Post by smith on Dec 23, 2005 23:26:15 GMT -5
DR. THOMAS HEPBURN & SON: A FATHER'S DAY REMEMBRANCE
>
> Robert Hepburn was 5 years old when he made his first rounds at Hartford
> Hospital, holding the hand of his tall, handsome father, Dr. Thomas
Hepburn,
> and trying to match the adult's brisk stride. The boy was so little then,
a
> nurse would hold him above the balcony of the operating theater so he
could
> peer over the edge and watch his father in surgery.
>
> The year was 1918. Years later, father and son would work side-by-side in
> the operating room, share a medical office on Allyn Street in Hartford and
> both become chiefs of the department of urology at Hartford Hospital. To
his
> son and the five other Hepburn children -- including actress Katharine --
> Dr. Thomas Hepburn was a giant among men; a trailblazer in medicine,
citizen
> advocacy and humanitarianism.
>
> Now 83, Dr. Robert Hepburn retired from medicine 13 years ago and appears
to
> have enjoyed every minute of his spare time. He and his wife, Sue, spend
> time at Fenwick, the Hepburn family's summer home, and tend to their
> brookside house in West Hartford. An exquisite storyteller, the lanky,
> blue-eyed Hepburn spent a warm spring morning in his study sharing tales
of
> his father and himself and the bustling household of his youth.
>
> The Hepburn children were raised with stories about their ancestry,
perhaps
> explaining Dr. Hepburn's keen interest in local and family history. Father
> Thomas, the son of an Episcopal minister, was born in 1879 in Virginia.
His
> great-great-great grandfather raised and uniformed his own troops at the
> request of George Washington in the Revolutionary War.
>
> In 1905, fresh out of medical school at Johns Hopkins and finishing a
stint
> at selling the Encyclopedia Britannica to help pay for it, Dr. Thomas
> Hepburn began his internship at Hartford Hospital. Hartford's beautiful
> architecture and wide, elm-shaded avenues convinced him it would be a nice
> place to raise children with his soon-to-be bride.
>
> Unlike his young colleagues, Dr. Thomas Hepburn limited his practice to
> surgery, rather than surgery and general medicine. By 1910, he started the
> department of urology at Hartford Hospital, borrowing $500 -- then a small
> fortune -- from another doctor to buy the hospital's first cystoscope. He
> taught himself how to use the device -- a tool for locating kidney stones
> and growths such as tumors without the need for incision -- by traveling
to
> New York on a weekly basis to study technique.
> ``He was a strong man. He could operate all day,'' Dr. Robert Hepburn said
> of his father. During World War I, when many of his colleagues went
> overseas, the father of six stayed in Hartford and operated from morning
to
> late afternoon in a two-table theater.
>
> Although the hours were long and he had professional and financial
worries,
> Dr. Thomas Hepburn always made time for the children. Since he found
> medicine ``wildly exciting,'' Robert was invited to tag along to work and
to
> medical conferences. There was golf as soon as the children were big
enough
> to swing a club, and football in the yard of their Hartford house. On
> Sundays, a long walk up and around Talcott Mountain was led by their
father.
>
> ``Dad always made it a competition,'' Dr. Robert Hepburn said. ``He'd say
> `Who can bend that birch tree down the farthest?' '' Although serious
> application of their studies was expected of the children, Robert said his
> parents didn't push them in any one direction, but encouraged their
> independence.
>
> The parents' interests in medicine, politics, and social issues were
> discussed en famille. Atypical of parents of the time, the Hepburns didn't
> stop talking when the children entered the room. They were too busy
lobbying
> to make the personal political.
> ``Dad had a young patient die of gonorrhea -- she contracted it from her
> husband who caught it in a house of prostitution,'' Robert said. ``He
> [Thomas Hepburn] was very upset and Mom went to the mayor [of Hartford]
and
> got the house closed down.''
>
> The case spurred Thomas to found the American Social Hygiene Society and
> convinced Harvard President Dr. Charles Eliot -- who turned down an offer
to
> be ambassador to England -- to head it.
>
> ``Dad was offered $10,000 a year to head it himself but he turned it down.
> He said he had to practice medicine,'' Dr. Robert Hepburn said. Although
the
> Hepburn household had some of the trappings of wealth -- the summer home
at
> Fenwick, private school for the children (Dr. Thomas Hepburn was a founder
> of The Kingswood School) -- money was hard-earned. Robert said in his
> father's day, there was keen competition for patients, with general
surgeons
> reluctant to relinquish a patient to a specialist. In fact, his father
never
> relinquished his work ethic. He died at 83, still practicing.
>
> None of the lessons passed from his father, whether in surgery or social
> philosophy, were wasted on Robert. Following the Depression, Robert headed
> to Harvard to study economics and make sense out of the country's economic
> collapse. After a trip around the world paid for by his sister Katharine,
> who was by then a success in Hollywood, he entered Harvard Medical School.
>
> Before joining his father in the urology practice, Robert was an
obstetrics
> resident at Massachusetts General Hospital. He was horrified to discover
the
> poor wages paid to his colleagues, many of them parents of small children.
> Often there wasn't enough money for the families to buy food.
>
> ``I said, `We should go to the mayor about this,' and you know what? We
did!
> It made the Boston newspapers. And the pay structure was improved,''
Robert
> said, a note of pride in his otherwise mellow voice.
>
> When he did join his father, they may have shared a practice and surgical
> techniques, but each of the Hepburn men was fiercely independent and
intent
> on doing things his own way.
>
> ``We were very good friends. I think he could put up with me. The question
> was, could I put up with him?''
> His eyes crinkled with laughter at the remembrance of their competitive
> natures and stubborn streaks. For Thomas and Robert Hepburn, their
> differences were born out of their similarities and never mattered much.
