Harold Edward Bemis

Background

Harold Bemis was born on June 3, 1883, in Cawker City, Kansas, the youngest of the four children of Charles Warren Bemis, a farmer and miller, and Elizabeth (Schorb) Bemis.

Education

In 1901 Harold entered Northwestern University which he attended two years. In 1903 he entered the Iowa State College, taking one year in animal husbandry. He then transferred to the Veterinary College, from which he was graduated in 1908.

Career

After spending one year in the inspection service of the Bureau of Animal Industry of the United States Department of Agriculture, Harold was appointed head of the department of veterinary surgery at Iowa State College. In 1915 he was made vice-dean of the division of veterinary medicine.

On October 4, 1917, Bemis enlisted in the army, with the rank of major, and was stationed as division veterinarian of the 89th Division, at Camp Funston, Kanses, until January 3, 1918, when he was transferred to Veterinary Hospital No. 3, at Camp Lee, Virginia. On September 1, 1918, he was assigned to the office of chief veterinarian of the American Expeditionary Forces at Tours, France. On November 18, 1918, he became chief veterinarian, III Army headquarters, Coblenz, Germany. During his service he was promoted to the rank of lieutenant-colonel, serving eighteen months in Europe. The decoration "Officier de Mérite Agricole, République de France, " was awarded him by the Republic of France for work done in reclaiming diseased and debilitated horses after the armistice, so that they could be returned to agricultural service.

Returning from army service in 1919, Bemis again took up his work in veterinary surgery at Iowa State College, where he remained until 1927. At that time he accepted the appointment as head surgeon at the school of veterinary medicine, University of Pennsylvania. In 1930 he was appointed dean of the Veterinary College, a position which he filled until his death. As a lecturer and teacher Bemis was highly regarded by students and colleagues.

Bemis served on numerous committees in both state and national associations, the most important of which was the committee on education of the American Veterinary Medical Association. As chairman of this committee he collaborated with the Rockefeller Foundation in a survey of veterinary education in the United States. The data for this report had been collected at the time of his death, but the full report was assembled posthumously and presented by his wife at the annual meeting of the American Veterinary Medical Association in August 1931. This report had large influence in the reorganization of veterinary colleges and their curricula in the United States. Within two years the first school in America inaugurated a curriculum which required one year of pre-professional collegiate training in the basic sciences, and within five years the same requirement was made by all the colleges of the United States. Bemis died of pneumonia in his forty-eighth year.

Achievements

• Harold Bemis was a well-known veterinarian of his time. His most substantial contributions to veterinary surgery were the technique which he developed for nerve blocking, and the use of local anesthesia in both minor and major surgical operations.

Connections

Harold Bemis was twice married. His first wife, to whom he was married on January 1, 1910, was Grace May Loomis. She died in 1920 and on August 15, 1923, he was married to Hazel Mary Harwood. They had two daughters Mary Elizabeth and Suzanne.

Father:

Charles Warren Bemis

He was a farmer and miller.

Mother:

Elizabeth (Schorb) Bemis

Sister:

Emily (Bemis) Smith

Wife:

Hazel M. (Harwood) Bemis

Wife:

Grace May Loomis

Daughter:

Suzanne Bemis

Daughter:

Mary Elizabeth Bemis

Brother:

George Warren Bemis