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Walter Channing (1786-1876) Papers

1800-1872

Guide to the Collection

Table of Contents

Collection Summary

Biographical Timeline

Sources

Collection Description

Related Material

Acquisition Information

Detailed Description of the Collection

Preferred Citation

Access Terms

Collection Summary

Creator:	Channing, Walter, 1786-1876.
Title:	Walter Channing (1786-1876) papers
Dates:	1800-1872
Physical Description:	8 document boxes and 2 vols.
Call Number:	Ms. N-2123.3
Note:	Forms part of the Channing family collection.
Repository:	Massachusetts Historical Society 1154 Boylston Street Boston, MA 02215 library@masshist.org

Abstract:

This collection consists of the lectures, essays, case notes, and correspondence of Dr. Walter Channing, a Boston physician and pioneer in the field of obstetrics. Correspondents include his grandson, Walter Channing, his brothers William Ellery and George Gibbs Channing, and his sister, Lucy Channing Russel. Many of the lectures were delivered at the Harvard Medical College, where Channing taught from 1815 to 1847.

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Biographical Timeline

1786	Born in Newport, Rhode Island
1803	Channing family moves to Boston
1807	Dismissed from Harvard College; studies medicine with James Jackson
1808	Studies medicine at the University of Pennsylvania
1809	Receives M.D. from University of Pennsylvania
1810	Studies medicine in Edinburgh and London
1811	Begins to practice medicine in Boston
1812	Serves as editor of the New England Journal of Medicine and Surgery
1814	Named Fellow of the Massachusetts Medical Society
1815	Appointed Lecturer in Midwifery, Harvard Medical College; marries Barbara Higginson Perkins
1818	Appointed Professor of Midwifery and Jurisprudence
1819	Named Dean of the Medical Faculty
1821	Becomes Assistant Physician at Massachusetts General Hospital
1822	Death of Barbara Perkins Channing
1828	Serves as editor of the Boston Medical and Surgical Journal
1829	Becomes treasurer of the Massachusetts Medical Society
1830	Joins Boston Society of Natural History
1831	Marries Eliza Wainwright
1832	Establishment of Boston Lying-In Hospital
1833	Gives annual address to the Massachusetts Medical Society
1834	Death of Eliza Wainwright Channing
1835	Gives annual address to the Boston Society of Natural History; becomes secretary of the Massachusetts Temperance Society
1836	Give annual address to the Massachusetts Temperance Society
1839	Relinquishes appointment as physician at Massachusetts General Hospital
1842	Publishes "Notes on Anaemia"
1843	Publishes Address on the Prevention of Pauperism
1844	Publishes A Plea for Pure Water
1848	Publishes Treatise on Etherization in Childbirth
1852	Journey to Europe
1854	Resigns from Harvard medical faculty
1856	Becomes president of Suffolk District Medical Society
1861	Serves as first president of the Obstetrical Society of Boston
1866	Moves to Dorchester
1876	Dies in Brookline, Massachusetts

Table of Contents

Sources

Biographical information taken from: Midwifery In Boston: Walter Channing, M.D., 1786-1876, by Amalie M. Kass. (Boston: Northeastern University Press, 2002)

Table of Contents

Collection Description

The Walter Channing (1786-1876) papers form part of the Channing Family collection and consist of personal papers, correspondence, lectures, essays, and case notes of Dr. Walter Channing, a Boston physician and pioneer in the field of obstetrics. The collection is housed in 8 manuscript boxes and 2 cased volumes.

The collection includes both personal and professional correspondence. Family members represented include his grandson, Walter Channing, his brothers William Ellery and George Gibbs Channing, and his sister, Lucy Channing Russel. The professional correspondence includes letters from grateful patients, letters from other physicians regarding mutual patients, and letters of appointment to various professional positions and organizations.

