the ceremony at which he was awarded the Jefferson Medical College Alumni Association's Alumni Achievement Award in 1970, and some of Dr. Montgomery's papers on obstetrics. The papers include two mimeographed course outlines in "Obstetric Tactics" by Dr. Montgomery in the Dept. of Obstetrics at Jefferson Medical College, 1938 and n.d., and two papers: "The Public, the Profession, and Obstetrical Practice" (1937) and "The Placenta" (1946).
Biographical / Historical
Thaddeus Lemert Montgomery (1896-1994) was born in Macon, ILon May 24, 1896. He was the son of John A. and Addie Lewis Montgomery. The family was of Scotch-Irish descent. He was the nephew of Dr. E. E. Montgomery, who was Professor of Gynecology at Jefferson Medical College from 1896-1921. Montgomery attended school in Decatur, IL before obtaining his bachelor’s degree from the University of Illinois. In 1916, he enrolled at Jefferson Medical College, graduating in 1920. After graduation, he completed a two-year internship at Jefferson Hospital and served as an assistant to his uncle, E. E. Montgomery (1922-1924).
Montgomery held several teaching appointments throughout his career, most of them at Jefferson. First, while still a medical student, he was Junior Proctor in Anatomy in 1918. Next, he became an Assistant in Surgery and Assistant Demonstrator of Anatomy from 1922-1925. During that time, he began acting as an assistant to Dr. Pascal Brooke Bland, a position he held from 1924-1934. Montgomerystarted in the Department of Obstetrics in 1926 as an Assistant Demonstrator, eventually becoming Clinical Professor in 1937.
In 1940, Montgomery resigned his post at Jefferson to become Professor and Chair of Obstetrics and Gynecology at Temple University School of Medicine. He was the first person to lead a combined Obstetrics and Gynecology Department at Temple. Montgomery returned to Jefferson in 1946 as Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology and Director of the Division of Obstetrics. From 1955 until his retirement in 1961, he was Chair of the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at Jefferson.
Montgomery was an attending OB/GYN at Jefferson Hospital and a consulting physician at Philadelphia General Hospital, the Woman’s Hospital of Philadelphia, and at others in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Delaware. He wrote numerous papers on subjects related to his specialty and served as an editorial assistant to Pascal Brooke Bland. They collaborated on The Textbook of Practical Obstetrics(1932, subsequent editions 1934 and 1939). Montgomery was also known for his concerns regarding what he saw as the overuse of operative procedures and anesthetics in childbirth. He was an early promoter of “rooming in,” the practice of keeping the newborn infant in the room withthe mother, rather than in a separate nursery.
Montgomery was a member of the Obstetrical Society of Philadelphia (President, 1941-1942); the College of Physicians of Philadelphia; the American Gynecological Society; the Association of Obstetricians, Gynecologists, and Gynecological Surgeons (President, 1955-1956); the American Gynecological Club; the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists; the Philadelphia County Medical Society; the Medical Society of Pennsylvania; and the American Medical Association. At his alma mater, he served as a founding member and past President of the Jefferson Society for Clinical Investigation, a charter member and past President of the Ex-Internes and Ex-Residents Society, as a member and President (1948-1949) ofthe Jefferson Alumni Association, and on the college’s Portrait Committee (1957-1960). Additionally, he was the Chairman of Obstetrics and Gynecology Section on the National Board of Medical Examiners.
In 1922, Montgomery married Pauline Woods. They hadthree children: Thaddeus Jr., John Thomas, and Richard Woods. The Montgomerys donated an electric organ to Jefferson in 1957, in memory of their son, Richard. It was installed in McClellan Hall. Montgomery retired from teaching in 1961 and was awarded thetitle of Professor Emeritus. In 1963, Jefferson granted him an honorary Doctor of Laws degree. He continued to practice medicine for another 20 years after his retirement. Thaddeus L. Montgomery died in 1994, at the age of 98.