Episode 48: The X-Ray Man

This episode examines the life of Walter Dodd, who started his career as a janitor at Harvard Medical School before becoming a pharmacist, physician, and the Father of American Radiology. Though as you will hear, his journey was not without great personal sacrifice.  

The X-Ray Man

  • A biography of Dr Walter J Dodd.
  • An article about Dr Dodd, referring to him as a “martyr to radiology.”
  • A picture of an X-Ray tube belonging to Dodd.

This Week in Boston History

  • October 2, 2001: Massachusetts Governor Jane Swift gives an address outlining the Commonwealth’s response to the September 11 attacks.
  • October 3, 1775: Orders from George Washington ban the Patriots encamped at Cambridge from gambling at toss-up or pitch and hustle.
  • October 4, 1960: Eastern Airlines flight 375 crashes on takeoff from Logan Airport, killing 62. Press coverage focuses strangely on a document lost in the crash.
  • October 5, 1758: As a 23 year old graduate student at Harvard, John Adams held himself to a highly demanding standard.
  • October 6, 1962: During a flood, Green Line riders have to be rescued from the tunnels near Kenmore Square by rowboats.
  • October 7, 1774: After Governor Thomas Gage dissolved the Massachusetts legislature, they reform themselves into the Provincial Congress of Massachusetts, becoming a revolutionary shadow government operating in resistance to crown rule in the colony.
  • October 8, 1875: George Pemberton is hanged for the murder of Margaret Bingham.  350 ticket holders watch the execution.