Rogers Park Hospital, 6970 North Clark Street in Chicago and changed names four other times.

In 1881, a smallpox epidemic killed 1,180 in late 1881 and 1,292 in early 1882 Chicago. The population rose too fast for vaccination programs to keep up with it. Each year from 1871 to 1881 the city removed the carcasses of 1,500 horses and tens of thousands of dogs from the streets, while 70 teams tried to cope with “all the horse manure, garbage and rubbish  disposal, and ashes accumulating daily in massive amounts.” 

Small neighborhood hospitals began poping-up like dandelions around Chicago because getting to emergency care became life threatening the further a person had to travel to get to a hospital.

In 1891, bronchitis and pneumonia killed 4,300, typhoid fever 2,000. Every year in the early 1890s, 10,000–12,000 children under five died in Chicago. But the close of the nineteenth century brought control of disease, in a series of steps. Voters overwhelmingly approved the creation of the Sanitary District of Chicago in late 1889, and in January 1900 the city opened the Sanitary and Ship Canal, permanently reversing the flow of the Chicago River, sending sewage and refuse away from Lake Michigan and southwestward toward the Mississippi. Pasteurizing of milk began in 1909, and chlorinating of the city's water supply, in 1912. 

NOTE: In the early 1930's Al Capone and his brother Ralph, pushed milk stale dating thru the Chicago City Council. 

Rogers Park Hospital, 6970 North Clark Street, Chicago. Illinois. (1927)

Smaller hospitals, like the Rogers Park Hospital, opened in the 1927 to serve the neighborhood's sick and injured. As larger metropolitan hospitals were built and began to offer more advanced care --  transportation became easier -- the smaller neighborhood hospitals were phased out.

Rogers Park Hospital, the hospital's original name, changed names and owners many times as presented below. It was shut down for reasons unknown.


1927-1936 / ROGERS PARK HOSPITAL

Chicago Tribune Article, Sunday, May 2, 1926
BEGIN WORK ON FIRST HOSPITAL FOR ROGERS PARK
War Veteran Heads a New Project.

Work starts tomorrow morning on the first large hospital for the Rogers Park district. The new home for the sick will be located at 6970 North Clark Street and will be called the Rogers Park Hospital.

The structure will have the latest features, including a radio connection for each patient and a large solarium on the roof. The building will contain 102 beds, of which a half will be in private rooms.

The hospital will be six stories high and, when completed, will represent an investment of $402,500. The site measures 50x174 feet. There are to be two operating rooms, one delivery room, an X-ray department, a laboratory, and the other customary hospital equipment. Dwight G. Wallace is the architect.

The president of the hospital is Dr. F. Patrick Machler, who was a drummer-boy in the Spanish-American war (Apr 21, 1898 – Aug 13, 1898) and had a distinguished record during the world war [WWI]. Dr. Machler was in charge of the embarkation hospital at Camp No. 2, Newport News, during 1917 and 1918. He is now president of the 4th board of pensions and was national surgeon general for three terms of the Veterans of Foreign Wars. He is a former superintendent of the Iroquois hospital.


1936-1938 / ROGERS-POST HOSPITAL (aka: ROGERS AND POST HOSPITAL)

Chicago Tribune Article, Wednesday, August 19, 1936
RETIRED MERCHANT PLUNGES TO DEATH FROM HOSPITAL

Adolph Grossman, 75 years old, 537 Aldine Avenue, retired owner of a dry goods store, leaped or fell from a window of his room on the fifth floor of the Rogers-Post Hospital, 6970 North Clark Street, where he had been a patient for 24 days.


1938-1939 / WILL ROGERS MEMORIAL HOSPITAL

The following articles are about Will Rogers Memorial Hospital's illegal use of the "Will Rogers" name and the hospital running a lottery ring... right out of the hospital.

Chicago Tribune Article, Tuesday, February 8, 1938
LOTTERY CHARGE IS FILED AGAINST ROGERS HOSPITAL
Kerner Suit Discloses Charity Fund Inquiry.

Attorney General Otto Kerner filed a complaint in the Circuit court yesterday in which the Will Rogers Memorial Hospital, 6970 North Clark Street, was accused of operating a "common lottery plan" in violation of provisions contained in its charter. The hospital, under the proceeding, is required to show by what authority it is operating in alleged defiance of terms of its charter.

A finding against the hospital can result in the withdrawal of its charter or a $25,000 fine, according to Assistant Attorney General Raymond Wallenstein.

