Harvard Medical School was founded in the crucible of the American Revolution (1775–1782). Two of the three members of School's first faculty were Patriots and Continental Army physicians—John Warren (1753–1815) and Aaron Dexter (1750–1829). Dexter was a surgeon on American privateering warships, eventually getting captured by the British and being confined as a prisoner-of-war. Warren served as a surgeon in George Washington's New York and New Jersey campaigns. He was the surgical chief of the Continental Army Hospital in Boston, and it was there that he performed the three anatomical demonstrations that were in essence Harvard Medical School's first lectures. Additionally, the small pox inoculation campaigns that protected the Continental Army during a North America-wide epidemic brought the value of medical knowledge and its skilled application into clear focus, leading to an acknowledgement that America needed a new medical school for its new country.
Harvard Medical School: A Revolutionary Founding is a new exhibit at the Center for the History of Medicine that tells the story of the Revolutionary War's impact on Harvard Medical School, the first medical school of post-colonial era in the United States. The exhibition is on display on L2 of the Countway Library. Harvard ID holders can view the exhibit any time the Library is open and the public can visit the display on Saturdays between 10:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m. and Sundays between 12:00 p.m. and 5:00 p.m. More information on the Library's public hours can be found on the Center's website.