Walter Channing (April 15, 1786 – July 27, 1876) was an American

physician A physician (American English), medical practitioner (Commonwealth English), medical doctor, or simply doctor, is a health professional who practices medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring health through th ...

and

professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an academic rank at universities and other post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin as a "person who professes". Professors ...

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 pr ...

. He was the brother of preacher

William Ellery Channing William Ellery Channing (April 7, 1780 – October 2, 1842) was the foremost Unitarian preacher in the United States in the early nineteenth century and, along with Andrews Norton (1786–1853), one of Unitarianism's leading theologians. Chann ...

and of fellow Harvard professor (of Rhetoric),

Edward Tyrrel Channing Edward Tyrrel Channing (December 12, 1790 – February 8, 1856) was an American rhetorician. He was a professor at Harvard College, brother to William Ellery Channing and Walter Channing, and cousin of Richard Henry Dana Sr. Biography Channing ...

. He was also the father of the poet

. He was married to Eliza Wainwright Channing from 1831 until her death in 1834.

Biography

Born in

Newport, Rhode Island Newport is an American seaside city on Aquidneck Island in Newport County, Rhode Island. It is located in Narragansett Bay, approximately southeast of Providence, south of Fall River, Massachusetts, south of Boston, and northeast of New Yor ...

, Channing entered

Harvard College Harvard College is the undergraduate college of Harvard University, an Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636, Harvard College is the original school of Harvard University, the oldest institution of higher lea ...

in 1804 but was expelled because of his involvement in the "rotten cabbage brawl" at Harvard. After studying medicine in

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

and

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, largest city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the List of United States cities by population, sixth-largest city i ...

, he received his diploma from the

University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (also known as Penn or UPenn) is a private research university in Philadelphia. It is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and is ranked among the highest-regarded universitie ...

and then studied at the

University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh ( sco, University o Edinburgh, gd, Oilthigh Dhùn Èideann; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in post-nominals) is a public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Granted a royal charter by King James VI in 15 ...

, receiving a degree there as well. He also studied at Guy's and St. Thomas's hospitals in

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

. He began to practice in Boston in 1812, and in the same year became lecturer on obstetrics at Harvard. Walter is the second Channing discussed in this article which mainly discusses his brother. He was the first professor of obstetrics and medical jurisprudence at

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of high ...

(then called Harvard College), a position he held from 1815 to 1854. In 1832, he co-founded the Boston Lying-in Hospital for destitute women, now Brigham and Women's Hospital. He became, in 1821, Dr. James Jackson's assistant as physician of the newly established Massachusetts General Hospital, and continued there for nearly twenty years. He was elected a Fellow of the

American Academy of Arts and Sciences The American Academy of Arts and Sciences (abbreviation: AAA&S) is one of the oldest learned societies in the United States. It was founded in 1780 during the American Revolution by John Adams, John Hancock, James Bowdoin, Andrew Oliver, a ...

in 1818. He was one of the first American physicians to employ anesthesia during childbirth, and wrote a treatise in its favor, serving as the main American advocate of the practice at the time. He was a founder and first President of the Massachusetts Society for Aiding Discharged Prisoners in 1846. The MSADP continues to follow the same objectives today. Channing died in Brookline, Massachusetts.

Works

*
Address on the Prevention of Pauperism
' (1843) * ''Treatise on Etherization in Child-birth, illustrated by 581 cases'' (1849) * ''Professional Reminiscences of Foreign Travel'' (1851) *
New and Old
' (1851) * ''Miscellaneous Poems'' (1851) *
A Physician's Vacation, or a Summer in Europe
' (1856) * ''Reformation of Medical Science'' (1857)

Biography

Works

References

Further reading