Secret Inquiry Disclosed
The attorney general's action known technically as a complaint in quo warranto, brought to light a secret investigation by attorneys and officials of the Better Business bureau into the hospital's sale of certifications in return for 50¢ donations to its charity fund. Each certificate asserts that 400 prizes amounting to $20,000 will be announced February 15th.

Dr. Frank Deacon, manager of the hospital, has insisted to investigators that the project is not a lottery but that eventual winners will be selected on the basis of competition in an essay contest on the subject "Why a Hospital is the Best Charity to Support." Despite this, Kenneth Barnard, head of the Chicago Better Business bureau, said yesterday that none of the single certificates nor any literature concerning the charity fund mentions the essay contest.


Chicago Tribune Article, Friday, February 11, 1939
HOSPITAL'S USE OF WILL ROGERS' NAME IS BARRED

Federal Judge William H. Holly signed a consent decree yesterday enjoining the Will Rogers Memorial Hospital, 6970 North Clark Street, from using the cowboy philosopher's name. All references to Rogers in the name of the hospital must be expunged within five days.

The order was issued on complaint of the Will Rogers commission, of Washington, D.C., and its affiliate, the Will Rogers Memorial Fund, of New York, that the hospital had conducted a personality contest and nation-wide lottery in the guise of a charity fund. Moreover, it was charged that the hospital incorporated under its present name without permission of the Rogers commission or of Roger's widow.

Additional action was taken on Monday when the state attorney general started quo waranto proceedings against the hospital, asserting its charity fund operation, in which tickets were offered for 50¢ donations, violated the lottery laws. The case is pending before Judge Harry Fisher. The hospital was formerly known as the Rogers Park Hospital and the Rogers-Post Hospital.


Chicago Tribune Article, Thursday, March 24, 1939
ROGERS HOSPITAL LOTTERY INQUIRY LANDS 2 IN JAIL

Investigation of a nation-wide lottery scheme allegedly conducted by the Will Rogers Memorial Hospital, whose charter was revoked here last month, resulted in the arrest of two men in St. Louis yesterday. Those held are Julius Heitz and Julius Zweig.

Postal Inspector Fred Mayer, who made the arrests, said Heitz admitted he was the St. Louis agent for Chicago promoters of the lottery, which brought in thousands of dollars. Heitz said, according to Mayer, that 60% of the collections from this and other lotteries was retained as promoters' profits and 40% was distributed as prizes.

Last February 11 Circuit Judge Harry M. Fisher revoked the charter of the Will Rogers Memorial Hospital at 6970 North Clark Street, dissolved the corporation, and removed its officers, directors, and trustees. Attorney General Otto Kerner was operating a lottery plan i violation of its charter.


Chicago Tribune Article, Friday, April 8, 1938
HOSPITAL IS REORGANIZED UNDER NEW DIRECTORSHIP

The hospital at 6970 North Clark Street, formerly known as the Will Rogers Memorial Hospital, has been reorganized as the Physicians Memorial Hospital, it was learned yesterday. New directors have taken over the lease from officers of the defunct corporation, who were ousted by a Circuit court order recently because of an alleged connection with a nation-wide lottery. The institution is under the supervision of a bond-holders' committee of Roger Park business men who took over the property when it was thrown into receivership several years ago.


Chicago Tribune Article, Thursday, November 9, 1939
COUPLE SEIZED ON INDICTMENT IN BIG LOTTERY

Federal agents last night seized two of 14 Chicagoans under indictment in Boston, Mass., on charges of participation in a lottery ring which fleeced clients of $20,000,000 in the last ten years. The ring issued "charity bonds" on the now defunct Will Rogers Memorial Hospital, 690 North Clark Street. Those under arrest are Mrs. Elizabeth Rice, former head nurse at the hospital, and her husband, David, a printing broker accused of designing the lottery tickets. At the detective bureau, where they were held over night, they gave their address as 1340 Lunt Avenue.


Chicago Tribune Article, Wednesday, May 22, 1940
DETECTIVE CHIEF GOES EAST FOR LOTTERY TRIAL

Chief of Detectives John L. Sullivan left last night for Boston, Mass., where he will testify in the federal trial of members of an alleged lottery ring. The government charges that the hospital at 6970 North Clark Street, once known as Will Rogers Memorial Hospital, was used as a base of operations in the lottery and charity bonds were issued thru it.


