Page 364

“He demanded a copy…”

I am assuming that in the “deliberations” euphemistically noted here Sims would have denied the charges before promising a written reply.

Documents relating to J. Marion’s Sims’s ethics trial are held in the Archives and Manuscript department of the New York Academy of Medicine in New York, New York.

“…composed a brief notice…”

I am assuming that Sims had a hand in composing and sending this notice—it was printed in Europe just two days after the charges were leveled against him. As is documented below, the members of the Committee on Ethics would suspect the same thing.

The Medical Times and Gazette, Vol 2, 1869, November 13, p. 590.

“He wrote to Dr. Johnston…”

The date of Johnston’s letter is wildly incorrect, though it’s content makes it clear that Sims reached out to him about the ethics trial, which took place in late 1869 and early 1870.

Letter from W.E. Johnston to President of the New York Academy of Medicine H.D. Buckley, August 22, 1871, held in collection of materials relating to Sims held the Southern Historical Collection at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill libraries.

“He was now attaching a ‘Dr.’…”

The New York Times (New York, NY), May 29, 1874, p. 8.

“Stuart agreed with Sims’s plan…”

See “…composed a brief notice…,” above.

Sims of course denied having arranged to be published abroad, but as the Committee on Ethics would note, how else could a newspaper in London have received word about what had transpired in a private meeting in New York less that forty-eight hours earlier? Stuart would continue to act as an agent for Sims until the end of his life, so it is virtually certain that Stuart and Sims would have begun collaborating again as soon as Sims returned to the United States, both in having Sims reinstated at Woman’s Hospital, and during the ethics trial. What seems most likely is that Stuart telegraphed the contents of the notice that day, precisely so that Sims could cite it in his response to the Committee on Ethics.

“…useful to cite…”

Documents relating to J. Marion’s Sims’s ethics trial are held in the Archives and Manuscript department of the New York Academy of Medicine in New York, New York.

“…the holidays had prevented him…”

Documents relating to J. Marion’s Sims’s ethics trial are held in the Archives and Manuscript department of the New York Academy of Medicine in New York, New York.

“He delivered his reply, by hand…”

Documents relating to J. Marion’s Sims’s ethics trial are held in the Archives and Manuscript department of the New York Academy of Medicine in New York, New York.

“…the eve of his departure…”

There is no document that demonstrates that Sims planned to leave immediately after submitting his response in order to blunt the effect of their response, but in noting the timing of Sims’s letter the Committee on Ethics certainly seemed to think that was the case.

Documents relating to J. Marion’s Sims’s ethics trial are held in the Archives and Manuscript department of the New York Academy of Medicine in New York, New York.

“…as guiltless of the charges as he…”

Documents relating to J. Marion’s Sims’s ethics trial are held in the Archives and Manuscript department of the New York Academy of Medicine in New York, New York.

“He was guilty…”

Documents relating to J. Marion’s Sims’s ethics trial are held in the Archives and Manuscript department of the New York Academy of Medicine in New York, New York.