Diocletian Lewis (March 3, 1823 – May 21, 1886), commonly known as Dr. Dio Lewis, was a prominent
temperance
Temperance may refer to:
Moderation
*Temperance movement, movement to reduce the amount of alcohol consumed
*Temperance (virtue), habitual moderation in the indulgence of a natural appetite or passion
Culture
*Temperance (group), Canadian danc ...
leader and
physical culture advocate who practiced
homeopathy
Homeopathy or homoeopathy is a pseudoscientific system of alternative medicine. It was conceived in 1796 by the German physician Samuel Hahnemann. Its practitioners, called homeopaths, believe that a substance that causes symptoms of a dis ...
.
Biography
Early life
He was born on a farm near
Auburn, New York
Auburn is a city in Cayuga County, New York, United States. Located at the north end of Owasco Lake, one of the Finger Lakes in Central New York, the city had a population of 26,866 at the 2020 census. It is the largest city of Cayuga County, the ...
.
[This article incorporates text from a publication in the ]public domain
The public domain (PD) consists of all the creative work
A creative work is a manifestation of creative effort including fine artwork (sculpture, paintings, drawing, sketching, performance art), dance, writing (literature), filmmaking, ...
: He left school at 12 to work in a cotton factory. He later worked at a hoe, axe and scythe factory and returned to school.[
He started teaching school at 15. At 18, he organized a school in Lower Sandusky, Ohio (now Fremont). He extended the curriculum to include algebra, geometry, Greek and Latin. This so impressed the townsfolk that they constructed a building for the school, and when a certificate of incorporation was obtained for it, they named the school the Diocletian Institute in his honor.][ He had to work hard at his own studies to stay ahead of his pupils. Severe illness obligated him to give up the school after a year, and he never returned.][
]
Medical training and career
He decided to go into medicine
Medicine is the science and practice of caring for a patient, managing the diagnosis, prognosis, prevention, treatment, palliation of their injury or disease, and promoting their health. Medicine encompasses a variety of health care pract ...
, and worked for three years in the office of the physician for the Auburn State Prison
Auburn Correctional Facility is a state prison on State Street in Auburn, New York, United States. It was built on land that was once a Cayuga village. It is classified as a maximum security facility.
History
Constructed in 1816 as Auburn Pris ...
. He then studied at the Harvard Medical School
Harvard Medical School (HMS) is the graduate medical school of Harvard University and is located in the Longwood Medical Area of Boston, Massachusetts. Founded in 1782, HMS is one of the oldest medical schools in the United States and is consi ...
. Apparently a lack of funds prevented him from finishing the course there, and upon leaving he immediately opened up a medical practice in Port Byron, New York.[ His partner in that practice, Lewis McCarthy, interested him in homeopathy,][ and he attended the Homeopathic Hospital College of Cleveland, Ohio. In 1848, he opened a practice in ]Buffalo, New York
Buffalo is the second-largest city in the U.S. state of New York (behind only New York City) and the seat of Erie County. It is at the eastern end of Lake Erie, at the head of the Niagara River, and is across the Canadian border from South ...
.[ He only received a degree in homeopathic studies and no ]M.D.
Doctor of Medicine (abbreviated M.D., from the Latin ''Medicinae Doctor'') is a medical degree, the meaning of which varies between different jurisdictions. In the United States, and some other countries, the M.D. denotes a professional degree. T ...
; however, this was not a problem since there were no medical licensing laws in 1848. He began a monthly publication called ''The Homœopathist''.[
]
After a year in Buffalo, he married Helen Cecelia Clarke. In 1852, he gave up his practice and went south with her on behalf of her health. Three of her sisters had died of tuberculosis
Tuberculosis (TB) is an infectious disease usually caused by '' Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can also affect other parts of the body. Most infections show no symptoms, in ...
