Editor’s note: While history columnist Jeff Suess is on vacation, please enjoy a past article from June 30, 2013, updated for clarity.
The name Dr. John Shaw Billings might not strike a chord today, but he is regarded as one of the most important graduates in the history of the University of Cincinnati.
A giant in both medicine and library organization, he was also a field surgeon during the Battle of Gettysburg and had a remarkably distinguished and varied career…