1938-1958 / ROGERS HOSPITAL



1959 -1966 / DOCTORS GENERAL HOSPITAL OF ROGERS PARK

Chicago Tribune Article, Sunday, January 31, 1959
116 BED DOCTORS HOSPITAL TO BE OPENED SUNDAY

The new 116 bed Doctors General Hospital at 6970 North Clark Street will be open with a reception at 4 p.m. Sunday. The hospital, in a seven story building, will be operated by Charity Hospital Association, Inc., a not-for-profit corporation.

Neilm L. Gaynes, admiistrator, said the hospital has been equipped with the newest and most modern facilities,including two major operating rooms, three minor operating rooms, an emergency room, and X-ray and clinical laboratory departments.

A closed-circuit television will be used to enable the supervising nurse to keep watch over nursing personnel attending critical patients. A two way communication system will connect rooms of patients with nursing stations.


Chicago Tribune Article, Thursday, February 26, 1959
NURSES WATCH TV ON THE JOB AT DOCTORS HOSPITAL
Closed Circuit Unit Tunes In Patients.

The only example in the midwest of television in critical wards to improve nursing supervision is claimed by the new Doctors General Hospital, 6970 North Clark Street.

The Closed Circuit television in monitored at a central point by a supervisory nurse. Cameras are situated in each of four wards, mounted in the corners to give a sweepingpicture of several beds in each room.

Mrs. Ethel Aron preforms nursing duties in ward as television camera behind her beams action to supervisory nurses' monitor.

Coordinates Nurse


The supervisor can observe the activities of critically ill patients and the nurses. The object, according to Neil Gaynes, administrator, is not to cut down on the number of nurses but to coordinate their efforts for more efficiency. "Nothing will replace the nurse as some supporters of this television system believe," Gaynes said. "It is a good supplement to the nurse, however." Gaynes said the only other hospitals in the country using television equipment in this way are one on the east coast and one on the west coast. The Doctors General Hospital has 116 beds and the latest in medical and surgical equipment. Another electronic device that has proven successful is a two-way intercommunication system, by which a supervisory nurse can converse directly with each patient on a floor.

Dr. Harold Dubner, president of hospital board, and Rep. Esther Saperstein (D-8th), member of hospital board, observe Mrs. Aron from supervisor's station over television monitor.Dr. Dubner holds device to switch to cameras in other wards.

Chicago Tribune Article, Sunday, May 29, 1966

DRESS CATCHES FIRE, WOMAN DIES OF BURNS

Miss Rose Schwartz, 57, of 1310 Lunt Avenue, died of burns yesterday when her dress caught fire while cooking in her apartment. Firemen took her to Doctors General Hospital, but she was pronounced dead on arrival.

Quick Refunds Income Tax, 6970 North Clark Street, Chicago. Illinois. (ca.2011)

Compiled by Neil Gale, Ph.D. 

Betty Friedan, a Peoria, Illinois native, helped spark a new wave of feminism.

Betty Freidan

A women's rights leader and activist, Betty Freidan was born Bettye Naomi Goldstein on February 4, 1921, to Russian Jewish immigrants in Peoria, Illinois. She attended Peoria High School and graduated "Summa Cum Laude" from Smith College in Northampton, Massachusetts in 1942. 

Friedan trained as a psychologist at the University of California, Berkeley, but became a suburban housewife and mother in New York, supplementing her husband’s income by writing freelance articles for women’s magazines. 

After conducting a survey of her Smith College classmates at a 15-year reunion, Friedan found that most of them were, like she was, dissatisfied suburban housewives.  After five more years of researching history, psychology, sociology and economics and conducting interviews with women across the country, Friedan charted American middle-class women’s metamorphosis from the independent, career-minded New Woman of the 1920s and '30s into the housewife of the postwar years who was supposed to find fulfillment in her duties as mother and wife.  

She married Carl Friedman, who later dropped the 'M' in his last name to create the more distinctive "Friedan," a theater producer, in 1947 while working at UE News. She continued to work after marriage, first as a paid employee and, after 1952, as a freelance journalist. 

This research turned into "The Feminine Mystique" (1963), a book regarded as one of the most influential nonfiction books of the twentieth century as it helped ignite the women’s movement of the 1960s and ’70s, transforming American society and culture. The overwhelming response of readers who were similarly dissatisfied in that role led Friedan to co-found and become the first president of the National Organization for Women (NOW) in 1966 to work towards increasing women’s rights. National Organization for Women lobbied for enforcement of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Equal Pay Act of 1963, the first two major legislative victories of the movement, and forced the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission to stop ignoring and start treating with dignity and urgency, claims filed involving sex discrimination.

