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Lawrie B. Morrison
THEY WERE GIANTS
OTHA LINTON, MSJ
Lawrie B. Morrison In 1902, Lawrie B. Morrison, a native of Vermont, graduated from the University of Vermont Medical School and was appointed as a professor of pathology there. Two years later, he was also the medical director of the Mary Fletcher Hospital in Burlington. It was in 1904 that a young medical student from Boston, Walter Dodd, transferred to the University of Vermont to complete his medical training. In a short time, Dr Morrison and Dr Dodd began a friendship that affected both of their medical careers. In 1896, Dr Dodd was the apothecarist and the staff photographer at the Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH). When x-rays were discovered in November 1895, MGH doctors asked Dr Dodd to build an x-ray machine for use on their patients. Dr Dodd did as he was requested. He not only took the x-ray exposures; most of the referring doctors also asked him to tell them what he saw on the films or fluoroscopic examinations. He decided that he should go to medical school and began in 1900 at Harvard University. His class attendance, studying, and laboratory work were difficult because on many days, he was summoned back to MGH to take x-rays. In 1904, he decided to attend another medical school, the University of Vermont, where he met Dr Morrison. While Dr Morrison was teaching his friend the range of medicine, he became very interested in x-rays and persuaded
Dr Dodd to set up an x-ray unit in the school’s hospital. Dr Dodd finished his medical training in 1908, returned to Boston, and was appointed to the MGH medical staff. He also opened a private office and invited Dr Morrison to move to Boston and join him in a radiology practice for the guaranteed pay of $1,000 a year. In 1913, Dr Morrison moved to Boston as a specialist in radiology. Dr Morrison shared his friend’s office on Marlborough Street and established x-ray services at the New England Baptist, Faulkner, Robert Breck Brigham, and Cory Hill hospitals. In 1916, the year Dr Dodd died from radiation exposure, Dr Morrison became the first radiologist on the staff of New England Deaconess Hospital. Like Dr Dodd, he too had skin burns, ulcers, and cancers from his daily radiation exposures. Dr Morrison averaged 12 hours on any working day and continued to suffer, even though by the 1920s, like almost all radiologists, he had switched to shielded hot cathode xray tubes and wore lead aprons to protect his body. He seldom worked without his hands covered with gloves to hide the scars and ulcers caused by his earlier exposures. In 1916, the Deaconess Hospital superintendent, Adeliza A. Betts, wrote about its first x-ray machine, “A room has been fitted up in the basement of the hospital and the x-ray will soon be in operation. This will be a great improvement over our old method of sending pa-
tients out for this treatment, which, oft times, meant overtaxing their strength. The x-ray will be under direction of Dr Lawrie Morrison.” Dr Morrison enlisted in the army medical corps in 1918, vacating his Boston practice. He returned after World War I ended in November 1918 and resumed all of his consultancies. In his partial year at Deaconess in 1918, Dr Morrison performed 700 x-ray examinations, “which have greatly aided physicians and surgeons in their work,” wrote Betts. “The x-ray has become an essential factor in making most diagnoses. It is also used in many cases for treatment of cancers.” Dr Morrison studied his clinical procedures and wrote 17 scientific articles over his 2 decades of radiology practice. Several papers addressed the imaging of hiatal hernias. That topic was featured in his 1925 article in the Journal of the American Medical Association. Among his other topics were osteosarcoma, diabetes, hip distractions, and colon cancers. He presented case studies frequently to the New England Roentgen Ray Society and to medical staffs at his several hospitals. During the 1920s, Dr Morrison began to suffer from his radiation injuries. The x-ray volume at Deaconess Hospital continued to grow. In 1928, he accepted a second radiologist, Isabel Bogan, to help cope with the growing patient load. Lawrie Morrison died in 1933 from malignancies blamed on his years of radiation exposures.
Otha Linton, MSJ, 11128 Hurdle Hill Dr, Potomac, MD 20854.
