Virtual Program
From 7:00 p.m. until 8:00 p.m.
Founded by Samuel Thomson (1769-1843), this 19th-century system of alternative medicine was based on herbal treatments designed to regulate the body’s heat through a six-step process of healing. Thomson began his practice as an itinerant healer in 1805, and with the help of hundreds of agents and Friendly Botanic Societies, he sold “rights” to his patented medical system that, by 1830, claimed an estimated 2 million American users. Thomson’s significance lies less with his theory of healing than with his innovative business techniques which presaged several 20th-century practices.
Dr. John Haller, emeritus professor of medical humanities and the history of ideas, has authored more than thirty books on subjects ranging from race and sexuality, to medicine, pharmacy, biography, religion, spirituality, war, and philosophy. He is a former editor of Caduceus and served as vice president for academic affairs for twenty years at Southern Illinois University. His most recent books include Fictions of Certitude: Science Faith, and the Search for Meaning, 1840-1920; Swedenborgs’Principles of Usefulness: Social Reform Thought from the Enlightenment to American Pragmatism; Michael A. Musmanno: Lawyer, Legislator, Judge, and Showman; and Religion after the Gods: Edwin H. Wilson and the American Humanist Association (forthcoming).