Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography/Sanger, William Wallace

SANGER, William Wallace, physician, b. in Hartford, Conn., 10 Aug., 1819; d. in New York city, 8 May, 1872. He began the study of medicine at Wheeling, Va., in 1842, but soon afterward removed to New York city, and was graduated at the College of physicians and surgeons in 1846. He was then appointed assistant at Bellevue hospital, and subsequently was the first resident physician at Blackwell's island. He afterward resigned and visited Europe, but in 1853 was reappointed. During this seven years' tenure of that office he made an investigation of the &ldquo;social evil,&rdquo; the results of which he embodied in a work characterized by laborious research and comprehensive classification of the facts that he obtained, entitled the &ldquo;History of Prostitution&rdquo; (New York, 1858). In 1860 Dr. Sanger resigned and devoted the remainder of his life to private practice.