Charles Caldwell

Charles Caldwell (May 14, 1772 – July 9, 1853) was a noted 19th-century U.S. physician who is best known for starting what would become the University of Louisville School of Medicine and is one of the earliest proponents of Polygenism in the United States. Early life Charles Caldwell was born on May 14, 1772, in Caswell County, North Carolina. His parents were Irish immigrants. Caldwell earned an M.D. from the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine in 1796 while studying under Benjamin Rush. Career Caldwell practiced medicine in Philadelphia and was a lecturer at his alma mater, the University of Pennsylvania. He also edited the "Port Folio" (one of the day's primary medical magazines) and published over 200 medical publications. Caldwell was elected a member of the American Antiquarian Society in 1815. A significant number of copies of Caldwell's 18th and 19th century publications, including copies of the Port folio, survive in the collections of the AAS. Other institutions holding original copies of Caldwell's publications include the United States National Library of Medicine, and Harvard's Francis A. Countway Library of Medicine.