Dr. Harvey Cushing, renowned in part for Cushing’s Syndrome, was a pioneering figure in the field of neuroscience.
He performed some of the earliest successful brain surgeries and was instrumental in advancing medical techniques.
Above all, Cushing was the first to employ X-rays to diagnose brain tumors and contributed to the development of the electro-cautery device, which minimizes blood loss by sealing blood vessels as they are cut.
His work is documented in a series of haunting portraits that reveal patients before and after their surgeries.
These black-and-white images—totaling about 10,000—were captured between 1900 and 1932 to chronicle various medical conditions and likely served as part of each patient’s medical record.
The photographs convey a stark and sometimes unsettling view of the early days of neurosurgery.
Babies with enlarged skulls sit on their mothers’ knees, while carefully stitched scars form intricate patterns on skulls, reminiscent of fields viewed from above.
Many of these portraits capture patients in profile, in close-up hand shots, or staring directly into the lens—a haunting, unfiltered gaze that contrasts sharply with the polished, casual imagery of today’s selfie culture.
These historically significant images are preserved at Yale University’s Harvey Cushing/John Hay Whitney Medical Library in New Haven, Connecticut.
Harvey Cushing, born in Cleveland in 1869, graduated from Yale and pursued a distinguished medical career at institutions like Johns Hopkins and Harvard, shaping modern neuroscience in ways still felt today.
Known for his groundbreaking work with brain tumors, Cushing also made significant contributions outside of surgery.
In 1926, he won a Pulitzer Prize for his biography of his mentor, Dr. William Osler, and he became the namesake of Cushing’s disease after identifying a hormonal disorder linked to pituitary gland malfunction in 1912.
Beginning in 1902, Cushing meticulously documented his medical cases, preserving an extensive registry of specimens and photographs.
By the time he joined Yale in 1934, his collection included over 2,200 case studies, numerous brain and tumor specimens, and an archive of 15,000 photographic negatives on both film and glass plates.
One of Cushing’s most impactful contributions was introducing blood pressure measurement to North American medicine.
During a visit to Italy, he encountered Scipione Riva-Rocci’s sphygmomanometer, a non-invasive device that revolutionized blood pressure assessment.
Impressed, Cushing brought a sample back to the United States, spurring the adoption of blood pressure measurement as a standard diagnostic tool across
Cushing’s name is commonly associated with his most famous discovery, Cushing’s disease.
In 1912 he reported in a study an endocrinological syndrome caused by a malfunction of the pituitary gland which he termed “polyglandular syndrome.”
Cushing developed many surgical instruments that are in use today, most notably Cushing forceps and the Cushing ventricular cannula.
The forceps instrument is used to grasp the thick tissues of the scalp during cranial surgery and the cannula is used to enter the brain ventricles for CSF drainage.
During World War I, he even developed a surgical magnet to safely remove shrapnel from soldiers’ heads—a testament to his ingenuity and dedication to advancing medical care in every setting.
(Photo credit : Cushing Tumor Registry – Cushing / Whitney Medical Library / Yale University / Upscaled by RHP).