During the years 1861-1865, medical care improved greatly with the use of triage, new surgical techniques and hospital design, nursing as a profession, the ambulance corps, medical circulars and the establishment of a repository for medical specimens. It wasn’t until the period between 1869 and 1914 that the causes for sickness and disease were discovered. The following people were the pioneers in this area: Ignac Semmelweis, Robert Koch, Joseph Lister, Louis Pasteur, Theodore Billroth, Joseph Barnes, John Billings, John Brinton, William A Hammond, William Keen, Jonathan Letterman, Silas Mitchell, and Madame Currie. Many in the medical profession referred to this as an era of “new fangled ideas” and were reluctant to change their ways. This is the story that will be told. Join us on June 10th to hear, “Medicine between 1865-1914; War is still Hell!” with Dr. Gordon Dammann.

Gordon E. Dammann D.D.S. founded the National Museum of Civil War Medicine in Frederick, Maryland to tell the true story of Civil War medicine. His medical collection formed the core of the museum holdings. He is a graduate of Loyola University in Chicago and holds a bachelor of science degree with a minor in history. In 1969 he received his D.D.S. degree from Loyola University School of Dentistry. Gordon is the author of Pictorial Encyclopedia of Civil War Medical Instruments and Equipment Volumes I, II, and III. He and Dr. Alfred Jay Bollet co-authored Images of Civil War Medicine. He has served on the editorial staff of North/South Magazine and was editor of the Reprint of Memoirs of Jonathan Letterman, MD Surgeon of the U.S. Army 1861-1864. Gordon is a recipient of the Nevins Freeman Award of the Chicago Civil War Round Table and the Iron Brigade Award of the Milwaukee Civil War Round Table. These are presented to an individual whose advancement of the American Civil War scholarship and support of the Round Table movement deserves special recognition. He has presented programs on Civil War Medicine for the National Park Service, Smithsonian Institution, Civil War Institute of Gettysburg College, and Round Tables and Historical Societies across the country. Since retiring from his dental practice, Gordon is a Antietam Battlefield Guide Emeritus.

Come join leading historians and scholars as they discuss intriguing topics about their latest works and research on the Maryland Campaign and the Civil War during our Civil War Summer Lecture Series.

These indoors programs are sponsored by the Jacob Rohrbach Inn and will be held in McKinley Hall at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church on Monday evenings at 7:00 p.m.  The church is located at 209W Main Street with a small parking area off the alley. More parking is available on Main and Hall Streets. These lectures free and open to the public. Each week we hold a drawing in which the proceeds support the Save Historic Antietam Foundation. Be sure to check our Facebook page for updates and changes to the schedule.