Personal papers include autobiographical writings, reminiscences of his career at Harvard Medical School, wills, an account book kept from 1869-1871, and a scrapbook containing diary entries made by his wife, Barbara Higginson Perkins, March - Oct. 1821. Also included are manuscripts for Channing's travel memoirs, A Physician's Vacation (1856), describing his travels to Europe in 1852, and "A Sketch of That Town Into the Highlands of Scotland in Autumn of 1810," later published in Reminiscences of Foreign Travel (1856).

Many of the medical lectures were delivered at the Harvard Medical School, where Channing taught from 1815 to 1847. The lectures concern various aspects of women's health, childbirth, legal medicine, and general medicine including cholera and homeopathy. Non-medical writings and lectures cover topics including art, education, and politics. Lectures covering topics such as temperance and public health reflect Channing's personal interest in social and moral reform. Many of these non-medical lectures were delivered to organizations including the Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge, the Boston Society for Medical Improvement, and the Harvard Temperance Society.

The case notes include Channing's midwifery casebook (and a photocopy for use in the Reading Room), kept from 1811-1822, which contains notes on approximately 195 cases attended by Channing. The collection also contains notes on several additional midwifery and general medicine cases, many of which are undated and/or fragmentary. In general, Channing's notes are very detailed and include names and ages of patients, dates of treatment, and relevant medical history. For childbirth cases, Channing also describes the sex of the child delivered, and general notes on the delivery including the progression of labor and the presentation of the fetus.

Table of Contents

Related Material

This collection forms one part of the Channing family collection. The Channing family collection is subdivided into seven named collections: the William Ellery Channing papers; the Walter Channing, Esq. Papers; the Walter Channing papers II (described here); the Walter Channing papers III; the William F. Channing papers; the Henry Morse Channing papers; and the Channing family papers.

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Acquisition Information

Large portions of the entire Channing family collection were donated to the Massachusetts Historical Society in 1965 by the children of Henry M. Channing. It is assumed this collection formed part of that donation.

