MSS 2/0076-03					Acc. 1989-028

KEEN, WILLIAM W.,
(1837-1932)

Photographs,
1931 and undated


Biographical

William Williams Keen, surgeon and neurologist, was born on 19 
January 1837 in Philadelphia.  He was the third son of merchant 
William W. Keen and Susan (Budd) Keen.  Keen married Emma Corinna 
Borden in 1867; they had four daughters, Corinne, Florence, 
Dora, and Margaret.  William W. Keen died on 7 June 1932.

Keen graduated from Brown University in 1859.  He entered Jefferson 
Medical College in 1860, left in 1861 to become Surgeon to the 
5th Massachusetts Regiment, then returned to Jefferson and received 
his M.D. in 1862.  He then became Acting Assistant Surgeon in 
the U.S. Army and worked in a succession of military hospitals, 
including the Turner's Lane Hospital in Philadelphia, where 
he studied gunshot wounds and other neurological problems with 
S. Weir Mitchell and George R. Morehouse.  

From 1864-1865, Keen studied medicine in Europe.  From 1866 to 
1875, he taught pathology at Jefferson Medical College and was 
the head of the Philadelphia School of Anatomy.  He was also 
Professor of Artistic Anatomy at the Pennsylvania Academy of 
the Fine Arts (1876-1889).  From 1884 to 1889, Keen was Professor 
of Surgery at the Woman's Medical College of Pennsylvania.  
From 1889 to his retirement in 1907, he was Professor of Surgery 
at Jefferson Medical College.

In 1887, at St. Mary's Hospital in Philadelphia, Keen performed 
the first successful removal of a brain tumor in the United 
States.  He was the first physician to perform a decompression 
of the skull and also the first physician in Philadelphia to 
use Lister's antiseptic surgical practices.  Keen was interested 
in focal epilepsy and microcephaly as well.

William W. Keen edited Gray's anatomy in 1883 and wrote numerous 
articles and monographs, including, in conjunction with J. William 
White, the American text book of surgery (1892).  
Keen was the author of A system of surgery (19061921) 
also.

He was elected to fellowship in the College of Physicians 
of Philadelphia in 1867 and was its president (1900-1901).  Keen 
was also a member and president of many other professional organizations, 
including the American MedicaljAssociation, American 
Philosophical Society, American Surgical Association, and the 
Philadelphia Academy of Surgery.  In 1920, he was president 
of the International Society of Surgery and presided over the 
society's 1923 meeting in Paris.


Scope and contents

This collection contains three formal photographs of William W. 
Keen, 1931 and undated.  All three photographs are from the 
last years of his life.


Provenance

The three Keen photographs were donated to the Historical Collections 
of the College of Physicians of Philadelphia by W. W. Keen Butcher 
of Philadelphia on 3 March 1989.

The collection was processed and catalogued in 1990.


1931 and undated
1 oversize folder
(3 items)


8/7/1990
jde


MSS 2/0076-03					Acc. 1989-028

KEEN, WILLIAM W.,
(1837-1932)

Photographs,
1931 and undated

1. William W. Keen, seated, half length
   Elias Goldensky, Philadelphia, Pa.
   1 sepia print, mounted
   10.75" x 13.75"
   [1931?]			(1 item)		[1931?]

2. William W. Keen, head and shoulders
   Goldensky Studios, Philadelphia, Pa.
   1 sepia print, mounted
   10.75" x 13.75"
   [n.d.]			(1 item)		[n.d.]

3. William W. Keen, seated, half length in 
   academic robes
   Inscribed: "William Williams Keen, M.D. for his
   grand daughter, Margaret Butcher"
   F. Gutekunst, Philadelphia, Pa.
   1 sepia print, mounted
   7.25" x 9.25"		(1 item)		[n.d.]


1931 and undated
1 oversize folder (3 items)

8/7/1990
jde