In 1896, Elizabeth Carter Coles, a 21-year-old woman, accidentally lodged a sewing needle in her toe. The needle broke and penetrated her flesh, causing her significant discomfort. Despite a doctor’s efforts, the needle could not be located and removed.
The doctor enlisted the help of Sydney Turner Moreland, a local scientist and professor at Washington & Lee University. Moreland was known for his use of new technologies such as electricity, vacuum chambers, and X-rays in the university’s physics lab.
Coles’ recovery from her injury was due to the recent invention of the X-ray by Wilhelm Conrad Röntgen. Nikola Tesla had also contributed to the spread of this technology in the medical field. Moreland was an early adopter of X-ray technology in the South.
Coles might have been the first woman to be X-rayed in Virginia, and possibly the United States. Her foot was X-rayed using Moreland’s machine, revealing the needle near a bone in her toe. The X-ray image was later donated to Washington & Lee University by Moreland’s son, Dr. Edward L. Moreland.