Emory Crawford Long Hospital Celebrates 100 Years with Tour Through History

Emory Crawford Long Hospital will begin its celebration of 100 years caring for Atlanta's citizens with a series of historical tours of the hospital, as well as a new museum-quality historical exhibit that is now on display and available for preview in the hospital's Medical Office Tower (MOT).

The exhibit and tours are meant to not only celebrate the birth of one of Atlanta's oldest hospitals, but to reflect on the many medical "firsts" that have occurred within the Midtown Atlanta landmark.

"This is a unique and exciting opportunity for Emory Crawford Long to join with our community and employees as we reflect on the tremendous history of this institution, while also looking forward to an exciting future of serving Atlantans with the most cutting-edge, research-based medicine and technology," says Chief Operating Officer Dane Peterson. "The development of the beautiful exhibit that is now on display in what, ironically, is Crawford Long's newest and most modern facility, as well as guided walking tours led by Emory's own historian Ren Davis, will truly bring this hospital and its history to life."

Emory Crawford Long Hospital was officially "born" on October 21, 1908, when two physicians, Dr. Edward Campbell Davis and a former student of his, Dr. Luther C. Fischer, opened the 26-bed Davis-Fischer Sanatorium on Crew Street, near present-day Turner Field. With just 26 beds, the hospital quickly outgrew its capacity and by 1911, Davis and Fischer moved the hospital to its present site, opening an 85-bed Davis-Fischer Sanatorium on Linden Avenue.

In 1931, the hospital was renamed Crawford W. Long Memorial Hospital in honor of Dr. Crawford W. Long, the Georgia physician who discovered sulphuric ether for use as an anesthetic and was the first doctor to use anesthesia during surgery.

Today, Emory Crawford Long Hospital is a 511-bed community-based, acute care teaching facility staffed by approximately 950 Emory medical faculty and nearly 600 private practice community physicians. The hospital is well known for services in cardiology, cardiac surgery, gastroenterology and emergency medicine. Women's services include prenatal and postnatal education, bone density testing, mammography and obstetrics, with a specialization in high-risk pregnancy.

Walking tours of the hospital will primarily be administered by noted historian and native Atlantan Ren Davis. Davis, a project manager with Emory Healthcare, is an Emory alumnus and has been at Emory since 1976. He is a frequent contributor to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution and is the author of the book "Caring for Atlanta: A History of Emory Crawford Long Hospital."

The tours, which are open to the general public and free of charge, will be conducted during the following days and times:

Wednesday, June 4 -- 10:30am
Wednesday, June 11 -- 1:30pm
Wednesday, June 25 -- 3:30pm

The historical display exhibit is now on view in the atrium of the Medical Office Tower at Emory Crawford Long Hospital. The display has been masterfully created to show the medical impact our hospital has had, as well as describe key historical information throughout the years. In addition, visitors see specific panels that highlight Dr. Crawford Long and the Crawford W. Long Memorial Hospital School of Nursing. Some of the other many special exhibits in the display include:

• Laryngoscope - Instrument was designed by Dr. Linus J. Miller, an anesthesiologist at Crawford Long from World War II until he retired from practice in the mid-1960s. It is used on children to examine the interior of the larynx.

• Pocket case of medical instruments - Given by Dr. George P. Cuttino, belonged to Dr. George Washington Peddy (1834-1913), Newnan, GA. Donated by Woodruff Health Sciences Center Library at Emory University.

• Wooden Stethoscope - Given by Dr. Allen Bunce (Used by Dr. Francis Hodgson Orme, 1834-1913; great-grandson of Dr. Joseph Priestly. Donated by Woodruff Health Sciences Center Library at Emory University.

• Telegram -- Telegram sent by Herman Talmadge to Dr. Wadley Glenn that approved a new diagnostic and treatment center.

• Agnes Raoul Glenn marble -- Piece of the Agnes Raoul Glenn building, which was torn down in 2001 to build the new building, which currently houses Emory Winship Cancer Institute and Emory Crawford Long's educational conference room and classrooms.

• "Phenap" -- A copy of the Nursing School yearbook. The yearbook was named after a pain medication that the pharmacists made in the pharmacy at Emory Crawford Long Hospital from the 1940s through the 1960s.

• Y2K survival guide

• An Olympic flag from the 1996 Atlanta Olympics

• Other old-fashioned medical instruments

To schedule a free tour of the hospital, call Emory HealthConnection at 404-778-7777. The historical display can be viewed at any time without a reservation.