A Philadelphia Story. Lori Litchman
in the creation of fire companies and insurance. Concerned over the city’s ability to fight fires, Franklin published his concerns in his newspaper and discussed them with the members of the Junto. In December 1736, Franklin and a group of 30 men launched the Union Fire Company. Their firefighting equipment, which consisted of leather buckets and “strong bags,” was primitive by today’s standards. But in a short matter of time, Philadelphians banded together to form several other volunteer fire companies. Knowing that these companies would not prevent or even stop all fires, Franklin and members of the Union Fire Company met with other fire companies, and together they created the country’s first property insurance company: The Philadelphia Contributionship for the Insuring of Houses from Loss by Fire. Subscribers would pay a fee each year and be able to recover their losses should a fire damage their home. Today, The Philadelphia Contributionship Mutual Holding Company is still insuring Philadelphians and also operates Vector Security Holdings, which offers a variety of security systems.
One of the most famous stories about Franklin is the one everyone learns as a kid. The story goes something like this: It was a dark and stormy night when the founding father decided to harness the power of lightning by concocting a silk kite with a metal key placed in a Leiden jar, an early tool for storing electricity. Franklin believed that if lightning was indeed electricity, he would be able to capture said energy in the jar by way of the key.
Allegedly, Franklin flew his kite, which was obviously struck by lightning. When he moved his hand toward the key in the jar, he was shocked, literally, to discover his hypothesis was correct. Throughout the years, though, scientists and historians believed the story to be complete rubbish because, if it were true, Franklin would have most certainly died from the charge. In fact, the Discovery Channel show MythBusters set out to prove the story a fraud. They suited up a gel dummy and attached a silk kite and key to it. They also outfitted the fake Franklin with a monitor to determine how much electricity would have gone into his body. The experiment showed that Franklin would have fried if it were true, effectively debunking the kite-and-key legend.
Chances are that Franklin wrote about such an experiment in his newspaper but, knowing that such a successful experiment could kill him, he didn’t actually conduct it. Some also suggest that Franklin may have flown a kite before the storm hit and was able to collect a small amount of electricity to prove that his theory that lightning was in fact electricity was true. Franklin later invented the lightning rod, a key component in helping prevent fires in colonial America and still to this day.
The development of Philadelphia as an educational hub is also grounded in the contributions Franklin made to his adopted city. Franklin wanted the youth of Pennsylvania to get educated there and not need to go to another colony or Europe. He wanted to create a nonsectarian college where students could prepare to be government and business leaders. They would study the sciences and would be taught in English rather than Greek or Latin. Franklin first started two schools for younger children—The Academy and the Charity School of Philadelphia—with the hopes of preparing students there for higher education. In 1755, Franklin and a board of trustees were granted a charter for the College of Philadelphia. The College of Philadelphia later combined with the University of the State of Pennsylvania, which became known what is today as the University of Pennsylvania. In 1765, the school founded the nation’s first medical school. Dr. John Morgan, who earned his medical degree at the University of Edinburgh, is credited with founding the medical school. Morgan was also a founding member of the American Philosophical Society and a doctor at Pennsylvania Hospital. Morgan, along with William Shippen, led many of the first lectures at Penn’s new medical school. Shippen helped found Penn and Princeton (formerly the College of New Jersey), was an original member and vice president of the American Philosophical Society, and served on the Continental Congress.
Med Men
FRANKLIN’S ABILITY TO PULL TOGETHER the best and brightest in Philadelphia is ultimately what led to a cleaner, healthier Philadelphia. One of Franklin’s greatest contributions to both Philadelphia and American society was the support and leverage he put behind starting the nation’s first hospital. As Philadelphia’s population continued to balloon, so did the need for care for the “sick-poor and insane who were wandering the streets of Philadelphia.” In the early 18th century, Penn’s city was the fastest growing of all the 13 colonies. One of Franklin’s friends, Dr. Thomas Bond, came up with the idea to start a hospital in Philadelphia. Bond, a native of Maryland, had worked with Franklin on many of his projects, including the Library Company and the American Philosophical Society. Bond studied medicine in London and spent some time in France at a time when the idea of hospitals was emerging.
The original building of Pennsylvania Hospital, the country’s first hospital
(Photo: © Rytyho usa/Wikimedia Commons/CC-BY-SA 3.0)
In 1750, Bond came up with the notion of building a hospital in Philadelphia, a new idea for the developing city and nation. As the story goes, when Bond asked Philadelphians to support the idea, many asked what Franklin thought of it. So Bond approached his friend, who immediately gave his support for the hospital. In fact, Franklin created what may have been the first American fundraising plan. Franklin went to the Pennsylvania Assembly and told them that he would raise 2,000 pounds from the general public to support the hospital, and if he could garner such support, then the Assembly should match the funds. The General Assembly thought that Franklin would fail, but he ended up raising more than 2,000 pounds, and the General Assembly gave the green light for the hospital in 1751. The hospital purchased land from the Penn family in 1754, and the doors to the new building at Eighth and Pine Streets opened in 1756, where the building still stands. Today it is referred to as the Pine Building and remains open. Bond shared his knowledge of medicine by giving lectures, which were offered to the first students at Penn’s new medical school at the hospital. Bond earned the moniker “The Father of Clinical Medicine.” He spent the rest of his life working at the hospital until his death in 1784. Bond’s brother, Phineas, also aided his brother in the hospital’s founding and was one of the first doctors to serve at the hospital. Today, Pennsylvania Hospital is affiliated with the University of Pennsylvania. Philadelphia also serves as a major medical hub in the United States, home to five medical schools within the city limits.
One of the most important (and controversial) doctors to come out of Pennsylvania Hospital was Dr. Benjamin Rush, dubbed “The Father of American Psychiatry” for his dedication to treating the mentally ill. Rush is also well known for his use of bloodletting to cure patients, particularly those with yellow fever during the two epidemics Philadelphia experienced. He was a signer of the Declaration of Independence and kept the company of other founding fathers, including John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, and Thomas Paine. He was a tireless advocate for the poor, the mentally ill, slaves, and women. He helped found the first antislavery organization in the colonies—the Pennsylvania Society for Promoting the Abolition of Slavery and the Relief of Free Negroes Unlawfully Held in Bondage. He also created the Philadelphia Dispensary, which provided medical care to the poor of Philadelphia, the first facility of its kind in the developing nation.
Portrait of Benjamin Rush by Charles Willson Peale
(Via Wikimedia Commons, public domain)
Rush was born outside of Philadelphia in 1746 and attended the College of New Jersey, known today as Princeton University. After Rush earned his degree, his uncle encouraged him to study medicine rather than law. Rush found a mentor in Dr. John Redman and attended lectures at Penn’s new medical school. Rush ultimately chose to go overseas to study medicine. At the same time, Franklin was overseas, and the two became friends. Rush was even elected to the American Philosophical Society before his return to Philadelphia. Upon his return to the city of brotherly love, Rush was appointed as chair of the College of Philadelphia’s chemistry department. Rush was also one of 24 doctors to found the College of Physicians of Philadelphia in 1787, the country’s first private medical organization. The founders said the organization’s mission was “to advance the science of medicine