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Online Finding Aids Apostles Club (Worcester, Mass.), Records Contents List About this collection Volume Contents       Records, 1890 - 1931 1 1890 October 29 - 1898 March 16 2 1898 October 19 - 1906 April 18 3 1906 October 24 - 1923 March 21 4 1923 - 1931     About this collection The Apostles Club was founded in 1890 by twelve Worcester physicians and surgeons as a private medical club organized "for professional improvement and social affiliations." The Club held two meetings per month for six months at the home of one of its members. Among the original founders were George Otis Ward (1854-1930), Samuel Bayard Woodward (1853-1946), and Oliver Hurd Everett (1852-1926). The four volumes of records, for the period 1890 to 1931, contain treasurer's and secretary's reports followed by a summary of the address on a specific medical topic delivered by an appointed member or invited guest. The addresses and subsequent discussions encompassed medical theories concerning a specific disease, diagnostic method, a prescribed drug, or a case study (with temperature charts). The topics included alcoholism, insanity, obstetrical care, epilepsy, consumption, heat exhaustion, "industrial" medicine, and the effects of sulfur springs. There were also addresses on hospital fund-raising techniques, the medical corps during World War I, the history of Worcester hospitals, and malpractice suits. The volumes contain newsclippings and a photograph of the group in 1890. The addresses given during the mid-20th century concerned many non-medical topics, such as descriptions of Civil War battles and United States relations with Latin-America. Several speakers were area historians, e.g., George Hubbard Blakeslee (1871-1954).

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