Walter Wyman

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For the ship USPHS Walter Wyman, see USC&GS Marmer.

Walter Wyman
3rd Surgeon General of the United States
In office
June 1, 1891 – November 21, 1911
PresidentBenjamin Harrison
Grover Cleveland
William McKinley
Theodore Roosevelt
William Howard Taft
Preceded byJohn B. Hamilton
Succeeded byRupert Blue
Personal details
Born(1848-08-17)August 17, 1848
St. Louis, Missouri, U.S.
DiedNovember 21, 1911(1911-11-21) (aged 63)
Washington, D.C.
Alma materAmherst College
Washington University School of Medicine
Signature

Walter Wyman (August 17, 1848 – November 21, 1911) was an American physician and soldier. He was appointed the third Surgeon General of the United States from 1891 until his death in 1911.[1]

Biography

Early years

Wyman was born in

St. Louis, Missouri. He obtained his A.B. degree from Amherst College in 1870 and then graduated in 1873 from the St. Louis Medical College (now Washington University School of Medicine
)

Career

Wyman served as a physician at the city hospital in St. Louis for two years and then engaged in private practice for another year before joining the

Assistant Surgeon. He was promoted to Surgeon the following year, and served successively in the marine hospitals at St. Louis, Cincinnati, Baltimore, and New York City. While he was in charge of the marine hospital in Staten Island, New York, the Hygienic Laboratory (forerunner of the National Institutes of Health) was established there in 1887 by Supervising Surgeon General John B. Hamilton. Wyman had studied in Europe in 1885, and was well acquainted with the bacteriological investigations of Robert Koch
and others. He fully supported the creation of the Hygienic Laboratory.

In December 1888, Wyman moved to Washington, D.C. as Chief of the Quarantine Division. When Hamilton resigned as Supervising Surgeon General, Wyman was appointed to the position as of June 1, 1891. He was to remain at the helm of the Marine Hospital Service for 20 years.

During Wyman's tenure, the Marine Hospital Service significantly expanded its responsibilities, and in 1902 was renamed the Public Health and Marine Hospital Service. At that time, Wyman's title was also changed from Supervising Surgeon General to just Surgeon General. As a result of immigration legislation passed on March 3, 1891, shortly before Wyman took office, the Marine Hospital Service was assigned responsibility for the medical inspection of arriving immigrations. The largest immigration depot was

Philippine Islands
.

The 1902 act, which changed the name of the service, also charged the Surgeon General with convening a conference of state health authorities at least on an annual basis, and directed him to prepare and distribute to state health officers forms for the uniform compilation of vital statistics. This statistical information was published in the service's journal,

antitoxins
.

In the early years of the twentieth century, Surgeon General Wyman found himself in the midst of a controversy over the

Henry Gage, persuaded President McKinley to lift the travel ban. By 1903, however, the situation had become serious enough that an emergency conference was held in Washington, D.C., and a recommendation was made that all traffic between California and the rest of the country be halted unless Federal authorities were permitted to carry out their eradication campaign. Faced with the threat of a national boycott, San Francisco officials cooperated with Wyman and the service, and a successful campaign to eliminate the disease was led by Public Health Service physician Rupert Blue (who later served as Surgeon General). The service under Wyman also cooperated with state and local health authorities in the control of other infectious diseases such as yellow fever
.

Wyman was involved in the creation of the

Pan American Sanitary Bureau
in 1902. From the time of its organization until 1936, the Surgeons General of the Public Health Service served as the Directors of the Bureau, with Wyman as Director until his death in 1911. Many of Wyman's health policies and principles were adopted by the Bureau. He also played a leading role in the first four Inter-American Sanitary Conferences, acting as President of the first two and attending the next two as the United States Delegate.

Wyman, Brother Joseph Dutton and others at Father Damien's grave, 1905

Wyman authorized a nationwide study of the prevalence of leprosy in 1901, and worked to establish a leprosy hospital and laboratory in Hawaii. In 1905, Wyman personally went to Hawaii to select the site of the new facility.

During his tenure as surgeon general, Wyman was active in professional service in a number of organizations. For example, he served as president of the American Public Health Association in 1902 and as president of the Association of Military Surgeons in 1904.

Wyman was a member of the

Society of Colonial Wars. Lake Wyman in Boca Raton, Florida was named for him. He was reported being to the north in Lake Worth in 1883.[2]

Wyman continued to serve as surgeon general until his death at Providence Hospital in Washington, D.C., on November 21, 1911.[1]

Commemoration

The Public Health Service boarding

USPHS Walter Wyman, in service from 1932 to 1957, was named for Wyman.[3]

References

  1. ^ a b Kelly, Howard A.; Burrage, Walter L. (eds.). "Wyman, Walter" . American Medical Biographies . Baltimore: The Norman, Remington Company.
  2. ^ Florida Star, Dec 12, 1883, page 1.
  3. ^ "NOAA History: Coast and Geodetic Survey Ships: Marmer". Archived from the original on September 1, 2004. Retrieved March 13, 2016.
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