Samuel Hahnemann Monument

History

Samuel Hahnemann (1755–1843) was a German physician who created homeopathy, an alternative medicine system considered a pseudoscience. He studied chemistry and medicine at the University of Erlangen-Nuremberg, earning a medical degree in 1779. He was appointed Surgeon-in-Chief at a hospital in Dresden and later served as superintendent of an insane asylum in Georgenthal. While on the faculty at Leipzig University, Hahnemann became disillusioned with standard medical procedures like over drugging and bleeding.

He pursued what he considered 'natural laws' of medicine, opposing allopathy and developing the 'laws of similars' (similia similibus curantur, meaning like is cured by like). His works include The Organon of the Healing Art (1810), Materia Medica Pura (1811–1821), and The Chronic Diseases, Their Peculiar Nature and Their Homeopathic Cure (1828). A monument was first proposed in 1881 by physician James H. McClelland at a meeting of the Homeopathic Medical Society.

In June 1892 at the 45th Session of the American Institute of Homeopathy (AIH), the organization agreed to undertake the project. Fundraising included the largest single donation of $4,510 by physician Nancy T. Williams. The AIH was assisted by the National Sculpture Society, which formed a committee of sculptors George Edwin Bissell, Daniel Chester French, and Olin Levi Warner, and architects Thomas Hastings and Russell Sturgis. A design competition was held with 25 models submitted, displayed at the American Academy of the Fine Arts in New York City—the first public exhibition of competition models in the country.

The committee unanimously selected the model submitted by Charles Henry Niehaus (1855–1935). Niehaus was a German-American from Ohio who attended the Royal Academy in Munich. He created Hahnemann's likeness using a bust sculpted by David d'Angers housed in the Saint Jacques Hospital in Paris. Permission to install the monument in Washington, D.C., was a difficult process.

President Grover Cleveland refused to sign the agreement, but after the election of President William McKinley, supporters renewed efforts. A congressional vote to authorize the monument failed in 1899, with Representative L. Irving Handy arguing only individuals with distinguished military or civil careers should be honored. Supporters finally won approval on January 31, 1900, when Congress voted to approve placement and appropriate $4,000 for its foundation.

The site was chosen by a committee including McClelland, Senator George P. Wetmore, and General John Moulder Wilson, selecting the east side of Scott Circle 'by reason of its abundant opportunities to display to the best advantage the delicate lines which are features of the artist's work.' The architect was Julius Harder of the firm Israel and Harder. The statue was founded by the Gorham Manufacturing Company and the contractor was the Maine & New Hampshire Granite Company. The total cost was around $75,000.

Design and location

The monument is located on the east side of Scott Circle, a traffic circle in the northwest quadrant of Washington, D.C. The Classical Revival monument consists of an exedra designed by architect Julius Harder and a statue sculpted by Charles Henry Niehaus. The dedication ceremony took place on June 21, 1900, during an AIH convention. Thousands of people, including hundreds of medical professionals, attended. In front of the monument were chairs for distinguished guests, including President McKinley and his wife Ida, Attorney General John W. Griggs, General Wilson, and District Commissioner Henry Brown Floyd MacFarland.

Temporary scaffolding adorned with flags and bunting was built to shield guests from the sun. When the president arrived, the Marine Band played 'Hail to the Chief'. Physician James Bayard Gregg Custis presided, saying: 'This monument is erected in the hope that from it, as a center, truth may be spread which will result in the lessening of suffering and the increased usefulness of mankind.' The invocation was by Presbyterian minister Benjamin Franklin Bittinger.

McClelland gave a brief address and formally presented the monument to the AIH. The monument was unveiled as the Marine Band played 'My Country, 'Tis of Thee'. AIH president Charles E. Walton presented the monument to the government, saying: 'Their labors make it possible, in this memorable year 1900, which marks on the dial of time the dividing point of centuries, to rear in our nation's capital this beautiful monument commemorating at once the genius of Samuel Hahnemann and the loyalty of his followers.'

An ode by physician William Tod Helmuth was read, followed by acceptance by Colonel Theodore A. Bingham, who said: 'It is with great pleasure that I have the honor, as the government's officer in charge of public buildings and grounds in the District of Columbia, to accept this monument on behalf of the government, and I assure you that every care will be taken for its preservation.' The Marine Band then played 'The Star-Spangled Banner' followed by an address by Attorney General Griggs, who stated: 'In the center of this park stands the statue of a great warrior, General Scott; on the other side is a statue of a great statesman and orator, Daniel Webster.

Here on this side, with great appropriateness, has been placed the statue of a scientist, a reformer, a good physician. There is, said he, but one test of worthiness, and that is that a man shall have wrought in unselfishness, in the interests of his country, of humanity and the world.'