Infectious Diseases During the American Civil War: 19th Century Medical Science with Emphasis on Measles

Speaker: Steve Buxser

During the American Civil War, Union Army “surgeons,” the title for what we today call physicians or doctors, were required to file detailed monthly reports with Surgeons General of the Union Army. This period of history also provided the foundations for what has become modern medicine which was emerging accompanied by homeopathy and herbal medicine. When examined in its historical context, Civil War medicine was surprisingly sophisticated despite having limited theoretical bases, including the absence of the germ theory of disease. The story of measles during the American Civil War constructed from these records provides insight into the surprisingly sophisticated level of medicine at the time illustrating critical steps between medicine then and now.

Steve Buxser had a career in microbiology with additional and extensive experience in biochemistry, enzymology, cell biology and statistics applied to drug discovery, leisure reading emphasized history including military history and history of science and statistics. The talk is based on work on a thesis prepared as part of a Master's Degree in History (University of Indianapolis) earned shortly after "retirement." It is a continuation of a career merging topics and disciplines not typically combined into amalgamated viewpoints. During recent years the combinations include continuation of learning in science and math with extensions into macro- and micro-ecology with an emphasis on restoration of urban forests.