© 2011 American College of Radiology 0091-2182/11/$36.00 ● DOI 10.1016/j.jacr.2011.02.003
737
OTHA LINTON, MSJ
Lawrie B. Morrison In 1902, Lawrie B. Morrison, a native of Vermont, graduated from the University of Vermont Medical School and was appointed as a professor of pathology there. Two years later, he was also the medical director of the Mary Fletcher Hospital in Burlington. It was in 1904 that a young medical student from Boston, Walter Dodd, transferred to the University of Vermont to complete his medical training. In a short time, Dr Morrison and Dr Dodd began a friendship that affected both of their medical careers. In 1896, Dr Dodd was the apothecarist and the staff photographer at the Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH). When x-rays were discovered in November 1895, MGH doctors asked Dr Dodd to build an x-ray machine for use on their patients. Dr Dodd did as he was requested. He not only took the x-ray exposures; most of the referring doctors also asked him to tell them what he saw on the films or fluoroscopic examinations. He decided that he should go to medical school and began in 1900 at Harvard University. His class attendance, studying, and laboratory work were difficult because on many days, he was summoned back to MGH to take x-rays. In 1904, he decided to attend another medical school, the University of Vermont, where he met Dr Morrison. While Dr Morrison was teaching his friend the range of medicine, he became very interested in x-rays and persuaded
Dr Dodd to set up an x-ray unit in the school’s hospital. Dr Dodd finished his medical training in 1908, returned to Boston, and was appointed to the MGH medical staff. He also opened a private office and invited Dr Morrison to move to Boston and join him in a radiology practice for the guaranteed pay of $1,000 a year. In 1913, Dr Morrison moved to Boston as a specialist in radiology. Dr Morrison shared his friend’s office on Marlborough Street and established x-ray services at the New England Baptist, Faulkner, Robert Breck Brigham, and Cory Hill hospitals. In 1916, the year Dr Dodd died from radiation exposure, Dr Morrison became the first radiologist on the staff of New England Deaconess Hospital. Like Dr Dodd, he too had skin burns, ulcers, and cancers from his daily radiation exposures. Dr Morrison averaged 12 hours on any working day and continued to suffer, even though by the 1920s, like almost all radiologists, he had switched to shielded hot cathode xray tubes and wore lead aprons to protect his body. He seldom worked without his hands covered with gloves to hide the scars and ulcers caused by his earlier exposures. In 1916, the Deaconess Hospital superintendent, Adeliza A. Betts, wrote about its first x-ray machine, “A room has been fitted up in the basement of the hospital and the x-ray will soon be in operation. This will be a great improvement over our old method of sending pa-
tients out for this treatment, which, oft times, meant overtaxing their strength. The x-ray will be under direction of Dr Lawrie Morrison.” Dr Morrison enlisted in the army medical corps in 1918, vacating his Boston practice. He returned after World War I ended in November 1918 and resumed all of his consultancies. In his partial year at Deaconess in 1918, Dr Morrison performed 700 x-ray examinations, “which have greatly aided physicians and surgeons in their work,” wrote Betts. “The x-ray has become an essential factor in making most diagnoses. It is also used in many cases for treatment of cancers.” Dr Morrison studied his clinical procedures and wrote 17 scientific articles over his 2 decades of radiology practice. Several papers addressed the imaging of hiatal hernias. That topic was featured in his 1925 article in the Journal of the American Medical Association. Among his other topics were osteosarcoma, diabetes, hip distractions, and colon cancers. He presented case studies frequently to the New England Roentgen Ray Society and to medical staffs at his several hospitals. During the 1920s, Dr Morrison began to suffer from his radiation injuries. The x-ray volume at Deaconess Hospital continued to grow. In 1928, he accepted a second radiologist, Isabel Bogan, to help cope with the growing patient load. Lawrie Morrison died in 1933 from malignancies blamed on his years of radiation exposures.
Otha Linton, MSJ, 11128 Hurdle Hill Dr, Potomac, MD 20854.
© 2011 American College of Radiology 0091-2182/11/$36.00 ● DOI 10.1016/j.jacr.2011.02.003
737