Harvard Hospital Taking Down Portraits of White Men
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
Brigham and Women's Hospital, a teaching hospital of Harvard Medical School, is taking down its prominent display of its past medical legends because too many are white men.
Diversity and inclusion initiatives prompted the removal of 30 portraits from the hospital's Bornstein Amphitheater because the paintings reinforce "that white men are in charge," one professor said. The Boston Globe first reported the news, writing that past white male luminaries will be dispersed to "put the focus on diversity."
Portraits that had hung in the amphitheater for decades will now be moved to less visible areas like conference rooms and lobby halls.
Dr. Betsy Nabel, the president of Brigham and Women's Hospital, said she made the decision to get rid of white men after reading the minds of minority students looking at the portraits.
"I have watched the faces of individuals as they have come into Bornstein," Nabel told the Globe . "I have watched them look at the walls. I read on their faces ‘Interesting. But I am not represented here.'"
"That got me thinking maybe it's time that we think about respecting our past in a different way," she said.
Nabel said no one on staff has objected to taking down portraits of past department heads, which include Dr. Harvey Cushing, the " father of neurosurgery ," who studied at Harvard and Yale and became surgeon-in-chief at Peter Bent Brigham Hospital in 1913.
Cushing operated on hundreds of patients each year with "remarkable results," and his meticulous notes and case studies provided the "history of neurological medicine from its beginning."
Another prominent portrait to be moved is Dr. William Councilman, the first chief pathologist at Brigham Hospital. Cushing described Councilman as "a man of ardent and generous enthusiasms" and an "inspiring teacher for the young and such a delightful companion both for young and old."
The portraits of Cushing, Councilman, and Dr. Henry Christian, Brigham's first chief of medicine, will be moved to the entrance of the Hale Building for Transformative Medicine. The Hale Building is named after Robert Hale Jr., a white male and CEO of Granite Telecommunications, who, along with his wife, donated $100 million to Brigham, the largest donation the hospital has ever received.
Dr. Nabel said no staff at Brigham Women's Hospital has "openly" objected to the removal of the portraits and getting rid of the prominent display of white men has been in the works for years.
Brigham and Women's Hospital has numerous diversity and inclusion initiatives, including the Center for Diversity and Inclusion, the Center for Development and Diversity, and the Committee on Diversity and Inclusivity.
"We seek to create a safe space for dialogue and ideas that can begin to change, where needed, our interactions and behavior in our day-to-day interactions with one another and with our patients," the department said. "It is one more positive step toward co-creating a caring and inclusive environment."
No word on whether Brigham and Women's Hospital will change its name, which is named after Peter Bent Brigham and his nephew Robert Breck Brigham, who gave the initial endowments used to found the hospital in the 19th century. Both were wealthy white males.
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If you have to take a test to find racism or sexism, then your racism or sexism isn't actually a problem. Racism and sexism should be about actions taken or words spoken, not about unconscious thoughts that aren't actually impacting anyone.
Trump is not the topic of this seed. Stop derailing.
Institutions like this should just make the changes and not make a production of explaining why they did it.
There is NOTHING wrong with moving some portrait photos to a different location and bringing in some fresh faces. Nothing. This is 2018, not 1918, and if they feel that more diversity should be visible, just what in hell is objectively wrong with that?
Because it's an Isis inspired way of thinking to destroy the past or obliterate things that offend you.
You're sadly mistaken. Isis is all about fundamentalism, just like far right wing Christianity. Out with the old and in with the new is more of a liberal idea. Please keep your enemies straight (you seem to have so many).
What's wrong with it is that it's racist. The pictures were (presumably) placed there because the hospital was proud of the efforts those individuals made to improve the hospital and advance the healthcare mission. Their actions are now being intentionally disregarded - not because they weren't important, but because they have the wrong skin color. That's racist.
Is there actually room for descent? If staff was to speak out "openly' would they be heard - or would they be bigots and racists?
How does removing those that came and succeeded before create a "safe space for dialogue and ideas" or create a "caring and inclusive environment" (?) I am beginning to think that Universities are not the best place to send an already well rounded and accepting young people these days - as Universities seem to be the reinvention of nursery school!
I find it alarming that such an esteemed medical school needs a "safe space". Does it also need crayons/coloring books, Play Doh, and binkies (pacifiers) for the students that they are training to be our future physicians, surgeons, and researchers?
Good question Jasper .. I am wondering the same.