Table of Contents

Detailed Description of the Collection


Box	Folder	Contents
Box 1		I. Correspondence, 1800-1872 This series contains the personal and professional correspondence of Dr. Walter Channing. The personal correspondence includes letters to and from his brothers, Rev. William Ellery Channing (1870-1842), and George Channing (1789-1863), his sister, Lucy Russel (1787-1863), and his grandson, Walter Channing. Professional correspondence includes letters from grateful patients, letters to and from other physicians regarding mutual cases, and letters sent to The New England Journal of Medicine and Surgery during Channing's tenure as editor. Also, letters of appointment to various organizations, including the Boylston Medical Society and the Boston Employment Society; letters confirming his appointment to the positions of Assistant Attending Physician at the Massachusetts General Hospital (1821 and 1833) and Attending Physician at the Boston Lying-in Hospital (1833); and an invitation to present the annual address to the Massachusetts Medical Society in 1833.
					Table of Contents
		II. Lectures and Addresses Includes lectures and notes on lectures delivered to midwifery and legal medicine classes at Harvard Medical School, addresses to various organizations, and lectures on non-medical topics. Midwifery lectures cover topics including pregnancy, fetal development, labor, infanticide, menstruation, and diseases and disorders of the female reproductive system. Legal medicine lectures consider insanity, suffocation, toxicology, and sudden death, as well as the role of physicians in the legal system. Many of his lectures on midwifery and legal medicine also contain examples from his cases. Additional medical lectures cover topics including cholera, pericarditis, pneumonia, and homeopathy. Also included are addresses on medical topics presented to the Massachusetts Medical Society and the Society for Obstetric Improvement. Lectures on non-medical topics cover subjects ranging from art and philosophy to politics and the United States Constitution. Also included are addresses to non-medical organizations such as the Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge, and the Washington Benevolent Society of Massachusetts. Other topics covered reflect Channing's interest in social and moral reform, especially temperance, including notes and lectures on temperance reform and public health, and addresses delivered to the Massachusetts Temperance Society and the Harvard Temperance Society.
Box 2	Folder 1		Lecture schedules and fees, Massachusetts Medical College, 1830-1831
Box 2	Folder 1		Bound volume of lecture schedule and notes, 1845-1849
			Numbered Midwifery lectures
Box 2	Folder 2-4			Notes on midwifery lectures 1-16
Box 2	Folder 5			Lecture VIII: [Disturbances in Uterine Function]
Box 2	Folder 6			Lecture IX: [Pathology of the External Organs of Female Generation], 1840
Box 2	Folder 7			Lecture X: Diseases of the Uterus, of its Appendages, and of Some Connected Organs, 1840
Box 2	Folder 8			Lecture XI: [Menstruation]
Box 2	Folder 9			Lecture XII: Generation
Box 2	Folder 10			Lecture XII: Affections of the Thorax [Lung and Heart Affections Complicating Pregnancy]
Box 2	Folder 11			Lecture XIII: Affections of the Uterus During Pregnancy
Box 2	Folder 12			Lecture XVII: Marks, Longings, Monsters
Box 2	Folder 13			Lecture XXXI: Demonstration of the Wax Model
Box 2	Folder 13			Lecture XXXII: Operation of Turning
Box 2	Folder 14			Lecture XXXV: Labor
Box 2	Folder 15			Lecture XXXVI: Labor
			Lectures and Lecture Notes: Midwifery
Box 3	Folder 1			Deviations from the Standard Female Pelvis
Box 3	Folder 2			Dropsey of the Fetus: Delivered to the Society for Medical Improvement, 1842
Box 3	Folder 3			Infanticide (two lectures)
Box 3	Folder 4			Labor
Box 3	Folder 5			Labor: Lecture in three parts
Box 3	Folder 6			Labor: Complications of Labor
Box 3	Folder 7			Labor: Precursors of Labor
Box 3	Folder 8			Menstruation: Its Natural Occurrence and Deviations, 1867
Box 3	Folder 9-11			Midwifery: [Introductory Lectures and Elementary Principals]
Box 3	Folder 12			Midwifery: Introductory Lecture, 1822 and 1834
Box 3	Folder 13			Nourishment of the Fetus in Utero
Box 3	Folder 14			Diseases of the Ovaria, 1822
Box 3	Folder 15			Polypus of the Womb, 1855
Box 3	Folder 16			Valedictory Lecture, delivered to the students attending the midwifery course, 1838 and 1847
Box 3	Folder 17			Miscellaneous midwifery lecture notes
			Lectures: Legal Medicine
Box 4	Folder 1			[Hanging Deaths: Points for Investigation]
Box 4	Folder 2			Insanity
Box 4	Folder 3			[Introduction to Legal Medicine] (two lectures)
Box 4	Folder 4			Morbid Anatomy
Box 4	Folder 5			Of Professional Duties, in Certain Cases, Which Require a Knowledge of Law, 1823 (Wills, Insanity, Suicides)
Box 4	Folder 6			[Physicians as Expert Witnesses] (fragment)
Box 4	Folder 7			Physician at the Inquest, [1853-1856]
Box 4	Folder 8-9			Sudden Death I - II
Box 4	Folder 10			Suffocation
Box 4	Folder 11			Testimony
Box 4	Folder 12			Testimony II: [Reports of Trials, 1822-1826], after 1826
Box 4	Folder 13			Testimony III: Reports of Trials, [1781-1806], after 1826
Box 4	Folder 14-16			Toxicology I - III, 1829
			Lectures: Other Medical Topics
Box 5	Folder 1			[Abuse by Surgeons]
Box 5	Folder 2			Asiatic Cholera
Box 5	Folder 3			[Disease of Health]
Box 5	Folder 4			Dysmenorrhea (Contains two letters on the subject written to Dr. Channing by F. Minot)
Box 5	Folder 5			Dysmenorrhea: [Rheumatic Dysmenorrhea and Treatment of Dysmenorrhea] (fragment)
Box 5	Folder 6			General Introductory Lecture to Medical Course, 1840
Box 5	Folder 7			[History of Medicine]
Box 5	Folder 8			Homeopathy
Box 5	Folder 9			Homeopathy, 1860
Box 5	Folder 10			Homeopathy: Vomiting in Pregnancy
Box 5	Folder 11			[Homeopathy and Hydrotherapy]
Box 5	Folder 12			[Hydrophobia]
Box 5	Folder 13			[Annual Address before the Massachusetts Medical Society], 1833
