Who’s Who in Orthopedics
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Charles William PEABODY
1891–1963
Born in Malden, Massachusetts, April 30, 1891, Dr. Peabody was reared and educated in New England. His parents were Charles Newton and Flora Joslin Peabody. Peabody is a name that has been respected for many generations in Massa- chusetts. Some of the best in the history of New England was made by his Peabody forebears. He and others bearing this name have, in our time, spent their lives in service to mankind.
Dr. Peabody grew up in Malden, attended Malden High School, was graduated Bachelor of Arts from Harvard in 1912 and Doctor of Medicine in 1916. The MD degree was awarded by Harvard Medical School while he was on his way to France with the Third Harvard Surgical Unit. He served with the British Expeditionary Forces and later with the United States Army near Dunkirk, France.
While at Harvard he rowed well and earned his letter in the senior year. After college he rowed singles, winning the Union Boat Club Junior Single Challenge Cup in 1916 and also the Harvard Boat Club Single Skull Championship.
He was an ardent devotee of tennis from his early youth and continued to be active on the courts until a few months before his death.
Although approximately one-half of his life, including most of the years of active practice of orthopedic surgery, were spent in Detroit, Dr.
Peabody retained the characteristics inherited or acquired from his New England ancestors, including manner of speech, quiet reticence, strict
Arnold PAVLIK
1902–1965
Arnold Pavlik was born in Slavko,
Czechoslovakia, not far from the field of the
famous battle of Austerlitz. He studied at the uni-
versity in Brno and later became an assistant to
Frejka in the clinic in Bruno, where he had ample
opportunity to observe the treatment of patients
with congenital dislocations of the hip. In 1939,
he became head of the orthopedic clinic in
Olmutz and when, after World War II, the Palacky
University was established, he was made profes-
sor of orthopedic surgery. Pavlik represented the
second generation of orthopedic surgeons in
Czechoslovakia, and he helped train many of the
third generation. Pavlik became disappointed
with the results of the treatment of congenital dis-
location of the hip treated by immobilization in
abduction because of the high incidence of aseptic
necrosis of the femoral head. In his own clinic, he
developed a functional method of treatment that
permitted and even encouraged motion in the
affected hip. The use of the so-called Pavlik
harness required careful supervision and the
active participation of the parents. However, as
the experience of Pavlik showed, when applied
early in infancy, the method could be remarkably
successful and avoided the complication of
aseptic necrosis of the femoral head.
integrity, and a great love for the sea along the rugged New England coast. While making his home in Detroit, he, his wife, and children spent part of each summer in New England. He returned there to live in his retirement, and he was never more happy than when on his boat with members of his family as crew.
His branch of the Peabody family first settled in a seacoast town, Kennebunk Port, Maine.
Several of his ancestors were sea captains. He named the 37-foot motor sailer, which he designed and had built to his specifications, the Abby Brown II. Captain Brown of Kennebunk Port, Maine, was a forebear of the Peabody family. His wife, Abby, accompanied him when he sailed his barkentine to China. During this trip Captain Brown rescued the crew of a dismasted English boat, which was adrift in the Atlantic. The crew were found to be suffering from scurvy and Mrs. Brown nursed them back to health. When the rescued crew were put ashore in London, the King and Queen invited Captain and Mrs. Brown to the Palace and thanked them for their care of the British seamen.
Dr. Peabody received his training in orthopedic surgery at Massachusetts General Hospital. In 1922, shortly after completing that residency program, he accepted an invitation to join the staff of the Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit, Michigan.
He organized the department of orthopedic surgery. Subsequently he became surgeon-in- chief of the Detroit Orthopedic Clinic, and was on the staff of the Children’s Hospital of Michigan.
During his final years in Detroit, he was chief of the orthopedic service at the 600-bed Harper Hospital, where he was successful in developing an approved residency program in orthopedic surgery.
My first opportunity to know Dr. Peabody was in 1926 while I was an intern at the Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit. He was chief of the orthope- dic service, and I was warned by some of the senior interns that members of the house staff assigned to that service had to work harder and longer hours than those on any other service.
They were correct about that, but I consider my tour of duty on his service one of the most valu- able experiences of my life. Instead of the usual 1 month, I was intern on his service for 2 months.
Until that time I had planned to become a general surgeon. Before the 2 months were up, I knew that I could only be happy in my life work as an ortho- pedic surgeon. When I was permitted the service of my choice for my second year at Ford, there
was never a moment of doubt. I have never ceased to feel in my heart genuine gratitude for the inspiring example and the sound basic introduc- tion to orthopedic surgery that came from this opportunity to work with Dr. Charles Peabody.
Dr. William Green, Dr. Leslie Mitchell, and many others received part or all of their orthopedic training under the guidance of Dr. Peabody.
Although he was 53 years of age, Dr. Peabody enlisted in the navy in 1944. The medical officer in command of the US Naval Hospital, Philadel- phia, Pennsylvania, in a letter to the chief of naval personnel, said to him, “While on duty at this hospital as orthopedic surgeon and organizer of rehabilitation for orthopedic casualties, his work was invaluable. . . . and devotion to duty . . . outstanding.” Later he served as chief of the orthopedic division at the Aiea Heights Naval Hospital, Pearl Harbor. He retired with the rank of Commander in the Medical Corps, US Naval Reserve.
After his retirement to Rhode Island, he con- tinued his interest in teaching as a consultant at Rhode Island Hospital and Davis Park Veterans Administration Hospital in Providence.
Dr. Peabody was a Fellow of the American College of Surgeons, a member and for several years secretary of the American Orthopedic Asso- ciation. He was also a member of the American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons, the Central Surgical Society, and the Orthopedic Correspon- dence Club. He published more than 50 clinical and scientific papers.
Dr. Charles William Peabody, after a good and useful life, died in the Rhode Island Hospital, November 6, 1963, at the age of 72 years.
Surviving were his widow, the former Miriam Church; a son, Dr. Charles Newton Peabody, a general surgeon of Framingham, Massachusetts;
two daughters, Mrs. Miriam E. Gale of Cincinnati and Mrs. Ann Goldthwaite of Northport, Long Island; and a sister, Mrs. Florence Wade of Baltimore.
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