| John Shaw Billings | |
|---|---|
John Shaw Billings ca. 1896 |
|
| Born | April 12, 1838 Allensville, Switzerland county, Indiana |
| Died | March 11, 1913 (aged 74) New York City |
| Occupation | Librarian, surgeon |
John Shaw Billings (April 12, 1838 – March 11, 1913) was an American librarian and surgeon best known as the modernizer of the Library of the Surgeon General's Office of the Army and as the first director of the New York Public Library.
Contents |
Born in Allensville, Switzerland County, Indiana, Billings graduated from Miami University in 1857, and from the original Medical College of Ohio (now the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine) in 1860. He was medical inspector of the Army of the Potomac during the American Civil War, then became head of the Library of the Surgeon General's Office in Washington, D.C.
The Surgeon General's library that he developed (see Army Medical Museum and Library) later became the core of the National Library of Medicine. During his time as Director of the Library of the SGO, 1865–1895, he was responsible for the creation of both the Index Medicus (1879) and the Index Catalogue of the Surgeon General's Office (1880). He was elected an Associate Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1881.[1]
He was also for some years professor of hygiene in the University of Pennsylvania. He is also credited with designing the original buildings of Johns Hopkins Hospital, which opened in 1889. The building with the hospital's trademark dome was subsequently named for Billings.
Billings received an Honorary Fellowship of the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland[2] in 1892.
After he left the Surgeon General's Office he united the libraries of New York to form the New York Public Library and it was Billings who inspired Andrew Carnegie to provide funds for the construction of sixty-five branch libraries throughout New York and 2509 libraries in cities and towns across North America and Britain. Billings also recruited a young man named Harry Miller Lydenberg to work as his personal assistant and head of reference. Lydenberg expanded upon the collection practices of Billings, and eventually served as Director of NYPL from 1934-1941.[3]
Billings was the senior editor of books reporting the work of the Committee of Fifty to Investigate the Liquor Problem in the early 1900s. The Committee researched the activities and publications of the Department of Scientific Temperance Instruction of the Woman's Christian Temperance Union (WCTU).
He acted as supervisor for the U.S. Census 1880 and 1890. He often collaborated with Herman Hollerith
Billings died in New York City in 1913, aged 74.
Among his publications are:[4]