George Adams Leland

Background

George Adams Leland was born in Boston, United States, the son of Joseph Daniels and Mary Plimpton (Adams) Leland, and a descendant of Henry Leland who came to Massachusetts in 1652.

Education

He was educated at the Boston Latin School and at Amherst College, graduating with the degree of A. B. in 1874. At Amherst, which was the first American college to establish a department of physical education, he came under the influence of its first professor, Edward Hitchcock, 1828-1911, and acquired such an interest in the subject that after graduation he established a cash prize for excellence in gymnastics which was awarded annually for some forty years. Completing the course at Harvard Medical School in 1877, he received the degree of M. D. in 1878, after eighteen months' service as interne in the Boston City Hospital.

Career

Recommended by President Seelye of Amherst to introduce a system of physical education into the schools of Japan, Leland went to Tokyo, where he remained until 1881, having charge of physical culture in the National Education Department, leading the classes in the normal schools and some in the preparatory department of the University, and thus training about one hundred young men to become teachers in all grades of the schools throughout the Empire. He was the author of works on Japanese anthropometry and on physical education and gymnastics (1881), published in Tokyo in Japanese, as well as a volume on medical gymnastics published in Chinese.

In 1881 he went to Vienna, where he began the study of laryngology and otology with Von Schroetter and other well-known specialists, thence to Heidelberg and other German cities, returning to Boston in 1883. In 1885 he was appointed otologist to the Boston Dispensary. He was also assistant for diseases of the throat at the City Hospital Out Patient Department, with Drs. Hooper, De Blois, and Farlow. His most important appointment was as otologist to the City Hospital. This he retained throughout his life. He gave courses in otology and rhinology at the Boston Polyclinic, and was professor of laryngology at the Dartmouth Medical School from 1893 to 1914, when he became professor emeritus.

His ideas upon physical development directed his attention to the need of free nasal respiration. His operations upon the deformed nasal septum were original, ingenious, and successful. They well deserved recognition. He was also expert in the treatment of tonsils. He was a fellow of the American Otological Society and of the American Laryngological Association, and in 1912 was president of the latter organization. He was also a member of the American Rhinological, Laryngological, and Otological Society; and of the New England Otological and Laryngological Society, of which he was president for two years. He died in Boston in his seventy-fourth year.

Achievements

• Leland assisted in the development of the physical education curriculum in Meiji period Japanese education. He also developed the gymnastics program for the YMCA. For his service in Japan he was awarded the Fourth Order of Merit of the Sacred Treasure of Japan.

Membership

Fellow of the American Otological Society

Fellow of the American Laryngological Association

Member of the American Rhinological, Laryngological, and Otological Society

Member of the New England Otological and Laryngological Society

Personality

Leland was a man of rugged honesty. He was devoted to his profession, and though he had a keen sense of humor, had few outside interests.

Connections

In July 1878, Leland married Alice Pierce Higgins of Boston.

Father:

Joseph Daniels Leland

Mother:

Mary Plimpton (Adams) Leland

Spouse:

Alice Pierce Higgins