Tompkins-McCaw Library for the Health Sciences is hosting the traveling National Library of Medicine exhibit, "Every Necessary Care and Attention: George Washington and Medicine." George Washington, first president, Revolutionary War general, plantation owner and businessman, and head of household, had many different concerns and responsibilities from running his estate to ensuring the stability of a new nation. Alongside the traditional demands of political life and military leadership, Washington focused considerable attention on the health and safety of his family, staff, slaves and troops.
Washington's status and wealth gave him--and his community--special privileges. During his lifetime, with the practice of medicine slowly becoming a licensed profession, he could call on a growing class of experts and new knowledge about the spread and prevention of disease. Even so, Washington encountered the limits of medicine when faced with serious illness.
Visit the exhibit's official website
The exhibition is on display in the reading room, Special Collections and Archives, Tompkins-McCaw Library for the Health Sciences, 509 N. 12th St.