, and she was showing signs of the same disease.[
Lewis claimed to have used homeopathy to cure his wife Helen's TB, and from that day his so-called "Consumption Cure" became well-known and profitable. Helen worked with Lewis on his publications, writing her own column on dress reform and woman's health.
]
Lectures
From 1852 till 1860 Lewis was engaged in lecturing on hygiene, temperance and physiology. He began by lecturing on health topics in schools, and then in 1853 gave his first public lecture, addressing the topic of “The Influence of Christian Women in the Cause of Temperance”. This lecture stemmed from his experience in joining an organization called “The Sons of Temperance”: he had met indifference when he brought up the topic of having women in the organization. In 1856 he visited Paris
Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...
for a short time to obtain material for his physiology lectures and used the opportunity to attend clinics in some of the city hospitals.[
]
New exercise system
While lecturing, Lewis began developing a new system of exercises. He felt that, although athletic young men could succeed in the feats required by German gymnastics then prevalent, these exercises did not meet the needs of those who most needed the benefit: boys; old, fat or feeble men; and girls and women. By June 1860, he felt he had developed a satisfactory system, and settled in the vicinity of Boston to publicize it, feeling that “Boston would prove more hospitable to an educational innovation than any other city in the country.” He was not disappointed.[
]
Evening classes in gymnastics were organized in West Newton, Newtonville, Newton
Newton most commonly refers to:
* Isaac Newton (1642–1726/1727), English scientist
* Newton (unit), SI unit of force named after Isaac Newton
Newton may also refer to:
Arts and entertainment
* ''Newton'' (film), a 2017 Indian film
* Newton ( ...
, Newton Upper Falls
Newton Upper Falls is one of the thirteen villages within the city of Newton in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States.
The area borders Needham, Massachusetts to the southwest, Wellesley, Massachusetts to the west, the West Roxbury neig ...
, and Watertown Watertown may refer to:
Places in China
In China, a water town is a type of ancient scenic town known for its waterways.
Places in the United States
*Watertown, Connecticut, a New England town
**Watertown (CDP), Connecticut, the central village ...
. The new system was introduced in a normal school in Framingham, the Concord Hall school and schools in Boston. A public gym for men, women and children opened at 20 Essex Street in Boston. A lecture at a conference in Boston in August 1860 brought the new system to the attention of educators from across the United States.[
In the spring of 1861, Lewis founded the Normal Institute for Physical Education (also known as Boston Normal Physical Training School). Cornelius C. Felton, president of Harvard, readily consented to serve as its president. Among the 28 directors appeared the names of Governor ]John A. Andrew
John Albion Andrew (May 31, 1818 – October 30, 1867) was an American lawyer and politician from Massachusetts. He was elected in 1860 as the 25th Governor of Massachusetts, serving between 1861 and 1866, and led the state's contributions to ...
, George S. Boutwell
George Sewall Boutwell (January 28, 1818 – February 27, 1905) was an American politician, lawyer, and statesman from Massachusetts. He served as Secretary of the Treasury under U.S. President Ulysses S. Grant, the 20th Governor of Massachuse ...
, H. I. Bowditch, Rev. James Freeman Clarke
James Freeman Clarke (April 4, 1810 – June 8, 1888) was an American minister, theologian and author.
Biography
Born in Hanover, New Hampshire, on April 4, 1810, James Freeman Clarke was the son of Samuel Clarke and Rebecca Parker Hull, though h ...
, Edward Everett Hale, N. T. Allen and A. Crosby. The members of the first faculty were Thomas H. Hoskins, M.D., professor of anatomy; Josiah Curtis, M.D., professor of physiology; Walter Channing, M.D., professor of hygiene; and Dio Lewis, M.D., professor of gymnastics.[ In seven years, five hundred pupils were graduated. Lewis's influence had much to do with the establishment of the present system of physical culture in most of the institutions of learning in the United States.
]
Girls' school
For three years, 1864–1867, Lewis ran a school for girls at Lexington, Massachusetts
Lexington is a suburban town in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. It is 10 miles (16 km) from Downtown Boston. The population was 34,454 as of the 2020 census. The area was originally inhabited by Native Americans, and was firs ...
