Historical Profiles of Mayo

Abstract

Dr. Stuart W. Harrington served the Mayo Clinic as a skilled general surgeon for approximately 34 years. A native of Pennsylvania, he was born in Blossburg on Apr. 20, 1889. He studied at Pennsylvania State College from 1908 to 1909. Afterward, he enrolled at the University of Pennsylvania, where he played on the football team. Although he was not tall, he was strongly built and was a skillful player. He was chosen to be a halfback on the Walter D. Camp All-American Team in 1912. His football nickname was “Tack,” and he was called that for the rest of his life. Harrington's graduation from the University of Pennsylvania in 1913 with the M.D. degree required considerable effort. His choice of medicine as a career had been unacceptable to his father. As a result, he had to find additional means of financial support while attending the university. He managed by working as a counselor at camps for boys during the summers and as a football coach for Dickson College in Philadelphia during the fall. After medical school, Dr. Harrington completed an internship at Howard Hospital in Philadelphia. In 1918, he received an appointment as a fellow in surgery in the Mayo Graduate School of Medicine in Rochester, Minnesota. At Mayo, he assisted Drs. Charles H. Mayo and E. Starr Judd in their operating rooms. Dr. Harrington completed his Mayo fellowship in 1920 and received the M.S. degree in surgery from the University of Minnesota. He was then asked to join the Mayo Clinic as head of a section of surgery on July 1, 1920. During the next 4 years at Mayo, Dr. Harrington maintained a special interest in gastrointestinal and urologic surgical procedures. In 1924, Dr. Carl A. Hedblom, specialist in thoracic surgery, left Mayo to become head of surgery at the University of Wisconsin. Hedblom's departure created another opportunity for Dr. Harrington at Mayo, but he was initially uninterested when asked by Dr. William J. Mayo. At Dr. Will's urging, however, he accepted the position and was sent to visit pioneer thoracic surgeons in the United States and abroad. When Dr. Harrington returned to the Mayo Clinic, he immersed himself in the challenges of thoracic and general surgery. He soon became noted as an international authority in the specialty of surgery and made numerous contributions—prominent among these was the diagnosis and treatment of diaphragmatic hernia. Dr. Harrington's one-stage resection of pharyngoesophageal diverticula was a pioneering technique. He had extensive experience in the surgical treatment of chronic postpneumonic empyemas, a common condition before the availability of antibiotics. He developed cardiac decortication techniques for the treatment of chronic constrictive pericarditis. Dr. Harrington was further known as a master of breast surgical treatment, and he performed a thorough study of a “record” series of patients with carcinoma of the breast. Dr. Harrington was known for his personal ability with patients. His sincerity and concern for them were obvious. During operations, however, colleagues reported that he was intense and paradoxical. Because he had no children, Dr. Harrington dedicated himself to his work and was proud of the fact that he might not complete his surgical list until 10 pm or midnight. At his retirement, his associates gave him a pair of his favorite operating room shoes that were bronzed and mounted with a model of the 1928 Mayo Clinic Building. After his retirement in July 1954, Dr. Harrington's remaining years were plagued by failing health. Nevertheless, even though he was almost blind, he enjoyed sitting in the driver's seat of his favorite Cadillac, with the garage doors open, as he let the motor run to give him a sense of driving. Lengthy automobile trips had been one of his few pleasures during his healthier days. Dr. Harrington died in his Rochester home on Mar. 7, 1975.