Frankenstein and Civil War Medicine

Still photo from Guillermo del Toro’s latest film, Frankenstein (Courtesy of Netflix)

Disclaimer: This post will contain some spoilers.

 Guillermo del Toro’s latest film, Frankenstein, has reimagined Mary Shelley’s classic 1818 novel. This adaptation is set between 1853-1857 in locations across Europe. Viewers get a front row seat to witness debates about ethics in the rapidly evolving medical field of the Victorian era. Dr. Victor Frankenstein, a scientific renegade, bumps heads with the conservative medical establishment he despises. The results are monstrous.

So, how does a movie set on the wrong continent in the wrong decade relate to America’s Civil War? Surprisingly, there’s a lot to talk about!

Medical Education

Prior to the 19th century, most doctors learned the trade through apprenticeships. In Frankenstein, Victor Frankenstein finds himself in such an arrangement with his father as an adolescent. Doctors could also be trained by a handful of medical schools at the time. In America, some of the most popular were Columbia University’s College of Physicians and Surgeons in New York City, Jefferson Medical College in Philadelphia, and Harvard Medical School in Boston. American students would go to Europe, where the era’s best medical schools were found, to study more if they could afford it. The Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh gets a named cameo in the film. Scotland’s medical schools in Edinburgh and Glasgow were some of the best in the world where trailblazers like Joseph Lister taught.

Operating theaters would double as lecture halls. Students could learn traditionally through textbooks and by example witnessing demonstrations as a group. Debates would also take place. Scientific advancement was rapidly presenting ethical dilemmas regarding contentious new discoveries and quackery from charlatans falsely claiming advancement. Medical academia was full of conflicts.

Portrait of Dr. Samuel D. Gross at Jefferson Medical College (Thomas Eakins/PAFA Museum)

Medical Imagery

The mid-19th century became a crossroads where highly detailed sketches and early photography were being used in tandem. Frankenstein viewers get several glances at Victor’s sketchbook in the film. But the use of photography for all purposes was gaining ground, including for medical record keeping, as during the Civil War.

Four Examples of Civil War Surgical Photography (Library of Congress)

Henrich Harlander, Victor’s wealthy benefactor in Netflix’s new film, is shown to be obsessed with an early form of photography called daguerreotypes. Harlander documents Victor step by step using his camera. During the American Civil War, both sketching and photography were utilized by the federal War Department and contributed to the Medical & Surgical History of the War of the Rebellion.

One of the more unexpected medical visual aids to show up in the movie was an Evelyn Table. John Evelyn purchased four Italian pine life-sized “maps” of the human body’s blood vessels taken from cadavers in 1646. They proved invaluable for educational purposes. In the 19th century, all four were still in the UK and being used by the Royal College of Surgeons.

An original Evelyn Table (D. Brownstein)

Electricity

Shockingly, the first attempt to use electricity for medical purposes dates back to the 18th century. While the reality is less sensational than Victor Frankenstein reanimating a corpse, there is some basis to the premise of using a power source for treatment. By 1861, European medical research continued to delve into the potential uses of electricity but had mostly not caught on in the United States.

During the Civil War, a device known as Davis & Kidder’s Patent Magneto-Electric Machine was used for administering a shock for nerve stimulation or “nervous diseases”. Two hospitals in Philadelphia are confirmed to have used the machine. Turner’s Lane Hospital, which specialized in neurological treatments, and Christian Street Hospital, which was the first military hospital designated for patients with nervous disorders. Some paralyzed patients at Turner’s Lane were able to regain function to varying degrees. After the Civil War, electricity featured more prominently in some types of treatments for veterans.

Davis & Kidder’s Patent Magneto-Electric Machine (NYE & CO Auctioneers)

Bonus: George Leo Frankenstein

As it turns out, Frankenstein was directly involved in the Civil War. Well, maybe not THAT Frankenstein, but another. A German immigrant named George Leo Frankenstein served in the Federal Commissary Department. This Frankenstein also created an artistic legacy. He was a painter. Immediately after the war, he traveled more than 3,000 miles to paint landscape panoramas of all the major battlefields. Today, his works can be found in libraries, museums, and park visitor centers.

Frankenstein’s view of Gettysburg’s East Cemetery Hill (George Leo Frankenstein/NPS)

Interested in learning more about mid-19th century surgery? Check out these great titles offered in the Museum shop!

The Butchering Art by Lindsey Fitzharris. The story of the controversial Victorian surgeon and father of germ theory, Joseph Lister. Lister received pushback from the medical establishment but was proven to be right.

Crucial Interventions: An Illustrated Treatise on the Principles and Practice of Nineteenth Century Surgery by Richard Barnett. A beautifully illustrated look at the evolution of surgery, as revealed through rare technical illustrations, sketches, and oil paintings sourced from period textbooks.

A Manual of Military Surgery by Samuel D. Gross. First published in 1861 by federal surgeon Samuel D. Gross. This republished contemporary source covers surgical treatments on everything from combat wounds to infectious diseases.

Sources

1. Mahr, Michael. “Medical Education in the 19th Century.” National Museum of Civil War Medicine, www.civilwarmed.org/medical-education-in-the-19th-century/
2. Stanley, Ben. “The Whole Hung Up: Why Avenging Physicians Burned Down Virginia’s First Med School.” Online MedEd, www.onlinemeded.com/blog/the-whole-hung-up-why-avenging-physicians-burned-down-virginias-first-med-school
3. Dunne, Carey. “Gruesome and Surreal Surgical Illustrations from the 15th-19th Centuries.” Hyperallergic, hyperallergic.com/257404/gruesome-and-surreal-surgical-illustrations-from-the-15th-19th-centuries/
4. Leitizia, Lauren. “Shooting Soldiers: Civil War Medical Photography by R.B. Bontecou.” The Gettysburg Compiler, gettysburgcompiler.org/2022/03/24/shooting-soldiers-civil-war-medical-photography-by-r-b-bontecou/
5. Brownstein, Daniel. “Mapping the Materials of the Human Body.” D. A. Brownstein, dabrownstein.com/2013/03/12/mapping-the-materials-of-the-human-body/
6. Dreyfus, Jean-Marc. “Military Cemeteries, a European Invention After the First World War.” Encyclopédie d’histoire numérique de l’Europe, ehne.fr/en/encyclopedia/themes/wars-and-memories/memorialization/military-cemeteries-a-european-invention-after-first-world-war
7. Campbell, William T. “Surgeon’s Call: Magneto-Electric Machine.” National Museum of Civil War Medicine, www.civilwarmed.org/surgeons-call/magneto-electric-machine/
8. Teague, Chuck. “Frankenstein.” Gettysburg National Military Park, npsgnmp.wordpress.com/2012/06/08/frankenstein/

About the Author

Roy Blumenfeld is a history enthusiast and volunteer docent at the Clara Barton Missing Soldiers Office Museum in Washington, D.C. He holds a BS in Political Science from Appalachian State University.