, in which Theodore Dwight Weld
Theodore Dwight Weld (November 23, 1803 – February 3, 1895) was one of the architects of the American abolitionist movement during its formative years from 1830 to 1844, playing a role as writer, editor, speaker, and organizer. He is best known ...
was a leading teacher, and Catharine Beecher
Catharine Esther Beecher (September 6, 1800 – May 12, 1878) was an American educator known for her forthright opinions on female education as well as her vehement support of the many benefits of the incorporation of kindergarten into children's ...
was for a time one of the lecturers. In September 1867, the school building was burned, and, although temporary quarters were at once secured in a summer hotel at Spy Pond
Spy Pond, also known as Spie Pond in the 17th and 18th centuries, is a kettle hole pond located near the heart of Arlington, Massachusetts, adjacent to the Minuteman Bikeway.
History
Geological history
Fifty thousand years ago, the area of Arl ...
, the project was abandoned at the close of another year. The number of pupils rose to 140 in the third year, drawn from all over the country, and nearly 300 were enrolled during the whole period.[
]
Temperance crusading
In the 1870s, Lewis and his mother began leading groups of followers into saloons to pray for their closure. He later lectured in churches claiming miraculous results from conducting such "Visitation Bands". Lewis’ actions and lectures inspired others to similar action, thus initiating the Women's Crusade against alcohol.
Lewis gave a public address in Hillsboro, Ohio, on his fall tour through Ohio called "Our Girls", that advocated physical exercise and an active life for women. On Sundays he spoke on "The Duty of Christian Women in the Cause of Temperance". In these lectures he instructed women to ask local dispensers of alcoholic beverages to sign pledges that they would cease to sell. Upon refusal, the women should begin prayer and song services in these establishments. He urged women to be the sole participants in these acts, in order to aggrandize the emotional force of the movement.
Women took to the snowy streets, and within three months of their first march, they had driven the liquor business out of 250 towns. By the time the marches ended, over 912 communities in 31 states and territories had experienced the crusades.
It was and is still the largest mass movement of women to date.... rances Willard the second national president of the Woman's Christian Temperance Union
The Woman's Christian Temperance Union (WCTU) is an international temperance organization, originating among women in the United States Prohibition movement. It was among the first organizations of women devoted to social reform with a program th ...
, wrote later in her memoirs, that the crusade “was like the fires we used to kindle on the western prairies, a match and a wisp of grass were all that was needed, and behold the spectacle of a prairie on fire sweeping across the landscape, swift as a thousand untrained steeds and no more to be captured than a hurricane".
Lewis claimed that, as a result of them, more than 17,000 drinking establishments were abandoned in Ohio alone in a period of two months. Most of the saloons that closed as a result of prayer vigils opened again a few days later to meet the public demand for alcoholic beverages.[National Association for the Children of Alcoholics web site]
Family
Lewis was the brother of jurist and politician Loran L. Lewis.
Works
* ''The New Gymnastics'' (1862)
* ''Weak Lungs and How to Make them Strong'' (1863)
* ''Talks About People's Stomachs'' (1870)
* ''Our Girls'' (1871)
* ''Chats with Young Women'' (1871)
* "Our Digestion /or, My Jolly Friend's Secret" (1872)
* ''Chastity'' (1872)
* ''Gypsies'' (1881)
* ''In a Nutshell'' (1883)
References
Further reading
*Mary F. Eastman. (1891)
''The Biography of Dio Lewis''
New York: Fowler & Wells co.
External links
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lewis, Diocletian
1823 births
1886 deaths
Harvard Medical School alumni
American temperance activists
American homeopaths
American gymnasts
American health educators
People associated with physical culture
People from Auburn, New York
Physicians from New York (state)
Activists from New York (state)
Educators from New York (state)
19th-century American educators