Arthur E. Strauss
| Interviewers: | Gerhard E. Gruenfeld and Barrett L. Taussig |  |
| Date: | September 18, 1959 | |
| Identifier: | OH076 | |
| Approximate Length: | 147 min. | |
| Biographical Information: | Cardiologist, 1889-1974. Strauss received his medical degree from Harvard College Medical School in 1917. After service in the First World War, Strauss joined the staff of the Jewish Hospital of St. Louis, serving as physician in charge of the heart station until 1952, medical staff president from 1949 to 1953, and director of medicine from 1948 to 1953. Strauss was a founder of the St. Louis Heart Association and an assistant professor of clinical medicine at Washington University School of Medicine. | |
| Summary: | Strauss begins by discussing otolaryngologist Hanau W. Loeb and his role in the early history of St. Louis University Medical School and the development of Jewish Hospital of St. Louis. While relating being called in to help treat Loeb, Strauss discusses his training as a cardiologist and describes the first electrocardiograms. He relates his experiences leading up to his service in World War I and his experiences during the war working as a cardiologist in England and France. Strauss recalls returning to St. Louis after the war and his subsequent work as head of the cardiac clinic at Washington University and at the Jewish Hospital of St. Louis. Strauss talks about his interactions with several prominent early physicians and cardiologists, including Sir Thomas Clifford Allbutt and James McKenzie. The conversation returns to the discussion of Hanau Loeb, and Strauss reads a published tribute to Loeb written by prominent St. Louis rabbi Leon Harrison. Strauss recalls two men who influenced him in his career as a physician, Jesse S. Myer and Albert E. Taussig. The interviewers and Strauss then talk about generational changes in medical training and practice, including the lack of exposure to medical “greats” and the lack of respect shown by local hospital house staffs. | |
| Notes: | Some of the audio recording is distorted (at approximately 71 minutes in); the volume of the recording is not consistent. |
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