Edward Cowles

Edward Cowles, an American psychiatrist, was the Medical Superintendent of the McLean Hospital in Massachusetts from 1879 to 1903. He was among the first hospital superintendents to advocate for hospital functions that encompassed patient treatment, research, and teaching.

Cowles was born in Ryegate, Vermont, into a civic-minded family. His father served for many years in the state legislature. Cowles was educated in the local public schools, and attended Dartmouth College. He earned his A.B. in 1859 and his M.A. in 1861. He attended medical school at the College of Physicians and Surgeons and obtained his M.D. in 1863. He served a few months at the Hartford Retreat in Connecticut and then entered the U.S. Army until 1872. Following the Civil War, he was in charge of an Army hospital.

Returning to Boston in 1872, he became Superintendent of the Boston City Hospital for seven years, where his Army experience influenced the organization and the administration of the hospital. During his tenure, the hospital built several wards, improved the ventilation in the wards, and established the first training school for hospital nurses. In 1879, he was invited to take the post of Superintendent of the McLean Asylum, where he remained until 1903.

The McLean Asylum, renamed the McLean Hospital in 1892, was the first mental hospital in Charlestown, Massachusetts. The State Legislature issued a charter in 1811 to build a general hospital and an asylum for mentally-ill patients. The Asylum opened in 1818, three years before the general hospital. In 1895, it moved to Belmont, a Boston suburb. The first superintendent was Rufus Wyman (1818-1835), followed by Luther Bell (1836-1855 and 1857-1858) and John Tyler (1858-1871). Cowles became Superintendent in 1879.

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