In 1969, Friedan helped establish the National Association for the Repeal of Abortion Laws, which would later change its name to NARAL Pro-Choice America.

Billington, Friedan, Ireton, and Rawalt, 1966.

Betty divorced Carl in May 1969, later claiming to have been a battered wife. Carl died in December of 2005.

She helped found and lead other women’s groups, such as the National Women’s Political Caucus in 1971. As a leader of these organizations, Friedan was influential in helping change outdated laws that were disadvantageous to women, such as sex-segregated help-wanted ads and hiring practices, unequal pay, and firing a woman who was pregnant instead of providing her with maternity leave.   

 

Within the diverse women’s movement, Friedan received criticism for focusing too much on issues facing primarily white, middle-class, educated, heterosexual women. Radical feminists also criticized Friedan for working with men. Friedan insisted that the women’s movement had to remain in the American mainstream. Otherwise, they would be dismissed, and nothing would change. In the end, Friedan’s mainstream attitude provided a balance to other women’s rights leader’s more radical attitudes.    

Since the 1970s, Friedan published several more books, taught at New York University and the University of Southern California, as well as lectured widely at women’s conferences around the world. Friedan’s vision, passion, foresight, and hard work helped created a society where women are more equal to men and have more choices when deciding how to live their lives. Friedan has made a lasting impact on American society. 

Friedan died of congestive heart failure at her home in Washington, D.C., on February 4, 2006, her 85th birthday. 

Note the "Second Class" 5¢ U.S. Postal Stamp.

VIDEO

How It Began: Betty Friedan and the Modern Women's Movement

(runtime - 1:36:10)

Compiled by Dr. Neil Gale, Ph.D.

Lost Communities of Chicago - Township of Jefferson - Village of Jefferson

Early settlers named the area’s first post office for President James Monroe. The name "Monroe" was already in use in another community in Illinois that was named Monroe, so they decided to honor President Thomas Jefferson instead. 

The State formed the Township of Jefferson in Cook County, Illinois, in 1850. When the township was founded, Chicago (population 30,000) was still a walkable urban area contained within a radius of a couple of miles. By 1855, the village had 50 buildings. On August 6, 1872, they changed from the township organization to the village organization.

This region comprised most of what is now known as Chicago's Northwest Side, including the entirety of the following community areas: Jefferson Park, Avondale, Logan Square, Hermosa, Forest Glen, Dunning, Albany Park, Portage Park, Irving Park, Montclare, and Belmont-Cragin.

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In 1872 Norwood Park Township was created from the northwest corner of Jefferson. In 1889, Chicago annexed the rest of the township and ceased functioning independently. Norridge, Harwood Heights, and the town of Norwood Park were all part of the Norwood Park Township that had been cut out of Jefferson Township before the rest of Jefferson Township was annexed to the city. Norwood Park would be annexed later, with the at-the-time unincorporated parts of Norwood Township (Norridge and Harwood Heights) remaining unannexed. 

A tiny bit of Norwood Park Township remains unincorporated (not part of any city or suburb, but directly under county control) along Bryn Mawr between Cumberland and Canfield.

NOTE: This was a comment from "Unknown" on Blogger. (I would have used their name if they didn't select unknown instead of their name and stuck to the facts.)

In 1889 the Village of Jefferson was annexed into the city of Chicago. Its borders were Devon Avenue on the north, Harlem Avenue on the west, Western Avenue to the east, and North Avenue to the south. It added 36 square miles of property t chicago. 

By the year of annexation, Jefferson had become active and prosperous. The Jefferson settlement was linked to the city of Chicago by the Milwaukee and Elston Plank Roads, both of which had been in operation since the 1850s. These roads had initially been Indian Trails, and they were later called the “Upper” (Milwaukee) and “Lower” (Elston) roads.  Elston got its name from Dan Elston, a former alderman and bricklayer who graded, maintained, and principally used the road. Both Milwaukee and Elston became toll roads owned by Amos Snell, and they operated until the annexation (tolls were necessary on planked roads to cover the costs of repair and maintenance). At that time, citizens burned down the toll gates in protest of first, having to pay the tolls and indignation over the extreme increase in traffic. 