Why is there a need for pacification - those that are striving to succeed, truly succeed, look at all obstacles as challenges for them to overcome .. taking their spot on the wall with dignity and honor - not by having those that came before removed in order to gain a spot of notoriety … Is that not like saying mediocrity is the new highest level of success?
This is one of the sillier example of anti pc "outrage" we have seen lately.
The hospital can arrange photos on the wall any way they like. If they want to arrange them to reflect "diversity" , why do you care?
There is NOTHING wrong with what they did.
I really don't "care" as much as you want to believe I do, John, but this seed has clearly raised your hackles about your opinion of me.
Please keep an open mind and try to accept the fact that some people may feel differently than you do.
So even if some "non whites"or women achieve a great deal in fields associated with that school or hospital, their photos should never supplant any photos of white men that were already there , even if 100 years have passed?
That is borderline ridiculous. Time marches on and new faces on the wall are totally appropriate.
I've not seen anyone state what you accuse them of, so please provide evidence.
So you want "diversity" as long as whites are not included?
Who said whites are not included? Now you're just making shit up.
I think it would be wonderful if they mixed in new faces of comparable achievements. Unfortunately, that's not what they're doing. They're just hiding the white faces for no reason other than the fact that they're white.
That's the thanks you get for helping build a place
I'm surprised they have nothing better to do than deny history.
What these DA liberals don't understand that if it were not for those white guys, many of them probably pretty liberal, there would not be a Harvard University.
This is simply a racist and apologist move in the name of "diversity".
Maybe Harvard should worry about its modern day issues with race, like being sued by Asian Americans for discrimination for refusing them for "bad personalities".
I read about Harvard's discrimination against Asians, but I wasn't surprised. Other schools do it, too ... all in the name of "diversity".
What!!!! are they picking are those poor white guys again...This is disgusting to say the least. It's reverse discrimination I tell ya...Just hang their frickin pictures up side down that will fix them.
Perhaps the painting of Caleb Cheeshahteaumuck or Joel Hiacoomes should hang in their place...Oh wait Caleb painting is hanging in Annenberg Hall, a much more prestigious location.
I greatly appreciate the educational accomplishments these fine Wampanoag men sought to achieve in the 1600s, but they were never associated with Harvard's medical school.
Do you have an on-topic comment to contribute to my seed?
The first part of my comment was on topic. The second part was simply to help your knowledge of Harvard. Of course there is a bit more but it seems that your not open to that.
BTW, Harvard medical school didn't open until the late 1700 hundreds.
Have a great day.
The block quote you used was from your comment 8 .
I noticed with sadness that you made assumptions and completely ignored my appreciation of the Wampanoag men you mentioned. So be it.
In addition, since the two men you mentioned went to Harvard's Indian School and studied the classics, they would not be eligible for recognition at Harvard's medical school, which is the topic of this seed.
Sad as you may feel, my comment did get you to goggle those two fine men. And you learned something about Harvard.
My mission is complete, you enhanced your knowledge of Harvard. Congratulations.
Alas, once again, your assumptions about me are wrong. I've known a great deal about the Wampanoag and those two men for decades. I provided the links so others, if interested, could read about them.
Instead of focusing on Wampanoags and my knowledge, perhaps you should comment on the seeded topic and stop derailing.
I have commented on your seed...I defended the white guys painting/photos being hung in the building...Geez.
Some fresh faces are needed occasionally.
Besides, that painting of a smirking Josef Mengele' displayed near the conference room was getting a little stale.
s/
Maybe the left would prefer Kermit Gosnell instead...
Although black, Gosnell doesn't have an affiliation with Harvard Medical School. Far better diversity choices would be Dr. Robert Satcher and Dr. Risa Lavizzo-Mourey...
It’s a damn hospital. Anybody seeking care doesn’t need to examine the color or gender of the hand that provides it and people providing care shouldn’t be worried about their own gender or color. They should be learning to see past this issue not mire themselves in it.
Sigh. Every day the world gets a little more stupid.
So effing what? Should it be the mission of a hospital that it "represent" anyone? Shouldn't the mission of the hospital have something do with . . . oh, I don't know . . . healthcare? Medicine? Surgery?
Here's a link to the Mission and Vision statements of the hospital . It's all about diversity and not about healthcare.
Of course not! They like their jobs! In today's political climate, the Fascist Leftist SJWs would crucify anyone who dared to object to the removal of a single portrait, no matter how important that person was to the advancement of medicine at the hospital.
Clearly, at this hospital, varieties in skin color are more important than medicine. With their priorities so out of whack, if I were in need of healthcare, I'd be looking for a different facility - one that was actually focused on my health.