| Joel Shew | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | November 13, 1816 Providence, New York |
| Died | October 6, 1855 Oyster Bay, Long Island |
| Occupation(s) | Hydrotherapist, writer |
Joel Shew (November 13, 1816 – October 6, 1855) was an American physician, hydrotherapist, and natural hygiene advocate.
Biography
Shew was born in Providence, Saratoga County. He initially worked in a daguerreotype shop in Philadelphia before obtaining his medical degree in 1843. Shew developed an interest in hydrotherapy and traveled to Gräfenberg to study Vincenz Priessnitz's techniques. His wife, Marie Louise Shew, was also a hydrotherapist. They were friends with Mary Gove Nichols, who had temporarily lodged at their home. The Shews operated a hydrotherapy "water-cure" house and welcomed patients.
In 1844, Shew established the first water-cure institution in New York City. In May 1845, he opened the New Lebanon Springs Water-Cure Establishment, an institution costing approximately US$3,000. He served as the co-owner and advising physician, while David Campbell managed the institution for ten years. Shew was influenced by Sylvester Graham's dietary principles and promoted natural hygiene practices, including regular bathing, exercise, massage, and abstention from alcohol and tobacco. Historian Stephen Nissenbaum noted that "it is clear that Shew was a Grahamite before he discovered the water-cure". Both Shew and his wife were vegetarians.
In 1850, Shew contributed notes and additions to the American edition of William Lambe's Water and Vegetable Diet. He died in Oyster Bay, Long Island. An autopsy revealed that he had an enlarged liver and internal lesions, possibly due to chemical exposure from his earlier career as a photographer.
The Water-Cure Journal
In 1845, Shew launched The Water-Cure Journal, which gained significant popularity and, by 1850, had a subscription list of 50,000. Russell Trall took over as editor in 1849, and the journal was later renamed The Herald of Health.
Selected publications
- Facts in Hydropathy or Water Cure (1844)
- Water-Cure for Ladies (Marie Louise Shew, revised by Joel Shew, 1844)
- Hydropathy, Or, The Water-Cure (1845)
- The Water-Cure Manual (1847)
- Tobacco: Its History, Nature, and Effects on the Body and Mind (1849)
- Water and Vegetable Diet (William Lambe, notes and additions by Joel Shew, 1850)
- Consumption: Its Prevention and Cure by the Water Treatment (1851)
- The Hydropathic Family Physician (1854)
References
- ^ Kelly, Howard A.; Burrage, Walter L. (1920). American Medical Biographies. Baltimore: The Norman, Remington Company. p. 1045
- ^ Silver-Isenstadt, Jean L. (2002). Shameless: The Visionary Life of Mary Gove Nichols. Johns Hopkins University Press. p. 76. ISBN 0-8018-6848-3
- ^ Engs, Ruth Clifford. (2000). Clean Living Movements: American Cycles of Health Reform. Greenwood Publishing Group. p. 96. ISBN 0-275-97541-X
- Schwarz, Richard W. (2006). John Harvey Kellogg, M.D.: Pioneering Health Reformer. Review and Herald Publishing Association. pp. 25-26. ISBN 0-8280-1039-8, 0-8280-1939-8
- ^ Marchese, Allison Guertin. (2014). Hidden History of Columbia County, New York. The History Press. p. 94. ISBN 978-1626193956
- Nissenbaum, Stephen. (1980). Sex, Diet, and Debility in Jacksonian America: Sylvester Graham and Health Reform. Greenwood Press. p. 156. ISBN 978-0313214158
- Shprintzen, Adam D. (2013). The Vegetarian Crusade: The Rise of an American Reform Movement, 1817-1921. University of North Carolina Press. p. 55. ISBN 978-1-4696-0891-4
- Hoolihan, Christopher. (2001). An Annotated Catalogue of the Edward C. Atwater Collection of American Popular Medicine and Health Reform, Volume 1. University of Rochester Press. p. 603. ISBN 1-58046-098-4
- Wrobel, Arthur. (1987). Pseudo-Science and Society in 19th-Century America. University Press of Kentucky. p. 81. ISBN 978-0-8131-5544-9
- Whorton, James C. (2002). Nature Cures: The History of Alternative Medicine in America. Oxford University Press. pp. 90-91. ISBN 0-19-514071-0
- Hoolihan, Christopher. (2008). An Annotated Catalogue of the Edward C. Atwater Collection of American Popular Medicine and Health Reform, Volume 3. University of Rochester Press. p. 344. ISBN 978-1-58046-284-6
- Smith, Andrew F. (2009). Eating History: Thirty Turning Points in the Making of American Cuisine. Columbia University Press. p. 34. ISBN 978-0-231-14092-8