To the editor:

The Portsmouth Historical Society recently donated several historic medical books once owned by Dr. Benjamin Greene of Portsmouth to the Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University. 

Dr. Greene graduated from the University Medical College of New York City in 1859 and practiced for many years in Portsmouth prior to his death in 1908. The books, ranging in dates from 1826 to 1898, covered a wide variety of medical issues and provide a fascinating insight into the way that medical conditions were diagnosed and treated in the 19th century.

In acknowledging this gift, Dr. Allen R. Tunkel, professor of medicine and associate dean of the medical school, sent a personal note of thanks to the Society and its president, Jim Garman. “We are looking to find a place to house these books in our medical library, and I think they will be of great interest to our medical students and faculty,” he wrote.

In addition to Dr. Greene’s medical books, the Portsmouth Historical Society also has his medical bag and several medical instruments, which are put on display in their museum on Union Street and East Main Road.

E. Doug Smith

Vice President, Portsmouth Historical Society

58 Heritage Drive

Portsmouth