Dr. George Lord de Schweinitz, Sr.

Dr. George Lord de Schweinitz, Sr.

• Find A Grave Memorial ID # 59013169
• The William F. Norris and George Edmund de Schweinitz Professorship of Ophthalmology, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania (see below)
• George Edmund de Schweinitz papers
• The Hidden Agony of Woodrow Wilson (see below)

'In sum, all of Wilson’s ambitions were working out beautifully in these years. Then he awoke one morning in May 1906 to discover that he was blind in his left eye and that, for the third time, his right arm felt weak.

A friend accompanied [Woodrow] Wilson to Philadelphia, where he was seen by the distinguished ophthalmologist George de Schweinitz and by the internist Alfred Stengel. Their diagnoses emphasized that Wilson’s blood pressure was dangerously elevated, and Schweinitz bluntly advised the patient to give up active work. Wilson’s youngest daughter, Eleanor, recalled her father’s return home. All three daughters were in despair, but Wilson himself seemed “calm, even gay.” He had been assured, after all, by Dr. Stengel that “a rest of three months will restore you completely. . . . You have doubtless done too much in the last few years.” Nevertheless, it’s likely that, beneath the brave front Wilson presented to his family, the cumulative weight of all his medical troubles, climaxing in the horror of a retinal hemorrhage, had engendered a fear in him that he might not have long to live.

His wife wavered between hope that the illness had been caught in time and an overriding gloom. “I know now more exactly what is threatening Woodrow,” Ellen wrote a favorite cousin. “It is hardening of the arteries, due to prolonged pressure on brain and nerves. He has lived too tensely. It is, of course, the thing that killed his father [in 1903]; as a rule it is the result of old age. . . . It is an awful thing—a dying by inches, and incurable.”
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The William F. Norris and George Edmund de Schweinitz Professorship of Ophthalmology, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania

George Edmund de Schweinitz

The Professorship was established in 1945 under the terms of the will of George E. de Schweinitz, MD (1858–1938) to honor his colleague, William Fisher Norris, MD (1838–1901), an esteemed pioneer in the field of ophthalmology. Both were graduates of the Perelman School of Medicine, Dr. Norris in 1861 and Dr. de Schweinitz in 1881.

Dr. Norris served with distinction as a surgeon for the U.S. Army during the Civil War. In 1873, Dr. Norris joined the staff of the Perelman School of Medicine as a Clinical Professor of Diseases of the Eye and is credited with founding and developing the School of Medicine’s Department of Ophthalmology, serving as its chairman until 1901. In addition to many journal publications, he was the author of one of the first nationally recognized textbooks in ophthalmology and edited the four-volume System of Diseases of the Eye.

In 1902, Dr. de Schweinitz succeeded Dr. Norris as Chairman of the Department of Ophthalmology, remaining in that capacity until 1929 when he became Professor Emeritus. Before specializing in ophthalmology, he practiced at The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia and was Prosector of Anatomy for Joseph Leidy, MD. During World War I, Dr. de Schweinitz was appointed to the Council of Defense as a Major and, in 1922, became Brigadier General in the Medical Reserve Corps. He often treated President Woodrow Wilson.
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George Edmunds de Schweinitz Papers

The George Edmunds de Schweinitz papers collection consists of two collections and documents portions of de Schweinitz’s professional medical career, largely from 1901 to 1918. Included in the collection is correspondence, essays, written addresses, reports, and case and surgery notes. The collection contains three series: “Correspondence,” “Writings,” and “Medical Practice Material.” Researchers interested in George Edmund de Schweinitz’s career, or ophthalmology practice in the early twentieth century will find significant material in this collection.

The first “Correspondence” series contains letters primarily concerning ophthalmology topics and patient cases. Correspondents with whom de Schweinitiz exchanged numerous letters include Albert E. Bulson, Samuel G. Dixon, Samuel Ely Eliot, Henry Copley Greene, William R. S. Henry, Ida B. Hiltz, Edward Jackson, Francis Park Lewis, Howard Mellor, Elizabeth Monie, George H. Simmons, and Thomas Woodruff. The letters are arranged alphabetically by the correspondent’s last name, and then chronologically within that name. There are several letters from “unidentified senders” located at the end of the series. The series dates from 1903 to 1912, 1915 to 1918, 1921, 1933, and undated.

The “Writings” series contains written addresses, essays, articles, pamphlets, and reports largely written by George Edmund de Schweinitz. Many of the writings are unidentified, though they are likely written by de Schweinitz. In cases where the writer was clearly identified, it is noted in the folder title. Essays and articles represent the bulk of material in the series. These writings concern ophthalmological issues. Many of the writings include titles, in which case those titles appear in quotations on the folder. In cases where the writing is untitled, the folder is labeled without quotations. There series is arranged alphabetically by writing format, and dates from 1904 to 1906, 1911 to 1915, and undated.

The “Medical Practice Material” series contains medical case notes, surgical operation notes, and a report on ophthalmological clinics held at Jefferson Medical College. The case notes include three large volumes of ophthalmology cases seen by de Schweinitz between 1904 and 1919. The series is arranged alphabetically by folder title, and dates from 1899 to 1900, 1904 to 1919, and undated. The second "Correspondence" series is a small collection of letters, mostly written by G.E. de Schweinitz, with a few miscellaneous items, 1896-1932. Notable items are letters to James Tyson, 1905 and 1908, on ophthalmology; and Charles Perry Fisher, 1911-1922, on the Library of The College Physicians of Philadelphia and gifts presented to the College by de Schweinitz. Also included is an undated chart which outlines the term of service for an intern at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania