Walter Reed
Biography
Born in Belroi, Gloucester County, Virginia. Received M.D. from University of Virginia in 1869. Married Amelia Laurence in 1876. They had two children. Practiced medicine in New York City. Commissioned into the Army Medical Corps in 1875. Served as professor at the Army Medical College and as curator of the Army Medical Museum.
Appointed chairman of committee to study typhoid fever in Cuba in 1898. He concluded that the disease was transmitted by flies and dust. In 1900 he headed a commission to study yellow fever in Cuba. This time the disease was transmitted by mosquitos. He died of appendicitis in Washington, D.C.
Congress honored Reed with a gold medal by resolution February 28, 1929, for his work on yellow fever. Design was by Thomas H. Jones.
bio: DAB; EAB; NCAB 13, 33; WAB; WWWA-H
Source credit: Pete Smith, American Numismatic Biographies
Bio Snapshot
Date of Birth: 1851 - Sep - 13Place of Birth: Belroi, Gloucester County, Virginia
Date of Death: 1902 - Nov - 22