Homeopathy in Washington, D.C.

By Dana Ullman MPH

For this and more amazing historical facts and quotes about homeopathy, consider purchasing Dana Ullman’s Homeopathic Revolution: Why Famous People and Cultural Heroes Choose Homeopathy

The Only Monument in D.C. to a Physician: To the Founder of Homeopathy!

In 1900 President William McKinley dedicated a monument to Dr. Samuel Hahnemann, the founder of homeopathic medicine. This monument is situated at Scott Circle. This monument acclaims Hahnemann as the “Leader of the Great Medical Reformation of the Nineteenth Century.”

The First Woman Physician to an American President: A Homeopath!

Susan Ann Edson, M.D., who graduated from Cleveland Homeopathic Medical College in 1854 and who is one of the earliest women physicians in America , has the distinction of being the first woman physician to an American President. Dr. Edson was a longtime friend and family physician of President James A. Garfield. It was reported that Dr. Edson never left the President’s chamber, except for short sleeps, from the day Garfield was shot, July 2, 1881, until his death on September 19, 1881. ( Journal of the American Inst. of Homeopathy, March, 1961, 57.

A.M.A. Antagonism to Homeopathy: The Story of Lincoln and Seward

The antagonism that the A.M.A. and its local societies had to homeopathy was so strong that it was considered unethical to consult or even to consort with a homeopath. On the night that Lincoln was shot, his Secretary of State William Seward was stabbed. Joseph K. Barnes, the Surgeon General, was denounced for aiding in the treatment of Seward…simply because Seward’s person physician was a homeopath! (P. Starr, The Social Transformation of American Medicine (Pulitzer Prize-winning book), p. 98.)

More Antagonism: Evidence of the Unscientific Attitude Against Homeopathy

In a bizarre twist of circumstances, Dr. Christopher C. Coxx, a conventional physician, was refused admittance into the Medical Society of the District of Columbia because he had served on the D.C. board of health, which had a member who was a homeopath (crime!). Dr. D.W. Bliss, a fellow conventional physician, was also expelled for the heinous crime of con­sulting with Dr. Cox, even tough it was in the treatment of Schulyer Colfax, the Vice Presi­dent under Andrew Johnson. (M. Kaufman, Homoeopathy in America, Johns Hopkins, p. 158.)

Founder of the FDA: N.Y. Senator AND Homeopath–Dr. Royal Copeland

Dr. Royal Copeland graduated from the Homeopathic Medical College at the University of Michigan in 1889. He was the Dean of the New York Homeopathic Medical College from 1908-1923. He was the Health Commissioner of New York City from 1918 to 1923. He was the President of the American Institute of Homeopathy in 1908. Then, in the late 1920s he was elected Senator representing New York, and in 1938 he authored the Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act of 1938.