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Ether Dome

Hospital buildings on the National Register of Historic Places in MassachusettsMassachusetts General HospitalNational Historic Landmarks in BostonNational Register of Historic Places in Boston
MGH Ether Dome 29Jan2008
MGH Ether Dome 29Jan2008

The Ether Dome is a surgical operating amphitheater in the Bulfinch Building at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston. It served as the hospital's operating room from its opening in 1821 until 1867. It was the site of the first public demonstration of the use of inhaled ether as a surgical anesthetic on October 16, 1846, otherwise known as Ether Day. Crawford Long, a surgeon in Georgia, had previously administered sulfuric ether in 1842, but this went unpublished until 1849. The Ether Dome event occurred when William Thomas Green Morton, a local dentist, used ether to anesthetize Edward Gilbert Abbott. John Collins Warren, the first dean of Harvard Medical School, then painlessly removed part of a tumor from Abbott's neck. After Warren had finished, and Abbott regained consciousness, Warren asked the patient how he felt. Reportedly, Abbott said, "Feels as if my neck's been scratched". Warren then turned to his medical audience and uttered "Gentlemen, this is no Humbug". This was presumably a reference to the unsuccessful demonstration of nitrous oxide anesthesia by Horace Wells in the same theater the previous year, which was ended by cries of "Humbug!" after the patient groaned with pain.

Excerpt from the Wikipedia article Ether Dome (License: CC BY-SA 3.0, Authors, Images).

Ether Dome
Fruit Street, Boston West End

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N 42.363527777778 ° E -71.067861111111 °
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Massachusetts General Hospital

Fruit Street 55
02114 Boston, West End
Massachusetts, United States
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call+16177262000

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massgeneral.org

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MGH Ether Dome 29Jan2008
MGH Ether Dome 29Jan2008
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St. Joseph Catholic Church (Boston, Massachusetts)
St. Joseph Catholic Church (Boston, Massachusetts)

St. Joseph Catholic Church is a Roman Catholic church serving Beacon Hill and the West End in Boston, Massachusetts. Designed by Alexander Parris and built in 1834 for the Twelfth Congregational Society, it was purchased by the Boston Roman Catholic Diocese in 1862. The first recorded Mass in the neighborhood was on March 17, 1732, in a private home near the current site of this church. Represented by the many decorative fleur-de-lis inside, the first Catholic Mass legislatively sanctioned and celebrated in New England was celebrated nearby by Father de la Porterie in 1788. Designed by Alexander Parris (architect of Quincy Market), and constructed in 1834, the building was consecrated as St. Joseph's in 1862. At the time, the West End community was diverse, consisting of working-class families of predominantly European descent. The crucifixion painting is thought to have been transferred from the Old Cathedral on Franklin Street to St. Joseph's in 1862. It is an enlarged replica painted by Lawrence Sargent (1803) of the original by Pierre-Paul Prud'hon (1758), housed at the Louvre in Paris. The Hook and Hastings pipe organ was installed in 1884, and, with its characteristic full-bodied sound, it is still in use today. The parish witnessed urban renewal in the 1950s and 1960s, which significantly changed the community. At the centennial anniversary of the parish, twenty flags from countries around the world, including the United States and the Vatican, were displayed from the balconies to represent the diversity of the parish. Regular Mass Schedule: Saturday 4:00 PM Sunday 9:00 AM, 11:30 AM, 5:00 PM Monday-Friday 12:10 PM

Vilna Shul
Vilna Shul

The Vilna Shul is now a historic landmark building housing a cultural center, community center, and living museum. It was a synagogue and was built for an Orthodox congregation in 1919 by immigrants primarily from Vilna, Lithuania. The building stands on what is known as the back side or north slope of Beacon Hill in Boston, Massachusetts. The front of the Hill has always been filled with stately homes and faces the Boston Common. The back of the Hill was the early residence of Boston's black community and, later, of a series of immigrant communities. In the first half of the 20th century, there were dozens of immigrant synagogues in this area and over 50 in the city of Boston proper. By the 1980s, the Jewish community had almost entirely left the neighborhood and the building was all but abandoned. An argument broke about whether the synagogue should be sold and the proceeds given to another congregation, turned into a community center for the residents of the neighborhood, or preserved as a monument or museum to the immigrant generations of Jews.The synagogue was designed by Boston architect Max Kalman, but the Shul is not noteworthy for its architecture, according to Stanley Smith, then executive director of Historic Boston Inc., a nonprofit group that recommended preserving the old synagogue. It's not high style, not one of the great monuments of architecture that you would travel miles to see. It's like many of the early meetinghouses and churches that are highly representative of the immigrants who built them.According to the American Jewish Historical Society, there is "no record of any important event ever taking place at that congregation," which was one of many modest synagogues built by Jewish immigrants. The Vilna Shul is, however, the last of the purpose-built immigrant synagogues still standing in downtown Boston at the end of the 20th century. It therefore represents the oldest Jewish building within the city limits whose entire history has been devoted to activities of Jewish faith and culture. The Vilna Shul is also noteworthy as one of only two extant free-standing buildings on the north slope of Beacon Hill. It represents a physical, colorful, and rich part of Boston's history and built heritage. The Vilna Center for Jewish Heritage was founded to raise funds to preserve and restore the synagogue for use as a Jewish cultural heritage center. This 501(c)(3) corporation is now The Vilna Shul, Boston's Center for Jewish Culture, Inc. Three million dollars were spent on the architectural restoration of the synagogue building, which now houses a small exhibit on the history of the synagogue and of the history of Boston's Jewish community. The building opens certain weekdays and weekends is a regular part of the Beacon Hill and Boston tourist circuit. Besides being a historic, cultural, and community site, It serves as a location for regular Jewish religious services including major holidays, young family Shabbats, and is the home of Havurah on the Hill.

Massachusetts Eye and Ear
Massachusetts Eye and Ear

Massachusetts Eye and Ear (Mass. Eye and Ear, or MEE) is a specialty hospital located in Boston, Massachusetts, United States, which focuses on ophthalmology (eye), otolaryngology (ear/nose/throat), and related medicine and research. Founded in 1824 as the Boston Eye Infirmary (BEI), it has also been known as the Massachusetts Charitable Eye and Ear Infirmary (MCEEI), and Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary (MEEI). It is a teaching partner of Harvard Medical School. Massachusetts Eye and Ear has earned an international reputation for its successful treatment of the most difficult diseases and conditions of the eye, ear, nose, throat, head, and neck, and for its outstanding contributions to medical research and education. In 2018, Massachusetts Eye and Ear has two adult specialties nationally ranked the "U.S. News Best Hospitals Rankings and Ratings 2018-18, with the Department of Ophthalmology ranked number four in the U.S. and the Department of Otolaryngology placing number six in the nation.The primary teaching hospital for Harvard Medical School in ophthalmology and otolaryngology, Massachusetts Eye and Ear trains more than 110 residents and fellows each year in its various sub-specialties, including cornea, neuro-ophthalmology, retina, eye pathology, pediatrics, glaucoma, ocular oncology, immunology, head & neck surgery, oncology, pediatric otolaryngology, facial plastics, otology and oto-neurology. In addition to ophthalmology and otolarynology, the hospital provides patient services and conducts research and clinical training in audiology (diagnostics, hearing aids and cochlear implants), balance (vestibular), facial nerve, thyroid, voice and speech, and vision rehabilitation.