Crawford Long,Alfred Blalock,Louis Wright,and Georgia's Surgical Heritage

Abstract

Georgia and the Atlanta area are associated with three important figures in the history of surgery. Crawford Long (1815–1878) discovered the anesthetic effects of ether while in practice in Jefferson. Born in Culloden, Alfred Blalock (1899–1964) was a pioneer researcher in shock and resuscitation, and developed the Blalock–Taussig shunt for Tetralogy of Fallot. His technician, African-American Vivien Thomas (1910–1985), was a full partner in the landmark advances. Louis T. Wright (1891–1952) was born in LaGrange and grew up in the Jim Crow South. As the country's leading black surgeon, he led the integration of major hospitals and helped lay the groundwork for the landmark civil rights legislation of the 1960s that integrated American medicine. Their stories, with roots in small towns in Georgia, reveal the deep surgical traditions of the South.