HISTORY MINUTE

Dr. Benjamin Rush was a scientist, physician, reformer, and co-signer of the Declaration of Independence. His life would take him across the world and into the pages of history.

Benjamin Rush was born just outside Philadelphia on Christmas Eve, 1745. He was the fourth of seven children born to a farmer and storekeeper. When Rush was fi ve, his father died, leaving his mother to run the store and raise the young children on her own. Concerned with the well-being of her children, Rush and a brother were sent to live with an aunt and uncle at age eight to further his education.

He proved to be a very bright student and was very curious about the world. When he was barely a teenager, he began attending the College of New Jersey, which is now Princeton University, just across the Delaware River from Philadelphia. By 1760, he had completed a bachelors degree at the age of 14. Fascinated with science, he began studying medicine under Dr. John Redmon, one of the most prominent physicians in Philadelphia. Redmon, impressed with Rush’s talents, encouraged him to go to Scotland to study at the University of Edinburgh, then one of the most respected medical schools in the world.

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