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Benjamin Rush, 1746-1813
Dr. Benjamin Rush suggested the title for Thomas Paine's historic pamphlet, "Common Sense," which argued against British rule. His signature appears on the Declaration of Independence and the physician fought for better conditions in military hospitals during the Revolutionary War. This portrait shows Rush before the Pine Building of the Medical College in Philadelphia, where he taught for many years.
At President Jefferson's request, the doctor also advised Captain Lewis of the Lewis and Clark expedition on the best ways to keep his men healthy on their journey across the continent. Rush is known as the "grandfather of psychiatry," and was one of the first to recognize alcoholism and mental illness as diseases rather than character flaws or moral failings. In 1786, he established the Philadelphia Dispensary, the first health clinic for the poor in the United States.
Thomas Sully, 1813 |