>
> Robert Hepburn was 5 years old when he made his first rounds at Hartford
> Hospital, holding the hand of his tall, handsome father, Dr. Thomas
Hepburn,
> and trying to match the adult's brisk stride. The boy was so little then,
a
> nurse would hold him above the balcony of the operating theater so he
could
> peer over the edge and watch his father in surgery.
>
> The year was 1918. Years later, father and son would work side-by-side in
> the operating room, share a medical office on Allyn Street in Hartford and
> both become chiefs of the department of urology at Hartford Hospital. To
his
> son and the five other Hepburn children -- including actress Katharine --
> Dr. Thomas Hepburn was a giant among men; a trailblazer in medicine,
citizen
> advocacy and humanitarianism.
>
> Now 83, Dr. Robert Hepburn retired from medicine 13 years ago and appears
to
> have enjoyed every minute of his spare time. He and his wife, Sue, spend
> time at Fenwick, the Hepburn family's summer home, and tend to their
> brookside house in West Hartford. An exquisite storyteller, the lanky,
> blue-eyed Hepburn spent a warm spring morning in his study sharing tales
of
> his father and himself and the bustling household of his youth.
>
> The Hepburn children were raised with stories about their ancestry,
perhaps
> explaining Dr. Hepburn's keen interest in local and family history. Father
> Thomas, the son of an Episcopal minister, was born in 1879 in Virginia.
His
> great-great-great grandfather raised and uniformed his own troops at the
> request of George Washington in the Revolutionary War.
>
> In 1905, fresh out of medical school at Johns Hopkins and finishing a
stint
> at selling the Encyclopedia Britannica to help pay for it, Dr. Thomas
> Hepburn began his internship at Hartford Hospital. Hartford's beautiful
> architecture and wide, elm-shaded avenues convinced him it would be a nice
> place to raise children with his soon-to-be bride.
>
> Unlike his young colleagues, Dr. Thomas Hepburn limited his practice to
> surgery, rather than surgery and general medicine. By 1910, he started the
> department of urology at Hartford Hospital, borrowing $500 -- then a small
> fortune -- from another doctor to buy the hospital's first cystoscope. He
> taught himself how to use the device -- a tool for locating kidney stones
> and growths such as tumors without the need for incision -- by traveling
to
> New York on a weekly basis to study technique.
> ``He was a strong man. He could operate all day,'' Dr. Robert Hepburn said
> of his father. During World War I, when many of his colleagues went
> overseas, the father of six stayed in Hartford and operated from morning
to
> late afternoon in a two-table theater.
>
> Although the hours were long and he had professional and financial
worries,
> Dr. Thomas Hepburn always made time for the children. Since he found
> medicine ``wildly exciting,'' Robert was invited to tag along to work and
to
> medical conferences. There was golf as soon as the children were big
enough
> to swing a club, and football in the yard of their Hartford house. On
> Sundays, a long walk up and around Talcott Mountain was led by their
father.
>
> ``Dad always made it a competition,'' Dr. Robert Hepburn said. ``He'd say
> `Who can bend that birch tree down the farthest?' '' Although serious
> application of their studies was expected of the children, Robert said his
> parents didn't push them in any one direction, but encouraged their
> independence.
>
> The parents' interests in medicine, politics, and social issues were
> discussed en famille. Atypical of parents of the time, the Hepburns didn't
> stop talking when the children entered the room. They were too busy
lobbying
> to make the personal political.
> ``Dad had a young patient die of gonorrhea -- she contracted it from her
> husband who caught it in a house of prostitution,'' Robert said. ``He
> [Thomas Hepburn] was very upset and Mom went to the mayor [of Hartford]
and
> got the house closed down.''
>
> The case spurred Thomas to found the American Social Hygiene Society and
> convinced Harvard President Dr. Charles Eliot -- who turned down an offer
to
> be ambassador to England -- to head it.
>
> ``Dad was offered $10,000 a year to head it himself but he turned it down.
> He said he had to practice medicine,'' Dr. Robert Hepburn said. Although
the
> Hepburn household had some of the trappings of wealth -- the summer home
at
> Fenwick, private school for the children (Dr. Thomas Hepburn was a founder
> of The Kingswood School) -- money was hard-earned. Robert said in his
> father's day, there was keen competition for patients, with general
surgeons
> reluctant to relinquish a patient to a specialist. In fact, his father
never
> relinquished his work ethic. He died at 83, still practicing.
>
> None of the lessons passed from his father, whether in surgery or social
> philosophy, were wasted on Robert. Following the Depression, Robert headed
> to Harvard to study economics and make sense out of the country's economic
> collapse. After a trip around the world paid for by his sister Katharine,
> who was by then a success in Hollywood, he entered Harvard Medical School.
>
> Before joining his father in the urology practice, Robert was an
obstetrics
> resident at Massachusetts General Hospital. He was horrified to discover
the
> poor wages paid to his colleagues, many of them parents of small children.
> Often there wasn't enough money for the families to buy food.
>
> ``I said, `We should go to the mayor about this,' and you know what? We
did!
> It made the Boston newspapers. And the pay structure was improved,''
Robert
> said, a note of pride in his otherwise mellow voice.
>
> When he did join his father, they may have shared a practice and surgical
> techniques, but each of the Hepburn men was fiercely independent and
intent
> on doing things his own way.
>
> ``We were very good friends. I think he could put up with me. The question
> was, could I put up with him?''
> His eyes crinkled with laughter at the remembrance of their competitive
> natures and stubborn streaks. For Thomas and Robert Hepburn, their
> differences were born out of their similarities and never mattered much.