JOHN SHAW BILLINGS

April 12, 1838 (age 74)

Indiana, USA

During the Civil War Billings served as a surgeon in the field and was for short periods on the staffs of army hospitals in Washington, D.C., and Philadelphia, Pa. In 1864 he was stationed with the Surgeon General's Office in Washington, D.C., where he reorganized the Marine Hospital Service, now the U.S. Public Health Service. In 1865 Billings took charge of the library of the Surgeon General's Office, which was then a small office collection. From the beginning he conceived of this institution as a national medical library and developed it accordingly. By 1873 he had built it up from a collection of 600 items to one of over 50,000. In 1873 Billings designed the new Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, Md., which influenced future hospital construction and organization. In 1890 he became the director of the hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, and five years later he was appointed professor of hygiene at that university. In 1896 he presided over the consolidation of the Astor, Lennox, and Tilden libraries into the New York Public Library and became its first director.

JOHN SHAW BILLINGS

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physician and librarian

Education

He attended Miami University at Oxford, Ohio, where he received his B.A. degree in 1857. In 1860 he graduated from the Medical College of Ohio at Cincinnati.

Career

During the Civil War Billings served as a surgeon in the field and was for short periods on the staffs of army hospitals in Washington, D.C., and Philadelphia, Pa. In 1864 he was stationed with the Surgeon General's Office in Washington, D.C., where he reorganized the Marine Hospital Service, now the U.S. Public Health Service.

In 1865 Billings took charge of the library of the Surgeon General's Office, which was then a small office collection. From the beginning he conceived of this institution as a national medical library and developed it accordingly. By 1873 he had built it up from a collection of 600 items to one of over 50,000.

In 1873 Billings designed the new Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, Md., which influenced future hospital construction and organization. In 1890 he became the director of the hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, and five years later he was appointed professor of hygiene at that university. In 1896 he presided over the consolidation of the Astor, Lennox, and Tilden libraries into the New York Public Library and became its first director.

Achievements

During his 30 years as directorof the library of the Surgeon General's Office, he made the collections of the library the largest and greatest in the world and created bibliographical keys of comparable magnitude.

Billings made contributions to the literature of bacteriology, surgery, medical history and bibliography, hospital architecture, medical education, and awareness of the social implications of science.

Billings received an Honorary Fellowship of the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland in 1892.

Works

book
- Index Medicus
- Index Catalogue of the Library of the Surgeon General's Office
- Principles of Ventilation and Heating
- Mortality and Vital Statistics of the United States
- Medical Museums
- National Medical Dictionary
- Description of the Johns Hopkins Hospital
- Some Library Problems of Tomorrow
- Physiological Aspects of the Liquor Problem

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