Major Weston P. Chamberlain (MIS 05-6142-1), National Museum of Health and Medicine

Description: Major Weston P. Chamberlain, who performed studies in tropical medicine in the Philippines, early 20th century. He was a surgeon in the U.S. Army Medical Corps, whose work included a study on wearing orange-red underwear "with a view to excluding the actinic rays of the solar spectrum," and another on "The influence of the Philippine climate on blonds and brunettes."

Weston P. Chamberlain was born in Maine in 1871. He was educated at Bowdoin College, then went on to Harvard Medical School, the London School of Tropical Medicine, and the Army War College. He served in the Spanish-American War and was awarded a Distinguished Service Medal during World War I. He was a member of the medical corps in the Philippine Islands, Jackson Barracks, Louisiana, Washington D.C., and ultimately in the Panama Canal Zone for five years (1924-1929). He died in 1948.

Date: circa 1900-1940

Photo ID: MIS 05-6142-1

Source collection: OHA 233.05: Medical Illustration Service (MIS) Library

Repository: National Museum of Health and Medicine, Otis Historical Archives