Chicago Tribune, Thursday, February 9, 1888

Amos J. Snell, the West Side millionaire, was shot dead early yesterday morning by burglars in his residence, at the northwest corner of Washinton Boulevard and Ada Street. The murder was committed shortly after 2 o'clock in the morning.

The Amos J. Snell Mansion

The murder of Amos J. Snell has never been solved.

Compiled by Dr. Neil Gale, Ph.D. 

Abraham Lincoln used "Blue Mass" (Mercury Tablets) to treat some of his health issues.

It is well known that Abraham Lincoln used Blue Mass[1] also known as Blue Pills (Mercury Tablets) regularly, but there is debate over what ailment the medicine was intended to address. Historians most commonly state that Lincoln used Blue Mass in the treatment of constipation.

Some historians believe that Lincoln's flashes of temper may have been symptoms of mercury poisoning, brought on by Blue Mass, also a common remedy for "melancholy" depression. It may have been both, as it was commonly believed during the time period that problems of digestion, the failure of the liver to properly secrete bile, could lead to mental disorders. In addition to outbursts of rage, the mercury Lincoln ingested may have caused insomnia, forgetfulness, and possibly hand tremors.

Lincoln's use of Blue Mass may have altered his behavior and may explain the erratic behavior and violent rages to which he was subject over a period of years before the Civil War (April 12, 1861 - April 9, 1865).

One story of Lincoln's angry outbursts claims that during one of the famous 1858 Senate debates between Lincoln and Stephen Douglas, in response to an accusation by Douglas about Lincoln's record in Congress, Lincoln furiously grabbed the collar of a former congressional colleague who, Lincoln said, knew the charge was false, shook the man violently "until his teeth chattered."

Some historians believe that this explains the contrast between his earlier behavior (while he was perhaps suffering from mercury poisoning from his use of Blue Mass) and his later behavior during the war (after he had stopped taking Blue Mass), given that most of the effects of mercury poisoning are reversible. Lincoln took the pills which were as widely used in the 18th and 19th centuries as Prozac is today.

Dr. Marshall Baldwin's Nervous Pills contained an undisclosed
amount of mercury leading to heavy metal poisoning.

Blue Mass was prescribed for anything they thought was related to the liver. But that was based on a faulty theory. It only poisoned you.

Blue Mass (aka; Blue Pills) or as a liquid syrup was sold from horse-drawn wagons, such as this one, all over the country. Each vendor mixed their own formula so the amount of mercury was unknown.

Lincoln's health has been more scrutinized in recent decades, as some scientists have sought to show that he inherited a genetic ailment called Marfan Syndrome, which can lead to a gaunt frame, slender fingers, and internal bleeding. Today geneticists consider this diagnosis unlikely.

A study in July of 2001 gives a new perspective on a president revered for his calm and focused leadership through the historic crisis of the Civil War. That steady temperament appears to have emerged only after Lincoln claimed to have stopped taking the pills that his law partner William H. Herndon said was Blue Mass.

There is, however, evidence that Lincoln continued to take Blue Mass. An interview given by his wife Mary Todd Lincoln, to a correspondent from the Pittsburgh Chronicle suggests that Lincoln continued his use of the medication, despite his earlier statements to the contrary.

In an interview, Mrs. Lincoln described an instance in which her husband's "usual medicine," the mercury-based "blue pills," made him terribly ill. Mrs. Lincoln recalled the fact that her husband had been very ill, for several days, from the effects of a dose of blue pills taken shortly before his second inauguration. She said he was not well, and appearing to require his usual medicine, blue pills, she sent to the drug store and gave him a dose that night before going to bed, and that next morning his pale appearance terrified her. "His face," said she, pointing to the bed beside which she sat, "was white as that pillow-case, as it lay just there," she exclaimed, laying her hand on the pillow—"white, and such a deadly white; as he tried to rise he sank back again quite overcome!" She described his anxiety to be up, there was so much to do, and her persistence and his oppressive fatigue in keeping him in bed for several days. They both thought it was so strange that the pills should affect him in that way, as they never had done so before. They both concluded that they would not get more medicine from that pharmacy, as the attendant evidently did not understand how to make up prescriptions.

NOTE: Abraham Lincoln had Malaria,[2] at least twice. The first time was in 1830 (21 years old), along with the rest of his family. They had just arrived in Illinois that year. The second episode was in the summer of 1835 (26 years old), while living in New Salem, Illinois. Lincoln was then so ill, he was sent to a neighbor's house to be medicated and cared for. Malaria, during that time period, would often rear its ugly head throughout ones lifetime.

