The Intriguing History of Cincinnati’s Dunham Hospital

Inscription and tuberculosis symbol from the
stone entrance to Dunham Hospital.
This photo serves as a link to the finding aid for the Cincinnati Branch Tuberculosis (Dunham)
Hospital Collection.

By: Nathan Hood

A few miles west of downtown Cincinnati is the Dunham Recreation Center: a significant expanse of land mostly open to the public. The land however, was not always recreational; at one time it was the location of the Dunham Hospital – the same hospital after which the Center is named. Now long since abandoned, Dunham Hospital was once a branch of the Cincinnati Hospital and a means of treating as well as quarantining tuberculosis patients. But such facts are only a small portion of this institution’s rich history! Indeed, the hospital’s story arguably begins sometime during the early 1800’s.

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Celebrating the History of The College of Nursing with the Seventh Annual Cecil Striker Society Lecture

Dr. Cecil Striker

Cecil Striker
This photo serves as a link to the article “Dr. Cecil Striker,
An Essential Founder of the ADA.”

By: Nathan Hood

On Thursday, April 14th, the Winkler Center for the History of the Health Professions is excited to present its seventh annual Cecil Striker Society Lecture! This year, faculty and students celebrate the 100th Anniversary of the College of Nursing’s Bachelor Degree – which was implemented in the early 1916 in tandem with the creation of the School of Nursing and Health of the Cincinnati General Hospital. This baccalaureate program was, according to the Winkler Center’s records, the first of its kind in the United States and a product of the ‘melding’ between Cincinnati’s pre-existing nursing program and that of the University. This “merging” of affiliations between the nursing education program, the hospital, and the University was only the second instance of its kind in the country. Indeed, the event was revolutionary in more ways than one…

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Dr. Christian R. Holmes, The Cincinnati General Hospital, and the Surgical Amphitheater

By: Nathan Hood

CR HolmesPainting

Portrait of Dr. Christian R. Holmes that hung in the General Hospital’s Administration building for many years. This photo serves as a link to the blog, “Major Christian R. Holmes’ Involvement at Camp Sherman.”

 Dr. Christian R. Holmes is credited with numerous contributions not only to science and medicine in general, but also to medical education. Indeed, he is remembered not only for his expertise in Otolaryngology and Ophthalmology, but also for his profound influence on the history of the University of Cincinnati’s Medical College and it’s collaboration with the surrounding municipal hospitals – Cincinnati’s General Hospital in particular. For this reason, some unhesitatingly compare him to the famed Dr. Daniel Drake who first established the Medical College and soon after more-or-less effectuated the creation of the Cincinnati General Hospital’s institutional with the intention of their collaboration.

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