Thomas Wingate Todd (1885-1938)

Thomas W. Todd was born in Sheffield, England. After taking his medical degrees in 1907 from the University of Manchester, he earned distinction as an up and coming anatomist in England.

He came to the United States in 1912 to take up the position of anatomy professor at Western Reserve University vacated by Carl Hamann.

In 1911, Drs. Roger G. Perkins and Carl Hamann had sponsored changes in the Ohio anatomical laws which allowed cadavers originally destined for a potters field burial to be turned over to a permanent morgue in the nearest medical school.

In addition, Todd received much administrative support from Carl Hamann who was the dean of the medical school. Medical colleagues and friends (e.g., Dr. Oliver Weber, Mr. Newton T. Baker, and Mr. G.G. Marshall) also assisted Todd both financially and with donations of specimens.

By 1923, enough material had been amassed to create the Hamann Museum of Comparative Anatomy and Anthropology within the new medical school building. Dr. Todd was appointed director of the new museum. The museum provided ample room for Todd and his staff to continue collecting activities.

By 1930, his interests were expanding into new areas. He was instrumental in founding the Bolton Brush inquiry which investigated the growth and development of children. This left less time for the collections, but with the help of his staff, standards of dissection and cadaver documentation were continued until his death in 1938.

Bibliography

Brown, K.L. ed. 1977. Medicine in Cleveland and Cuyahoga County: 1810-1976.
Academy of Medicine of Cleveland: Cleveland, Ohio

Cobb, W.M 1959. Thomas Wingate Todd M.B. Ch.B. F.R.C.S. (Eng) 1885-1938.
Journal of the National Medical Association 3: 233-246

Jones-Kern KF. 1997. T. Wingate Todd and the development of modern physical anthropology, 1900-1940. Bowling Green State University, Bowling Green, Ohio.

Krogman WM. 1939. Contributions of T. Wingate Todd to anatomy and physical anthropology. American Journal of Physical Anthropology 25:145-186.

Todd TW. 1923. Age changes in the pubic symphysis. VII. The anthropoid strain in human pubic symphses of the third decade. Journal of Anatomy 57:274-294.

Todd TW. 1936. The physician as anthropologist. Science 83:588-590.

Waite, F.C. 1946. Western Reserve University Centennial History of the School of Medicine. Cleveland: Western Reserve University Press