RUMOR: Lincoln had Marfan syndrome. Today geneticists consider the diagnosis unlikely.  

UNFOUNDED: Lincoln's son, Willie, died from typhoid fever. It is only speculation that Lincoln suffered from typhoid fever at the Gettysburg address. But it is more likely that Lincoln had a mild case of smallpox, because his personal valet, William H. Johnson, develop smallpox caring for Lincoln after the Gettysburg address and he died from it.

Unfortunately, since no hair samples from Lincoln during this period are available, it is impossible to determine whether or not he was truly suffering from mercury poisoning while he was taking Blue Mass.

Did Lincoln's Blue Mass Pills Cause Uncontroable Anger?

Abraham Lincoln reached over and picked a man up by the coat collar at the back of the neck and shook him "until his teeth chattered." He became so angry "his voice thrilled and his whole frame shook." Lincoln only stopped when someone, "fearing that he would shake Ficklin's head off," broke his grip. A new study suggests that mercury poisoning may explain Lincoln's bizarre behavior. 

Lincoln during in this 1858 Lincoln-Douglas debate is a far cry from our vision of Lincoln at the Lincoln Memorial, sitting patient and thoughtful with the weight of the nation on his shoulders. A study published in the Summer of 2001, issue of Perspectives in Biology and Medicine reformulates a common anti-depressive medication of the nineteenth century and shows that it would have delivered a daily dose of mercury exceeding the current Environmental Protection Agency safety standard by nearly 9000 times.

"We wondered how a man could be described as having the patience of a saint in his fifties when only a few years earlier he was subject to outbursts of rage and bizarre behavior," said Norbert Hirschhorn, M.D., retired public health physician, medical historian and lead author of the study. 

"Mercury poisoning certainly could explain Lincoln's known neurological symptoms: insomnia, tremor, and the rage attacks," said Robert G. Feldman, M.D., professor of neurology, pharmacology, and environmental health at the Boston University Schools of Medicine and Public Health, an expert on heavy metal poisoning and co-author of the paper. "But what is even more important, because the behavioral effects of mercury poisoning may be reversible, it also explains the composure for which he was famous during his tenure as president."

Lincoln was known to have taken "blue mass," a pill containing mercury, apparently to treat his persistent "melancholia," (then known also as hypochondriasis.) In 1861, a few months after the inauguration, however, perceptively noting that blue mass made him "cross," Lincoln stopped taking the medication. 

"We wanted to determine how toxic the mercury in the blue mass pills was likely to be," said Ian A Greaves, M.D., associate professor of environment and occupational health and associate dean at the University of Minnesota School of Public Health, coauthor. "We used a nineteenth-century recipe to recreate blue mass. The ingredients included, besides mercury, licorice root, rose-water, honey and sugar, and dead rose petals. It was compounded with an old-fashioned mortar and pestle and rolled to size on a 19th-century pill tile. But, in accord with 20th-century safety standards, we wore surgical gowns, gloves, masks, and caps and worked with modern ventilation equipment."

Caution was well advised. The method of compounding the blue mass pill, dispersing the mercury into fine particles and increasing its surface area, was meant to assure its absorption into the body and did. The vapor released by the two pills in the stomach would have been 40 times the safe limit set by the U.S. National Institute for Occupational Health. The solid element of mercury absorbed from two pills would have been 750micrograms. The EPA indicates that only up to 21micrograms of any form of mercury per day may safely be ingested. Someone who ate the common dose of two to three little pills per day would have seriously risked poisoning. 

"The wartime Lincoln is remembered for his self-control in the face of provocation, his composure in the face of adversity," said Hirschhorn. "If Lincoln hadn't recognized that the little blue pill he took made him 'cross,' and stopped the medication, his steady hand at the helm through the Civil War might have been considerably less steady." 

Compiled by Neil Gale, Ph.D. 

---

[1] Blue mass was used as a specific treatment for syphilis from at least the late 17th century to the early 18th. Blue mass was recommended as a remedy for such widely varied complaints as tuberculosis, constipation, toothache, parasitic infestations, and the pains of childbirth.

A combination of blue mass, and a mixture called the common black draught, was a standard cure for constipation in early 19th century England and elsewhere. It was particularly valued on ships of the Royal Navy, where sailors and officers were constrained to eat rock-hard salted beef and pork, old stale biscuits (hardtack), and very little fruit, fiber, or other fresh food once they were at sea for an extended period.