Box 5	Folder 14			Medical Police
Box 5	Folder 15			Pericarditis: Case of Pericarditis, 1834
Box 5	Folder 16			Pneumonia
Box 5	Folder 17			[Address before the Society for Obstetric Improvement]
			Lectures: Non-medical Topics
Box 6	Folder 1			Art
Box 6	Folder 2			Bathing (Written for the Boston Medical and Surgical Journal)
Box 6	Folder 3			Address before the Boston Society of Natural History, 1835
Box 6	Folder 4			Education
Box 6	Folder 5			[Genius, Character, and Female Employment and Wages]
Box 6	Folder 6			[Independence]
Box 6	Folder 7			Labor: [American and European Views of Labor]
Box 6	Folder 8			Life and Living, 1860
Box 6	Folder 9			[Comments on The Life and Works of Goethe, by G. H. Lewes, (1855)]
Box 6	Folder 10			My Own Times, or Fifty Year Since: An Address before the Mechanic Apprentices Library Association, 1844
Box 6	Folder 11			[Philosophy of Old Age], 1860
Box 6	Folder 12			[The Picnic]
Box 6	Folder 13			Plea for Pure Water, 1844 (manuscript copy)
Box 6	Folder 14			[Political Parties]
Box 6	Folder 15			Politics
Box 6	Folder 16-17			Public Health: Addresses delivered before the Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge, 1829
Box 6	Folder 18			Sketch of the life and character of John D. Fisher, M.D., 1850 (manuscript copy)
Box 6	Folder 19			Temperance: Address Composed at the Request of the Harvard Temperance Society, 1838
Box 6	Folder 20			Temperance: Annual Address delivered before the Massachusetts Temperance Society, May 29 1836 (manuscript copy)
Box 6	Folder 21			Temperance Reform
Box 6	Folder 22			[United States Constitution]
Box 6	Folder 23			Address Delivered before the Washington Benevolent Society of Massachusetts, 1813
					Table of Contents
		III. Medical Case Records Contains case reports and notes on cases attended by Walter Channing, including Channing's midwifery casebook (and photocopy), kept from 1811-1822, which contains notes on approximately 195 cases attended by Channing. Entries note names and ages of patients, dates of treatment, relevant medical history, the sex of the child delivered, and general notes on the delivery including the progression of labor and the presentation of the fetus. Channing also provides thorough accounts of cases involving difficult labor, which he defined as labor lasting more than twenty-four hours, cases in which the fetus did not present head-first, or cases involving hemorrhaging, convulsions, or other medical emergencies. This box also includes notes on several additional midwifery and general medicine cases, many of which are undated and/or fragmentary.
Vol. 1			Midwifery Case Notebook, 1811-1822 Use photocopy in Box 7, folder 1.
Box 7	Folder 1		Photocopy of Midwifery Casebook, 1811-1822
Box 7	Folder 2		Notes on Midwifery Cases, n.d.
Box 7	Folder 3		Notes on Midwifery Cases, 1829
Box 7	Folder 4		Notes on Midwifery Cases, 1834-1840
Box 7	Folder 5		Notes on Midwifery Cases, 1863
Box 7	Folder 6		Notes on Midwifery and General Medicine Cases (numbered 1-10)
Box 7	Folder 7		Miscellaneous notes on cases (mostly fragmentary or incomplete)
					Table of Contents
		IV. Personal Papers Contains autobiographical writings, travel memoirs, wills, and account books of Walter Channing. The autobiographical writings include descriptions of his early life and medical career, and later reminiscences of his career at Harvard Medical College. The travel memoirs include a typescript and two manuscript copies (including one kept in a scrapbook made by his wife, Barbara Channing,) of his work, "A Sketch of That Town Into the Highlands of Scotland in Autumn of 1810," later published as part of a larger work, Professional Reminiscences of Foreign Travel (1852). The manuscript for another published work, A Physician's Vacation; or, a Summer in Europe, (1856) is also included. Other personal papers include two wills, written in 1865 and 1866, and a brief account book, kept from 1869-1871. The account book lists property owned by Channing, as well as stocks, bonds, insurance policies, and interest earned on investments. This box also includes a folder of miscellaneous biographical information, including obituaries and letters of condolence for Barbara and Walter Channing.
			Autobiographical Writings
Box 8	Folder 1-2			"Autobiographical to 1810" - two typescript copies, originally written in 1823
Box 8	Folder 3			"Fragment of Medical Autobiography, or A Case Reported by the Patient," published in Boston Medical and Surgical Journal, Dec. 1864
Box 8	Folder 4			[Medicine: Recollections of his early life and career]
Box 8	Folder 5			Reminiscences of the Faculty and his Career at Harvard Medical College
Box 8	Folder 6			Retrospectus, after 1857, [1859]
Box 8	Folder 7			Miscellaneous biographical information, including obituaries, and letters of condolence for Walter and Barbara Channing
			Travel journals
Vol. 2				Scrapbook containing manuscript copy of "A Sketch of that Town Into the Highlands of Scotland In the Autumn of 1810," made by Barbara Channing in 1812, additional entries by Barbara Channing, 1821.
Box 8	Folder 8			Manuscript of "A Sketch of that Town Into the Highlands of Scotland In the Autumn of 1810," published as part of Professional Reminiscences of Foreign Travel (1852)
Box 8	Folder 9			Typescript of "A Sketch of that Town Into the Highlands of Scotland In the Autumn of 1810," published as part of Professional Reminiscences of Foreign Travel (1852)
Box 8	Folder 10			Manuscript of Physician's Vacation; or, a Summer in Europe(1856), pp. 36-95a
Box 8	Folder 11			Physician's Vacation, pp. 53-90
Box 8	Folder 12			Physician's Vacation, pp. 95-114
Box 8	Folder 13			Physician's Vacation, pp. 117-156
Box 8	Folder 14			Physician's Vacation, pp. 281-340
Box 8	Folder 15			Physician's Vacation, pp. 692-699
Box 8	Folder 16			Physician's Vacation, pp. 726-761
			Other Personal Papers
Box 8	Folder 17			Wills, 1865 - 1866
Box 8	Folder 18			Account Book, 1869-1871

