Temporary record

A graduate of Tufts (1877) and Harvard medical school (1880), George E. Bill entered into a long, successful career in 'alternative' medicine. Drawing on astrology and theosophy, as well as contemporary electrical theory and theories of the mind, Bill practiced in Harrisburg, Pa., from the late 1880s through at least 1920. He achieved some prominence, publishing articles on electrotherapy, hypnotism, and human radioactivity in main-stream medical journals and delivering numerous papers at medical and scientific conferences.

The George E. Bill Papers provide insight into the mind and medical practice of an 'alternative' physician at the turn of the century. The collection has been arranged in three series. The first, comprising 0.25 linear feet, consists of astrological charts made for Bill, largely by the astrologer Karl Anderson, though a few may have been cast by Bill himself. Secondly, the Bill Papers contain drafts of articles and speeches prepared by Bill, and a series of 12 lectures on hypnotism and electrotherapy delivered in an unknown context. There are also copies of articles published by Bill in the New York Medical Journal (1897) and the Journal of Allied Medical Associations of America (1919). Finally, the collection contains Bill's records of prescriptions given out by Bill, ca.1910.

M-3262.1

Astrology
Electrotherapy
Hypnotism
Physicians
Anderson, Karl

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