Illustrating War: Announcing the Daniel S. Young Archives of Medical Illustrations digital collection

Color drawing of an amputation of the distal femur. Courtesy Henry R. Winkler Center for the History of the Health Professions, University of Cincinnati Libraries.

Medical illustrations and drawings reflect the state of medicine at a specific moment in time, providing a visual record of science, technology and anatomical knowledge. A new University of Cincinnati Libraries digital collection, the Daniel S. Young: American Civil War Medical Illustrations, highlights the artistic and medical contributions of a surgeon and illustrator throughout his service on the battlefield. Available online via JSTOR, the collection contains 83 medical illustrations from the Daniel S. Young Archives held by the Henry R. Winkler Center for the History of the Health Professions at the Donald C. Harrison Health Sciences Library. The collection was scanned and digitized by the UC Libraries Digital Initiatives Team.

Daniel Young was a surgeon, artist and inventor. Born in New York in 1827, he graduated from Albany Medical College, New York, and in 1855 moved to Cincinnati, Ohio. During the American Civil War, Young was the surgeon of the 21st Regiment Ohio Volunteer Infantry (O.V.I.). Throughout the war he traveled with the O.V.I. administering medical care to injured soldiers and creating illustrations of soldiers’ wounds. Many of the medical illustrations are dated with the Civil War battle locations.

Young’s artistry paints a portrayal of how illustrations informed medical professionals during the 19th century. His Civil War medical illustrations were crucial in educating doctors on surgical procedures and about previously unseen wounds. While medical illustrations such as Young’s served to educate doctors they were also important in aiding veterans in their pension claims and showing how the war impacted soldiers’ health.

(right) Color drawing of cuts along the upper arm and elbow. Courtesy Henry R. Winkler Center for the History of the Health Professions, University of Cincinnati Libraries.

Following the war, Young returned to Cincinnati where he lectured on surgery at the Cincinnati College of Medicine and Surgery. He contributed several works on military surgery to the Cincinnati Journal of Medicine, accompanying them with his medical illustrations. He began writing a “Surgical History of the Civil War,” but abandoned the work when the War Department announced that they were preparing a similar work by the surgeon-general’s office.

Daniel Young donated his medical illustrations to the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine library, which is now the Henry R. Winkler Center for the History of the Health Professions. He died in Cincinnati in 1902.

“We expect significant interest in this collection from historians, students, researchers, physicians, scholars and those interested in the American Civil War,” said Devhra BennettJones, Winker Center archivist. “Medical illustrations from the American Civil War are important today because they offer valuable insights into the history of military medicine, diseases and the traumas faced by soldiers. They serve as a visual record of the advancements and challenges faced by military medical professionals during a period of prolonged intense conflict.”

Color drawing of a femur broken by bullet wound. Courtesy Henry R. Winkler Center for the History of the Health Professions, University of Cincinnati Libraries.

The Winkler Center partnered with UC’s Dr. Kris Ramprasad, Dr. Charles Prestigiacomo, Dr. Efrain Miranda and Dr. Brian Adams on the Daniel S. Young Medical Illustrations digitization project. Dr. Ramprasad was instrumental in researching and composing the medical descriptions of each medical illustration. Drs. Prestigiacomo, Miranda and Adams served as consultants to assist in the identification of anatomical wounds.