Table of Contents

Preferred Citation

Walter Channing papers II, Massachusetts Historical Society.

Table of Contents

Access Terms

This collection is indexed under the following headings in ABIGAIL, the online catalog of the Massachusetts Historical Society. Researchers desiring materials about related persons, organizations, or subjects should search the catalog using these headings.


	Persons:
		Channing, Barbara Higginson Perkins d. 1822.
		Channing, George G. (George Gibbs), 1789-1881.
		Channing, Walter, 1849-1921.
		Channing, William Ellery, 1780-1842.
		Russel, Lucy Channing, 1787-1863.


	Organizations:
		Boston Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge.
		Harvard Medical School.
		Harvard University. Temperance Society.


	Subjects:
		Account books,--1869-1871.
		Childbirth.
		Cholera.
		Europe--Description and travel--1800-1918.
		Homeopathy
		Medical education--Massachusetts--Boston.
		Medicine.
		Medicine--Addresses, essays, lectures.
		Medicine--Law and legislation.
		Medicine--Study and teaching.
		Obstetrics--Study and teaching.
		Physicians--Massachusetts--Boston.
		Public health.
		Reformers--Massachusetts--Boston.
		Temperance--Addresses, essays, lectures.
		Voyages and travels--Diaries.
		Women--Diseases.


	Titles:
		Physician's vacation; or, A summer in Europe.

Table of Contents

http://www.masshist.org/findingaids/doc.cfm?fa=fa0018
Send reference questions to library@masshist.org.

Collection processed by Kathleen Barker, Mar. 2002.
Revised 13 April 2005
Encoded by Michael Rush, July 2003

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