John S. Billings documents and letters in the National Archives

John Shaw Billings (1838-1913) was born in Allensville near Vevay, Indiana. He graduated from Miami University and the Medical College of Ohio. In 1862 he joined the U.S. Army Medical Department. During the American Civil War he organized hospitals in Washington, D.C. He served in the field at the battles of Chancellorsville, Gettysburg, during the Wilderness Campaign and the Siege of Petersburg.

Staying in the Army Medical Corps after the war Billings organized the Library and Museum of the Office of the Surgeon General of the United States Army and other army records. This work lead him to work on the United States Census. He was also active with the National Board of Health during this period.

Known as an expert in planning hospitals, Billings was asked to plan the hospital for Johns Hopkins University. Later he planned the six other medical institutions and was a professor of Hygiene at the University of Pennsylvania. He was chairperson of the Board of the Carnegie Institution for ten years.

Best known for his work in libraries and bibliographies Billings built the collection of the Office of the Surgeon into the world renowned National Library of Medicine; supervised the publication of the Index Catalogue of the Library of the Office of the Surgeon General and Index Medicus, parent of the computer medical index MEDLINE; and planned the New York Public Library. from: http://www.medlib.iupui.edu/hom/billings.html