The UMDNJ Camden Campus is located across the Delaware River from Philadelphia, PA, where the Medical Library Association celebrated its Centennial in May 1998. In honor of a century of MLA, we highlight the life and writings of one of the Association's founders, Sir William Osler who, during his tenure at the University of Pennsylvania, became a part of Camden's history when he was called upon to consult on the health of Walt Whitman. 

Dr. Osler studied medicine at McGill University and, after graduating and pursuing further studies in Europe, returned to McGill as a lecturer.  In 1884 he became he moved to Philadelphia to become the Chair of Clinical Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania.  While there, he became a member of the College of Physicians of Philadelphia, serving on their library committee.  It was during this time that he began to visit Walt Whitman at his Camden home, a relationship that lasted until he left in 1889 to become Chief of Staff at Johns Hopkins University and Hospital. 

Dr. Osler's committment to libraries continued in Baltimore, where he served on the library committee of the Library of the Medical and Chirurgical Faculty of the State of Maryland, where he was instrumental in the appointment of Marcia C. Noyes, its first professional librarian.  It was also during his Hopkins years that he, along with George Milbry Gould and Margaret Ridley Charlton, is credited with being one of the founders of the Medical Library Association and became its second president in 1901. 

In 1905, Dr. Osler was appointed as Regius Professor of Medicine at Oxford.  He remained in England until his death in 1919. 

(See bibliography below.) 

Aequanimitas
Jack Coulehan's summary and comments on Osler's essay from the NYU School of Medicine's Literature, Arts, and Medicine Database. 

Celebrating the Contributions of William Osler
From the Alan Mason Chesney Medical Archives of The Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions.  Includes biographical information and selections from Osler's writings.

Osler Library at McGill University
Check particularly the Bibliotheca Osleriana and articles about Osler in the Osler Library Newsletter.

Sir William Osler (1849-1919)
A Biographical note from John Terning's site, Well Known People Who Happen to be Canadian. 

Sir William Osler
Biographical information, with illustrations, from the Canadian Medical Hall of Fame.

The Story of Sir William Osler
A brief biography from The Osler Society of McGill University.

Vignettes in Medical History
Text and images from some Osler sites are included as part of the Firestone IT3 Project: Medical Uses of the Internet 2002 - A Teaching Carrel from the Medical Library at the Sutter Medical Center of Santa Rosa.

Bliss, Michael. William Osler: A Life in Medicine
University of Toronto Press, 2002.

Bryan, Charles S. Osler: Inspirations from a Great Physician
Oxford University Press, 1997.

Grant, Ted. Doctors' Work: The Legacy of Sir William Osler
Firefly Books Ltd., 2003)

Grant, Ted. This is Our Work: The Legacy of Sir William Osler
American College of Physicians, 1994

Leon, Philip W. Walt Whitman and Sir William Osler
Jack Coulehan's summary and comments on Leon's book about Whitman and Osler, from NYU School of Medicine's Literature, Arts, and Medicine Database. 

Martens, Peter B.  War, Walt Whitman, and William Osler.  Literature and Medicine 16(2):210-225, Fall 1997.