It was a magistral preparation, compounded by pharmacists themselves based on their own recipes or on one of several widespread recipes. It was sold in the form of blue or gray pills or syrup. Its name probably derives from the use of blue dye or blue chalk (used as a buffer) in some formulations.

The ingredients of blue mass varied, as each pharmacist prepared it himself, but they all included mercury in elemental or compound form (often as mercury chloride, also known as calomel). One recipe of the period included (for blue mass syrup):

33% mercury (nearly one-third, measured by weight) 5% licorice25% Althaea (possibly hollyhock or marshmallow)3% glycerol34% rose honeyBlue pills were produced by substituting milk sugar and rose oil for the glycerol and rose honey. Pills contained one grain (64.8 milligrams) of mercury.

Mercury is known today to be toxic, and ingestion of mercury leads to mercury poisoning, a form of heavy metal poisoning. While mercury is still used in compound form in some types of medicines and for other purposes, blue mass contained excessive amounts of the metal: a typical daily dose of two or three blue mass pills represented ingestion of more than one hundred times the daily limits set by the Environmental Protection Agency in the United States today.

[2] Malaria was a common disease in Chicagoland and southern Illinois in pioneer days, wherever swamps, ponds, and wet bottomlands allowed mosquitoes to thrive; the illness was called ague (a fever or shivering fit), or bilious fever when liver function became impaired; medical historians believe that the disease came from Europe with early explorers around 1500; early travel accounts and letters from the Midwest reports of the ague, such as those of Jerry Church and Roland Tinkham, the details of which are extracted from their writings:

From the Journal of Jerry Church, when he had "A Touch of the Ague" in 1830: And the next place we came to of any importance, was the River Raisin, in the state of Michigan. There we met with a number of gentlemen from different parts of the world, speculators in land and town lots and cities, all made out on paper, and prices set at one and two hundred dollars per lot, right in the woods, and musquitoes and gallinippers thick enough to darken the sun. I recollect the first time I slept at the hotel, I told the landlord the next morning I could not stay in that room again unless he could furnish a boy to fight the flies, for I was tired out myself; and not only that, but I had lost at least half a pint of blood. The landlord said that he would remove the musquitoes the next night with smoke. He did so, and after that, I was not troubled so much with them. We stayed there a few days, but they held the property so high that we did not purchase any. The River Raisin is a small stream of water, something similar to what the Yankees would call a brook. I was very much disappointed in the appearance of the country when I arrived there, for I anticipated finding something great, and did not know but that I might on the River Raisin find the article growing on trees! But it was all a mistake, for it was rather a poor section of the country. We then passed on to Chicago, and there I left my fair lady-traveler and her brother, and steered my course for Ottawa, in the county of Lasalle, Illinois. Arrived there, I put up at the widow Pembrook`s, near the town, and intended to make her house my home for some time. I kept trading round in the neighborhood for some time, and at last, was taken with a violent chill and fever, and had to take my bed at the widow`s, send for a doctor, and commence taking medicine; but it all did not do me much good. I kept getting weaker every day, and after I had eaten up all the doctor-stuff the old doctor had, pretty much, he told me that it was a very stubborn case, and he did not know as he could remove it, and thought it best to have counsel. So I sent for another doctor, and they both attended me for some time. I still kept getting worse and became so delirious as not to know anything for fifteen hours. I at last came to and felt relieved. After that, I began to feel better and concluded that I would not take any more medicine of any kind, and I told my landlady what I had resolved. She said that I would surely die if I did not follow the directions of the doctor. I told her that I could not help it; that all they would have to do was to bury me, for my mind was made up. In a few days, I began to gain strength, and in a short time, I got so that I could walkabout. I then concluded that the quicker I could get out of those "Diggins" the better it would be for me. So I told my landlady that my intention was to take my horse and wagon and try to get to St. Louis; for I did not think that I could live long in that country, and concluded I must go further south. I accordingly had my trunk re-packed and made a move. I did not travel far in a day, but at last arrived at St. Louis, very feeble and weak, and did not care much how the world went at that time. However, I thought I had better try and live as long as there was any chance.

