Page:American Medical Biographies - Kelly, Burrage.djvu/1028

NAME ROWE 1006 ROWE mission (1910-1912) ; in 1912 he was appointed the first state sanitary inspector for Mississippi, serving until 1914, when the International San- itary Commission appointed him director of sanitary work in Guatemala, but he was forced to retire because of ill health. Early in 1916 he was made superintendent of the Mississippi Tuberculosis Sanitarium. Greatly interested in this work, he applied him- self to every detail, particularly to the selec- tion of the site at Magee, Simpson County, and to the construction of the new sanitarium. He was active in the Mississppi State Medical So- ciety and worked with untiring zeal and energy ■for the upbuilding of this organization as well "for the development of the activities of the State Board of Health. In 1894 he married Helen McKenney of Texas ; she, with one daughter, survived him. After an illness of several months Dr. Rowan died at Jackson, Mississippi, August 7, 1917. Oscar Dowling. Jackson, Mississippi, News, August 7, 1917. Personal knowledge. Rowe, George Howard Malcolm ( 1841-1916). George Rowe, Superintendent of the Boston City Hospital, the son of Jonathan Philbrick and Maria Louise Morrison Rowe, was bom in Lowell, Massachusetts, February 1, 1841, and died in Boston January 30, 1916. He was descended from Richard Rowe, a London mer- chant, who came to Boston in 1638. His mother inherited the Scotch blood of the exiles from the siege of Londonderry, who settled in New Hampshire and from whom have sprung so many sterling men and women to be found all over this country. Dr. Rowe fitted for college at Phillips Exeter Academy and graduated from Dartmouth in 1864 and from the Harvard Medical School in 1868. During his college life he became interested in psychology and after receiving his diploma he saw service in the Hartford Retreat for the Insane, then became assistant superintendent of the Massachusetts School for the Feeble Minded, and later assistant physi- cian to the Pennsylvania Hospital for the In- sane. He was assistant superintendent at the Boston Lunatic Hospital in South Boston when he was called to the Boston City Hospital as superintendent and medical director in 1879, a position that he occupied nearly thirty years, until compelled to retire by reason of failing health. Practically Dr. Rowe's entire professional life was devoted to the administration and development of the Boston City Hospital. It is his monument. He not only carried for- ward the plans of his predecessor, Dr. Edward Cowles, but he inaugurated many new ones, which went far toward placing the hospital in the front rank of municipal institutions. Dr. Rowe was a good business man of sound judgment. His familiarity with every detail of hospital construction and administration, his broad and far reaching views of the needs of the institution and his comprehension of the trend of modern philanthropic work made him an authority on these matters and for many years he was in the forefront of these activities. The "Hospital Roundtable," an association composed of hospital superintendents, was es- tablished by Dr. Rowe and proved to be very popular. Its object was the interchange of ideas and experiences in all matters per- taining to hospital construction and administra- tion. Being a leader in this work. Dr. Rowe was president and also held the same office in the Association of Hospital Superintendents of America and Canada. Dr. Howe was much interested in his alma mater and was president of the Alumni Asso- ciation of Phillips Academy. He wrote numerous articles upon topics pertaining to hospitals, public, health, training schools for nurses, etc. He belonged to numerous so- cieties, as the Massachusetts Medical Society, American Medico-Psychological Association, the Boston Society for Medical Improvement. He was a member of several philanthropic associations, also of the St. Botolph, the Uni- versity, Beacon and Eastern Yacht Clubs. He was connected with the Congregational Church. Dr. Rowe was a man of broad culture with fine tastes in art, music and literature, besides being a clever organist. He was positive in his opinions and had the courage of his con- victions. Brusque in speech, not always tact- ful, but honest and dependable, loyal to his friends and delightful in the presence of his intimates. There was no deception in his make up. A forceful man who did things and did them well. Dr. Rowe was unmarried and lived with his sister, the only surviving member of his im- mediate family. For some years he was in- valided by arteriosclerosis and diabetes, com- plicated toward the last by malignant disease of the mouth and throat, which was tempor- arily relieved by operation. The final affection was bronchopneumonia of rather brief dura- tion. He was seventy-five years old. George W. Gay. Hist, of Tlie Boston City Hospital. 1864-1904. Boston Transcript, January 31, 1916. Personal knowledge.