From a letter by Roland Tinkham, a relative of Gurdon. S. Hubbard, describing his observations of malaria during a trip to Chicago in the summer of 1831: The fact cannot be controverted that on the streams and wet places the water and air are unwholesome, and the people are sickly. In the villages and thickly settled places, it is not so bad, but it is a fact that in the country which we traveled the last 200 miles, more than one half the people are sick; this I know for I have seen it. We called at almost every house, as they are not very near together, but still, there is no doubt that this is an uncommonly sickly season. The sickness is not often fatal; ague and fever, chill and fever, as they term it, and in some cases bilious fever are the prevailing diseases. 

The history of the Grand Opera House of Chicago, Illinois. (1872-1958)

The Grand Opera House of Chicago was built on the original site of "Bryan Hall and Hooley’s Opera House," at 546 N. Clark Street (119 N. Clark Street today). J.A. Hamlin and brother L.B. Hamlin purchased the property in January 1872 and erected the first building that was completed upon that block after the Great Chicago Fire in 1871.

In 1873, Hamlin Brothers built on the rear lot what was subsequently known as "Foley’s Billiard Hall," which was at the time the largest billiard hall in the world, containing thirty tables on one floor. In 1874, the billiard hall property was bought by the Hamlin Brothers, and the billiard business was discontinued after a few months.

The hall was reconstructed with an additional building added to the east end, and for two years was occupied as a garden styled after Gilmore’s Garden of New York, with fountains, waterfalls, vocal and instrumental music, and all kinds of refreshments.

Subsequently, the garden, by degrees, was changed to a vaudeville theater, and was continued as such until 1878, when it was again re-constructed as a regular theater, and opened in September 1878, under the name of Hamlins’ Theater. About that time the property passed out of the hands of Hamlin Bros: into those of William C. Reynolds, who sold it to John Borden in 1880.

John Borden shortly afterward sold the property to his son, William Borden, who re-constructed the theater at an additional expense of about $55,000, and it was opened on September 6, 1880, under the name of the Grand Opera House, and under the management of John A. Hamlin. The lot upon which the Grand Opera House buildings are erected contains about thirteen thousand two hundred square feet of ground.

The history of the location as a place of amusement, commencing with the original Bryan Hall, way back in the 1850s, and running through all its various changes, is one of almost continuous success. The original Bryan Hall was one of the most popular amusement resorts in Chicago for many years. The Grand Opera House was opened by Hoey & Hardy’s Company, in their adaptation of the play “A Child of the State,” followed by Tom Keene, in a Shakesperian repertory. Nathaniel Goodwin, Emma Abbott Opera Company, Boston Ideal Opera Company, etc., all performed.

It was the scene of the first production of two huge hit musicals aimed at children. In June of 1902, the original production of The Wizard of Oz had its premiere there. One year later, in June 1903, came the premiere of Victor Herbert’s Babes in Toyland.

The Grand Opera House was built as a legitimate theatre and had seating for 1,750 in an orchestra, balcony, and gallery. The interior was lit by gas and described by the Chicago Daily Tribune as having “the beautiful blending of rich colors and the graceful elegance of the designs charms the eye at every point."

In 1912 George M. Cohan and his partner Sam H. Harris leased the theatre, on March 3rd, the renamed "George M. Cohan’s Grand Opera House" opened its doors. In 1926 the façade and auditorium were reconstructed by Andrew Rebori, and reopened as the Four Cohans. 

"Of Thee I Sing" became the first musical to win the Pulitzer Prize for drama (1932), and was the longest-running Gershwin show during George Gershwin's lifetime. Ad c.1933

Later the Shuberts took over and the theatre became the Shubert Grand Opera House, it then returned to its original name Grand Opera House. 

When live theatre left and films came in the theatre was renamed the RKO Grand. In March 1958 the RKO Grand showed its last film and was demolished a month later.

The RKO Grand Theater, 119 N. Clark Street, Chicago. One screen,1200 seats. (1953)

The Chicago Civic Center completed in 1965 was later constructed on the site (renamed the Richard J. Daley Center on December 27, 1976, seven days after his death).

Among the stars who played the Grand Opera House, over the years, were: Lionel Barrymore, Arthur Byron, Mady Christians, George M. Cohan, Constance Collier, Katharine Cornell, Dudley Digges, Robert Edeson, Leon Errol, Douglas Fairbanks, Walter Hampden, Miriam Hopkins, Allan Jones, Bert Lahr, Eva Le Gallienne, Canada Lee, the Marx Brothers, Chester Morris, Mildred Natwick, Effie Shannon, and Ethel Waters.

Compiled by Neil Gale, Ph.D.